Washington State Football Recruiting: Signing Day 2013 Primer

National Signing Day is a mere two days away and the Washington State Cougars are in the middle of what has gradually become an intriguing 2013 class under second year head coach, Mike Leach. The coaching staff has had it’s first full season of recruiting and many Wazzu fans are speculating that this may just be the best Cougar class (in terms of raw talent) since somewhere between 2002 and 2004. A running back who rushed for over 3,000 yards his senior season, All-American JUCO receiver, four-star All-American quarterback and much celebrated in state superstar linebacker only began to spark the discussion.

Scout has jumped Washington State to no. 39 in the overall class rankings with a 2.76 avg star value on their commits. That’s their best ranking on Scout since 2010, when they ranked no. 40 in the land, also with a 2.76 star value. Even with the loss of Montrel Meander, this could be the first sub-40 class in a long, long time.

Let’s take a look at everything we know about our 2013 class going into the biggest day of the offseason, National Signing Day.

Most Recent News:

2/4

Longshot DL Zelt Minor commits to SMU

S Montrel Meander decommits from Cougs (more on that below), commits to Horns.

WR Charleston White to stick with Cougs, despite his friend flipping to Texas.

I just talked to Meander teammate & #Wazzu commit Charleston White, he says "tell the fans I'm still a #Coug"! #WSU http://t.co/1cfby4Su
— Wazzu Nation (@WazzuNation) February 5, 2013

OT Riley Sorenson boosts Coug recruiting efforts by surprise committing to Washington State just after 8pm pst. Big man is 6’5″, 320 lbs and a 3-star recruit. Just what the Cougs needed to fill out their OL class needs.

WR Vince Mayle signs his LOI and cements WSU commitment, Coug fans breathe sigh of relief.

The Commit List

(23 Commits, 2 Grayshirts 2013,

1 Grayshirt 2014, 1 Transfer):

2013 Grayshirts:

WR Robert Lewis – 5’10”, 160 – South Gate, CA
OT B.J. Salmonson – 6’5″, 265 – Everson, WA

2014 Grayshirt:

OLB Dylan Hanser – 6’5″, 210 – Billings, MT

2013 Transfer:

RB Daniel Jenkins – 5’9″, 196 – University of Arizona

JUCO Commits:

WR Vince Mayle – 6’3″, 220 – Rocklin, CA
DE Lyman Faoliu – 6’2.5″, 275 – San Mateo, CA
OT Jacob Seydel – 6’6″, 285 – Riverside, CA
OLB Ivan McLennan – 6’3″, 220 – Torrance, CA

High School Verbal Commits:

OT Cody O’Connell – 6’8″, 350 – Wenatchee, WA
QB Tyler Bruggman – 6’2″, 202 – Pheonix, AZ
CB Markell Sanders – 6’1″, 175 – Bellevue, WA
WR River Cracraft – 6’2″, 205 – Santa Margarita, CA
MLB Peyton Pelluer – 6’2″, 225 – Sammamish, WA
RB Gerard Wicks – 5’10”, 195 – Long Beach, CA
OG Cole Madison – 6’6″, 270 – Burien, WA
RB Olito Thompson – 5’10”, 210 – Concord, CA
RB Jamal Morrow – 5’8″, 180 – Menifee, CA
DT Gerald Sterling – 6’4″, 275 – Aliceville, AL
S Darius Lemora – 6’0″, 185 – Port Arthur, TX
C Carlos Freeman – 6’3″, 290 – Oklahoma City, OK
OT Matt Meyer – 6’6″, 290 – Lynden, WA
DT Emmitt Su’a-Kalio – 6’4″, 250 – Pago Pago, AS
CB Daquawn Brown – 6’0″, 170 – Los Angeles, CA
DE Paulo Lepua – 6’3″, 265 – Harbor City, CA
ATH Isaac Dotson – 6’3″, 210 – Bellevue, WA
DT Daniel Etuale – 6’4″, 290 – Pago Pago, AS
WR Charleston White – 6’1″, 170 – Amarillo, TX
OL Riley Sorenson – 6’5″, 320 – Santa Margarita, CA

The Battleground (1-2 Open Scholarships):

Who’s Likely:

Honestly, we don’t rightly know. CB Chidobe Awuzie from San Jose was supposed to be here, but after an in home with Mike Leach he committed then called and decommitted the very next day. At that point, the Cougs told him his scholarship would basically be off the table if he was serious about not being serious. He was.

Meanwhile the Cougs have missed out recently on a couple recruits they’ve been spending a lot of resources trying to sway and are now possibly stuck with coming up short on signing day. To be fair, they were expected to over-sign by one or two and have two 2013 grayshirt recruits and Zona transfer Daniel Jenkins coming in for Spring ball. While they are still looking, all the names we have as possibilities seem to be longshots at this point.

