The focus of college football recruiting is typically on stars and team rankings. We hear about official visits and in-home visits, but rarely do we ever hear about what it all costs.
ESPN pulled back the curtain a bit, with a closer look at recruiting budgets from 2010 and 2011. WSU ranked last in the Pac-12 both seasons with budgets of just over $200,000. A number of things go into a recruiting budget including travel costs for coaches, official visit expenses and the cost to send out mailings. Teams who recruit nationally obviously spend more while teams in fertile recruiting areas can operate on a lower budget. WSU's location already puts them at a disadvantage, adding the lowest budget in the Pac-12 only makes matters worse. With the influx of Pac-12 television money this season, I wouldn't be surprised if Mike Leach and company will be operating with a slightly larger budget.
Speaking of Leach, he will be a guest on TexAgs radio today at 8:20 a.m. PT. You can stream it live via the link on this page, or if you miss it you should be able to listen to the podcast here.
Finally, if you are similar to Frank Costanza and have a lot of problems with some people and would like to let them hear about it, check out Kyle's OTFP.
Football
Breaking down Pac-12 recruiting costs - Pac-12 Blog - ESPN
Oregon spent the most in the conference in both 2011 and 2010, though it spent less this past year. Washington State spent the least both years.
Baseball
Top baseball picks from state sign deals " Kitsap Sun
Taylor Ard, a seventh-round selection out of Washington State, joined the Seattle Mariners organization for $149,700. Ard was a redshirt junior first baseman. WSU senior outfielder Derek Jones signed with Colorado for $137,600. He was drafted in the eighth round.