Recruiting services rarely give props to Washington State’s recruiting. Four or five years later, a fair number of those players have made the recruiting “experts” look … well, not so expert.
Such WSU luminaries of the past as Rueben Mayes, Rien Long, Jerome Harrison, Alex Brink and Will Derting arrived in Pullman with little fanfare but left with plenty of hardware.
WSU football coaches have long taken pride in their ability to discover players who were overlooked, undersized and/or late to bloom.
It may take two or three years before it can be determined if a similar fate awaits the 2009 WSU recruiting class, which will be announced today, the first day for the signing of national football letters of intent by high school seniors.
The two recruiting sites most widely recognized nationally, Scout.com and Rivals.com, have widely differing opinions on WSU’s latest recruiting class.
Scout rates the Cougars 50th in the nation, but Rivals pegs the Cougars at No. 85. Rivals ranks WSU’s recruits last in the Pacific-10 Conference; Scout picks WSU ahead of only Washington (No. 68).
Neither service gives any WSU recruit its highest rating of five stars. Rivals ranks the top 250 high school seniors overall and the top 100 junior college players, and no Cougar recruits made those lists.
The only four-star recruit on Scout’s list – and Rivals only gave him three stars – is receiver Gino Simone from Skyline High School of Sammamish.
Scout rates Simone the 39th-best wide receiver among high school seniors. Rivals places Simone at No. 72 among players in the “athlete” category (Simone also starred on defense and special teams for Skyline).
In Scout’s national rankings by position for seniors, the top Cougars recruit is Darrin Markle of Eagle, Idaho. Scout lists Markle as the 24th-best middle linebacker. According to Rivals, Markle is 51st among inside linebackers.
The top position ranking handed out by Rivals to a Cougars recruit went to No. 39 running back Arthur Burns of Corona, Calif. Like Markle, Burns boasts impressive speed and strength numbers.
WSU’s weak pass rush of the past couple of years may receive a boost in time from defensive ends Travis Long and Chris Mastin. They shared the defensive player of the year award in the Greater Spokane League, but neither was given a national position ranking by Scout or Rivals (though Scout had Long at No. 42 among tight ends).
The Cougars, coming off a 2-11 season in Paul Wulff’s first season as coach, are desperately short of skill, experience and depth at virtually every position.
There may be no “I” in team, but the three I’s – injuries, inexperience and ineptitude – hindered WSU’s quarterbacks last year.
The only QB recruit expected to join the Cougars today is Jeff Tuel of Fresno, Calif. Tuel, who did not start until his senior year, is ranked 59th by Scout and did not earn a national ranking from Rivals.
Some of the most gaping holes left by departing seniors are at wide receiver, tight end and middle linebacker. Tight end Peter Tuitupou, a first-team junior college All-American, was a strong candidate to start before he quit school last week and announced he will go on a two-year Mormon mission.
The newcomers that may have the most immediate impact on WSU’s fortunes this fall may be running back James Montgomery and cornerback Brandon Jones, two former Cal Bears who redshirted last season.
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