Who’s a Longshot:

DT Rod Crayton: Crayton’s update over the weekend was that he committed to Southern Mississippi
JUCO DT Demetrius Campbell: A bit of a question mark in the classroom at this point, but he’s a three-star prospect at 6’3″, 290 from Eagle Lake, FL. A longshot because he has 14 really good offers right now, but WSU definitely offers prime playing time ability which could be a crucial point of interest.
WR Taj Williams: Has mentioned WSU on occasion, but seems to be down to Auburn and Louisville. The Cougs haven’t picked up a prime high school receiving target in terms of national attention, so maybe that would cause a change of heart?
CB Darius Allensworth: Committed to Cal, but maintains at least a faint interest in Washington State after his official visit two weeks ago. Plus, his longtime high school friend and teammate Jamal Morrow has been actively recruiting him to become a Coug.
CB Marcellus Pippins: A Utah commit, Pippens opened it up for interpretation that Washington State was very much in the running two to three weeks ago. I have a suspicion that Leach and company have been tirelessly at work trying to sway him, after losing Awuzie to indecision just a few short days ago.
DE Malik Jenkins: Decommitted and has stated he is looking to stay closer to home at smaller schools, unless the real urge to play in a top conference taps his shoulder at the last second.
~~DL Zelt Minor~~: SMU has secured Minor’s commitment Monday morning.

Problem Areas:

DT Gerald Sterling is seeking a home closer to home, maybe at Western Kentucky. His commit is WSU, for now, but he has avidly been looking at a closer school so that his family can go to his games. He has said that the final decision is his to make and the Pac-12 is a tough gig to pass up, but he has put a lot of doubt into the Cougar coaching staff as to whether he will be sending in his Letter of Intent or not.

The Decommits:

S Montrel Meander

has decommitted from Washington State, per Braulio Perez of Cougfan.

Tough break for WSU. Palo Duro's Montrel Meander just told me he has flipped his commitment from the #Cougs to #Texas http://t.co/iB7HdCoU
— Braulio Perez (@BraulioEPerez) February 5, 2013

This is a very big blow to the secondary, especially considering the Cougs essentially pulled an offer from Myron Turner to secure Meander. They also just recently shut the door on Chidobe Awuzie, so this is very upsetting news as the Cougs find themselves with a deep hole to fill in their secondary now.

DE Malik Jenkins

decommitted and committed to Texas Tech. Big surprise, coach Eric Morris changes schools and poaches one.

WR DeMarcus Ayers

is now committed to Houston, after decommitting from WSU and following a path that led him all over the country, only to end up right next to home. After decommit, Leach pulled his offer. More on that in the storylines below.

S Myron Turner

was basically entrenched as a Coug, then decommitted or got his offer pulled, the details are unclear. He doesn’t have any other listed options yet. Is there a possible return to Coug land? It would take Leach taking off his hard hat and begging and I’m not sure he’s that kind of guy. More on this in the storylines below.

S Trevor Walker

was the first decommit from WSU, trading allegiances to Washington.

Best Star Value:

The consensus pick for best player in the class comes in the form of unanimous four-star QB Tyler Bruggman, from Brophy Prep in Pheonix, AZ. However, there are more great players coming on board, including the trio of all-state performers at RB from California. Wicks, Thompson and Morrow are all finally on board and while Leach runs the air-raid offense, he’s convinced these guys that the running game is going to be a legitimate part of the offense going forward.

WR Charleston White has a ton of upside and great speed. DE Paulo Lepua, WR Vince Mayle, DE Lyman Foaliu and CB Daquawn Brown are a prized foursome from CA, while LB Peyton Pelluer and WR River Cracraft are ones to keep their eyes on in the very near future as well.

Newest commit OT Riley Sorenson out of Santa Margarita, CA is an impact value player, at 6’5″, 320 could be an All Pac-12 Conference O-lineman in 2-3 seasons.

Wazzu Key Recruiting Storylines:

Mike Leach and the Cougar coaches have had a very interesting offseason. Here’s a quick rundown of links, recapping the Cougar storylines contributing to this newest class:

Keep tuned in to ACU for all your Cougar recruiting news throughout signing day, as we’ll be covering it all with live updates. For all recruiting news around the nation, turn your attention to FanSided.com or Saturday Blitz, who will be all over the top recruiting stories on that day. If you want to see how the rival Huskies are fairing, head over to The Husky Haul, part of our exclusive FanSided Network.

And finally, if you’re looking to interact with ACU, there will be multiple analysts throughout the day live updating Twitter @AllCougdUp and our Facebook Profile Page

GO COUGS!

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