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I agree, invest time on instate kids that show interest, pissed HS coaches, big deal. I'm old enough to remember when WSU had the majority of the roster from in state, guess what? we had really poor teams most yearsMake 1 trip thru the state. Whoever is interested, invest some time to get to know them. Everyone else, dont waste another minute.
Time to move on from in state kids. Im looking at the top 15 list here.... not 1 guy verballed to WSU.
Enough is enough. Stop investing in areas that wont come to your school. Pissed coaches??? Oh well. CWU is looking for guys.
I agree, invest time on instate kids that show interest, pissed HS coaches, big deal. I'm old enough to remember when WSU had the majority of the roster from in state, guess what? we had really poor teams most years
You’ve said it before, gotta beat UW...and do it in style. Then in state kids will give Pullman a look. When you are getting destroyed by your in state rival year after year, those in state kids won’t take you seriously. The Tracy Fords of the world (not that I give two shits about guys like that but they do influence kids) will jump right on board when you plant the flag in the ground and the kids are taking notice.Make 1 trip thru the state. Whoever is interested, invest some time to get to know them. Everyone else, dont waste another minute.
Time to move on from in state kids. Im looking at the top 15 list here.... not 1 guy verballed to WSU.
Enough is enough. Stop investing in areas that wont come to your school. Pissed coaches??? Oh well. CWU is looking for guys.
Yes should have just thrown in the towel when we missed on Steve Emtman and just recruited online. Maybe Russia or Australia where they haven't even heard of the Huskies.
Even though it is sad to miss on these kids, recruiting instate is the backbone of a successful program. For one, it doesn't cost much. You build pipelines, get media coverage in these local markets, and they put fans in the seats. I've seen instate kids bring 40 fans to a game. And its with the instate kids where the magic happens, like a Rypien or Bledsoe. Obviously, Washington isn't rich in recruits, but you still have to try...
Im not saying dont try. Im saying dont over invest. Look at the top 15 list for WA. Kids are leaving the state in droves.
Coach Walden said on more than one occasion he didn't feel Coach Leach prioritized recruiting home grown Washington athletes to WSU. Sounds like Milkallas you heard the same things from your various sources.You know that all the Tracy Ford's and WA Coaches, and Parents, and Poor Ole Little Ole WSU Fans out there DEMAND, EXPECT that Poor Ole Little Ole WSU take all the 1,2 star, NR, Big Sky, Mountain West, Whitworth, CWU, EWU, the Instate WA players that are ranked 50th to 150th, that play for 8 man teams, etc, while UW gets all the 3 star, 4 star, 5 star, top 25 in state kids.
And getting all those supposed diamond in the rough, under the Radar, LOWER ranked WA in state kids is the key to success at WSU, at least according to the Tracy Ford's, Walden, Paul Wulf, WA Coaches, and even some posters here.
Im not saying dont try. Im saying dont over invest. Look at the top 15 list for WA. Kids are leaving the state in droves.
Coach Walden said on more than one occasion he didn't feel Coach Leach prioritized recruiting home grown Washington athletes to WSU. Sounds like Milkallas you heard the same things from your various sources.
I always thought CML did pretty well in state, especially with the big hosses and a few uber-athletes mixed in.
Even if RoLo decides to scale back in state recruiting as Biggs and 95 propose, gotta think he will continue to make the 4-6 Pac-12 caliber kids in Greater Spokane every year a top priority.Biggs is right, wasting too much time on in state kids is just wasting time.
Even if RoLo decides to scale back in state recruiting as Biggs and 95 propose, gotta think he will continue to make the 4-6 Pac-12 caliber kids in Greater Spokane every year a top priority.
How much difference would’ve that linebacker from G-Prep made for the Cougs if he had stayed at home instead of going to Cal?
Even if RoLo decides to scale back in state recruiting as Biggs and 95 propose, gotta think he will continue to make the 4-6 Pac-12 caliber kids in Greater Spokane every year a top priority.
How much difference would’ve that linebacker from G-Prep made for the Cougs if he had stayed at home instead of going to Cal?
There aren’t 4-6 PAC-12 caliber recruits in the GSL every year. But nice try.
In the past there have been years with 6-8 Pac12 kids. I think last year there were 0. A couple of Big Skyers and a kid to Air Force?
I don't think the decision to recruit the state of WA is an either/or. As we've mentioned, there aren't enough P5/G5 recruits in WA state each year to make recruiting them a "waste of time." There's plenty of time to actively recruit the 10 best kids in the state without it being a time drain.
