Leach works his magic.....

Steilacoom (Wash.) linebacker Fotu Leiato's coach Williams Garrow confirms he'll officially visit Washington State on January 16. He has a busy month, which includes several visits and in-home visits from a number of programs, and I'll have all of that put together this weekend for an article. Sounds like he could make a decision at any time and Washington State will get the first crack.


This post was edited on 1/16 11:54 AM by Britton Ransford

Picked up an Oregon offer. I'm pretty sure this is where he ends up. Heard he was a big fan of Oregon.

And apparently our coach is using this philosophy. To what degree? Who knows. Interesting that it's being used in sports recruiting.

Meaning control of emotion is a good thing.

good face or bad face determines your lot in life

Poulsbo (Wash.) North Kitsap receiver Andrew Hecker has committed to Washington State as a preferred walk-on. Coach Mele had an in-home visit with the 6-foot-1, 180-pound receiver last night. Hecker also played safety and handled all kicking duties for North Kitsap.

Update: Hecker says he's coming to Washington State as a defensive back.

Highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/755760/highlights/200530387


This post was edited on 1/21 1:24 PM by Britton Ransford

Salt Lake City (UT) Cottonwood defensive end T.J. Fehoko has de-committed from Colorado, according to our Colorado site. The 6-foot-1, 245-pound defensive lineman is rated three-stars by Rivals and the No. 13 prospect in Utah. He's already visited Washington State is very close with Washington State commit Thomas Toki.

At the time of their visits, Toki said he would be "surprised" if Fehoko didn't flip to Washington State. Is it too late now? Maybe. But he's a top defensive end in the West and if they could possibly find room, he'd be a welcomed addition. He's visiting UNLV this weekend and is also hearing from Texas, our Colorado site says.

The Cougars were a favorite since his visit and I'm surprised it took this long for him to de-commit. I'll reach out to see if the Washington State staff has been in for an in-home visit lately, which would indicate whether they're still after him.

Link: http://sports.yahoo.com/lsu/football/recruiting/player-T.J.-Fehoko-153566

what a train wreck their lives have turned out to be.

Another arrest....

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Report-Rowdy-Hope-Solo-hassles-cops-as-husband-arrested-for-DUI-289196861.html

This post was edited on 1/20 2:13 PM by 79COUG

A few weeks after posting what I think was his first NBA career double-double, I thought our fellow Coug Aron Baynes had landed in the Spurs doghouse, and didn't play for several games. However, he came out of hibernation the other night and had 5 offensive rebounds against (I think) Charlotte. Last night (Jan 18), Baynesie played 23 minutes against Utah, led the team with 11 rebounds, scored 12 points to complete the double double as the Spurs won by 20.With the waiver of former 1st round pick Austin Daye of Gonzaga, looks like Baynes has solidified his spot as a top backup for the Spurs. Good job Baynes!!!! Now that (thanks to Baynes and the Spurs) I have gained an appreciation for the NBA, I think it is very interesting how important it is to have a second team. The starters cannot play for 48 minutes without getting gassed and eventually worn down. The Spurs do a great job of platooning with their roster. While a second strimger like Baynes isn't going to make $10 million/year, his 10-20 minutes/game are important and meaningful. Especially when he is subbing for 38 year old future hall of famer Tim Duncan.

Next topic - it is so hard to be a Coug. Maybe not as hard as being an Idaho Vandal, but still. This past Fall - volleyball startes out good, then runs in to the Pac-12 schedule. Boom. Soccer - great season again - get to the playoffs. Then the big choke job - again. Football - high hopes after last year. Choke choke choke, ripped by the refs, mor choking. That was fun - not!

On to basketball. Women finally appear to be getting good - in what, June's 7th, 8th year? Then the Pac-12 starts. Lose, lose, lose. She is simply a bad coach, technically. Ratball at its finest.

Then the men. Suck to start. The ultimate shame of losing to Idaho. Then all of a sudden, we beat the mutts and - OMG - Oregon!! Wow wow wow. So we get Oregon State at home, looking at going to 4-1 in front of a still-pathetic but season-high 5,100 fans. Oh no - we shoot 29%, get outrebounded 37-22, and score a Dick Bennett-like 47 points in a blowout loss.

And ya wonder why I now follow the Spurs........

Pasadena (Calif.) Muir cornerback Taeon Mason confirms that he is de-committing from USC and while he did not immediately say he's going to flip his commitment to Washington State, I would expect it to happen sooner or later.

Mason informed me earlier today that Mike Leach, Alex Grinch, Dennis Simmons and Ken Wilson had an in-home visit with him last night.

