Simone reportedly makes a firm commitment to WSU

We're a few days late on this one, but as my mom used to say, better late than never!

Skyline WR Gino Simone, arguably the top recruit in the state, was said to be looking around a bit after verbally committing to the Cougs back in August. But he cemented his intention to come to WSU next year at the end of last week according to CougFan.com. The Cougs also got a commit from Spokane's Travis Long, one of Wulff's coveted targets over this past recruiting year.

According to Scout.com, the Cougs' class is still ranked fifth in the Pac-10, with 12 of the 17 commits rated as three-star recruits or higher. So far, so good in keeping our commits as we head toward LOI day in February.

And if you're curious how the rest of the scholarships might work out -- there are about eight left -- here's Grippi's take:

As for football recruiting, the Cougars probably have less than a handful of scholarships available. They have 17 commits, according to the scouting services, which leaves just eight initials to hand out. Three of them will go to grayshirts, including JC transfer Josh Luapo and two freshmen linemen, Tim Hodgdon and Alex Reitnouer, all of whom will enroll next month (probably along with at least one of the 17 commits, JC tight end Peter Tuitupou).

There should be two or three current players, possibly including linebacker Myron Beck and kicker Nico Grasu, given rides. Any player given a scholarship who hasn’t been on campus for at least two years counts against this year’s initials, with Beck and Grasu fitting in that category. So my guess is there is room for about five or so more players, with the Cougars possibly offering more than that and asking the excess to grayshirt.