Also, as I've said before about kids like Hobert, I think WSU should absolutely recruit at least one all-around football from WA state every year and make him a scholarship offer. That kid who's too small to be a LB, not fast enough to be a DB, but who dominates on both sides of the ball and tackles everything he sees. The gamer with an endless motor. Blue blood programs in TX, Ohio, Michigan, and PA do this every season. Joe Paterno (yes, I know his name is tainted) used to say that those kids are the glue of your program. They outwork everyone and are leaders on special teams. Make a point of going after the best player in WA state who holds offers from the Big Sky or MWC, but doesn't have any P12 offers. Get him on campus.
The pool of guys that WSU has a realistic shot at in Washington is pretty small. It's basically Pac-12 caliber guys that don't get an offer from uw. That's 3 guys per year, almost all will be from the I-5 corridor having heard the gush of uw hype since birth and having everyone tell them WSU should be their safety school.
I thought Dillard going in the first round might open some eyes, along of five bowls in a row, top 25 rankings, All-Americans and a well known coach. Obviously not. I think we just have to come to the realization that coffee cups of cash matter and WSU has to use operating funds to pay for scholarships.
There was a time I got a Red Rider BB gun from Santa too. The GSL has been producing one Pac-12 caliber guy about every three years. The Mid-Columbia, formerly known as the Big-9, is about the same or less.
Yes, and another issue that continues to plague us is the perpetual branding and reputation problem in-state. When we bring in kids from outside of WA state, they come away from the trips saying they're blown away by the college town feel and the facilities. When you contrast that with how the WA general population feels about and views WSU, it's a much different story.
Market research into this is something that WSU needs to invest in so we can build a new and effective PR action plan. With a communications department as well regarded as ours, figuring out how to broadcast the extraordinary reasons why attending school at WSU offers kids personal growth opportunities that no other campus setting in the state can rival.
I think we already know what the market research would tell us- the west siders don't want to come here and will hold out forever for an offer from uw.
We can go through and list off the WA kids from the 90's that went to both WSU and UW, and there we're plenty every year. Not a TON, but enough to make the state worth recruiting. You can't tell me that in the last 20 years kids in state have just disappeared - there is something else happening and I can't tell you exactly what.
Or maybe it was just that the 2/3 star roster filler from WA always seemed to pan out and become a contributor by JR/SR year. Or maybe there were less Californians in WA bringing their loyalties up north and sending their kids down south.
We didn't have to compete with out of state schools for in state talent. No way a kid like Evan Weaver ends up at Cal 20 years ago. We'd have landed him if UW didn't bother to offer.
We can go through and list off the WA kids from the 90's that went to both WSU and UW, and there we're plenty every year. Not a TON, but enough to make the state worth recruiting. You can't tell me that in the last 20 years kids in state have just disappeared - there is something else happening and I can't tell you exactly what.
Or maybe it was just that the 2/3 star roster filler from WA always seemed to pan out and become a contributor by JR/SR year. Or maybe there were less Californians in WA bringing their loyalties up north and sending their kids down south.
These G-Prep Kids Disagree
Denny Hansen - 1988 (Stanford)
Rob Bonneau - 1989 (Arkansas)
Chris Carpenter - 1989 (California)
Glenn Cavanaugh - 1989 (Stanford)
Justin Strand - 1993 (Stanford)
Charlie Hopkins - 2011 (Stanford)
Not to state the obvious, but building these relationships with high school coaches takes time. When you grow up in Everett and coach all over the state like Price, you can make it work. Plus, it was widely believed he would never leave WSU. A guy like Leach who definitely wasn't from WA and was being mentioned for other coaching jobs from day 1 was not going to make it work.
Given social media and an alumni network, its not backbreaking work to recruit the state. If there is a kid who has a chance to play D1 in Colville or Forks, the coaches will know. Realistically, most will be in the major metro areas, and all of the games are livestreamed. With what is going on up and down the West Coast, between the fires and COVID, a place like Pullman might start looking better and better to a lot of families. MANY college kids want to stay a little closer to home now days, and parents and kids are much less interested in flying multiple times a year for games and breaks. It might make a difference for some of these families.
If youre going back to the 80s, class of 85 at prep had 6 D1 kids. 1 to Stanford, 1 to Norte Dame and I believe the rest went to WSU and UW.Rob Hedequist hater.
You're right, but I guess I was speaking from a general point of view. Somehow, we have to change the mindset of WSU among young people. Not sure how, exactly, but it's probably related to showcasing how much fun students have in Pullman.