The four-star cornerback, rated the No. 47 prospect in California, has been committed to USC since last February and also holds offers from Notre Dame, Oregon State and UCLA. The Trojans picked up a number of defensive backs in this class and I've been told the staff has backed off their recruitment of Mason, which opened the door for Washington State.

Mason officially visited Pullman for the Apple Cup. I'll have more as this develops.


This post was edited on 1/20 12:25 PM by Britton Ransford

It appears we are "full" with our class with the number of commits we have. Now that can change with greyshirts and what not. With Sykes does that mean Lewis is out or will he have a spot? You said Leiato has a spot as well if he wants one and then there is Paulo who definitely has a spot I'l assume. We also have King visiting next week.

Any idea where WSU is going these final weeks? Any potential greyshirts to make way for the three I listed?

I added Beltsville (Md.) High Point defensive end Nnamdi Oguayo to the Cougars' hot board. A prep source says Washington State has been out to High Point to meet with Oguayo and a visit could be in the works.

I'm still working on confirming whether an offer has been extended. The source says Oguayo "thinks he's officially visiting" Washington State this weekend and his coach said "in the upcoming weeks," so we'll see.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound defensive end has visited Indiana and Pittsburgh thus far and also holds offers from Louisville, Illinois, South Florida and Temple. I'll have more on this as soon as possible.

Link: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Nnamdi-Oguayo-167802?colleges=show

Spring (TX) cornerback Willie Sykes has committed to Washington State, per a source. The 5-foot-11, 183-pound cornerback is rated two-stars by Rivals and picked the Cougars over offers from Purdue, Nebraska, Oregon State, Fresno State, Minnesota and Utah.

Washington State is the latest offer for Houston (TX) Westside defensive tackle Jordan Elliot, according to Rivals.com analyst Matt Clare. The 6-foot-5, 300-pound junior also holds offers from Baylor, CSU, Houston, Kansas, Kentucky and Washington.

Link: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Jordan-Elliott-170665

9ers looking like a organization in complete disarray.

Washington State extended a preferred walk-on offer out to Folsom (Calif.) Vista del Lago quarterback Matt Jimison.

Is Elsie a premium member here, and is he posting premium news on the free board? If so, I'd kick his arse to the curb.

Redlands (Calif.) East Valley offensive tackle Joseph Price has committed to Washington State, a source says.

Update: Price's coach, Kurt Bruich, who says Coach Wilson, Leach and McGuire had an in-home visit with Price this afternoon, has since confirmed the news on Twitter.

Price is a 6-foot-5, 290-pound offensive tackle who officially visited Washington State this weekend. He was previously planning on taking an official visit to Fresno State this upcoming weekend, but it's unknown at this point whether that trip is still going to take place. I would doubt that would be the case.

Price also held an offer from California but his main recruiter for the Golden Bears, Zach Yenser, left to take the offensive line job at Kansas and no visit has been set up to Berkeley. It's a good get for the Cougars who add yet another massive body on the line and helps replace Austin Maihen, who flipped his verbal commitment to Stanford a couple weeks ago.

Washington State now has verbal commitments from Cedric Bigge-Duren, Davis Perrott, Noah Myers, Amosa Sakaria and Price. They are still in the mix for Darrin Paulo and Keven Dixon, too. Paulo is visiting Oregon this weekend after officially visited Utah last weekend while Dixon took a trip to Boise State.

I'm working on getting more information as soon as possible.



(via @CoachBruich)



This post was edited on 1/19 2:59 PM by Britton Ransford

Welcome to the Cougar family Willie Sykes. He was another late riser. Good weekend so far.

Washington State defensive tackle commit Thomas Toki did not take an official visit to Oklahoma State this weekend as previously scheduled, he confirms to me via text message. There's also rumbling that Jonah Moi did not take his official visit to TCU this weekend, however I have not been able to confirm that as of now. I'm working to get more from both guys.

Currently given a 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Cougs 1 of 6 Pac-12 teams predicted in the tournament at this time.


Go Cougs!!!

O Lineman Price a 6'6 270 HS Lineman commits. this was not unexpected and there may be another one before too long

Adam Gorney caught up with Ventura (Calif.) St. Bonaventure receiver Lavan Alston to recap his Washington State visit.

Link: https://washingtonstate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1727042

I'll have official visit reports up tonight as soon as I get home. Sounds like it was a productive weekend. The staff is already back out on the road as of last night visiting prospects.

Or was the "it's a great day to be a Coug" signal for the Manning hire?

Former Washington State defensive coordinator Mike Breske is likely to be the next defensive coordinator at Idaho, according to a report from FootballScoop.com.

Link: https://twitter.com/FootballScoop/status/556549794043158529