Recapping an eventful day for WSU's 2015 recruiting class

A lot of events that are preceded by months of buildup fail to live up to the hype when the time finally comes. National Signing Day 2015 is not one of those events. At least from a WSU perspective.

The final countdown to signing day got off to a roaring start on Monday with a decommitment, a flipped commitment, a pair of verbal commitments, a possible coaching departure and more recruiting news.The graviton has hit top speed and now is the time to hold on and try not to puke until it stops.

The day did not start out very well for Washington State. Four-Star linebacker Kyahva Tezino not only decommitted from WSU, but appears to have also eliminated WSU from contention. Losing a 4-star recruit is never good and having one of the highest-rated recruits opt out this late is definitely unfortunate. The move came on the heels of the news that outside wide receiver coach Dennis Simmons could be headed to Oklahoma. Tezino was one of Simmons' primary recruits with some connecting the dots on the sudden departure. Another one of Simmons' recruits also departed later in the day with wide receiver Dahu Green flipping his commitment from WSU to Oklahoma.

Around the time all of this was happening, word came out that 3-star offensive tackle Darrin Paulo -- one of WSU's biggest targets remaining on the board -- committed to Utah.

It wasn't all bad news, however. The Cougars moved quickly to fill the vacated spots and received verbal commitments from OLB/DE Nnamdi Oguayo and JUCO WR C.J. Dimry. Neither player comes as highly-touted as the ones they replace -- at least per the recruiting services. Oguayo appears to be an interesting development prospect with a nice combination of size and speed. Some refinement and he has a lot of Kache Palacio to his game. Dimry is a little bit of an unknown. He wasn't on the recruiting radar at all until a week ago. He has just two years to play two and doesn't have any other offers. WSU may have stuck gold and will get a good-sized playmaker able to win one-on-one battles, but Dimry doesn't have the long-term potential of Green.

While there have been some defections and missed targets, WSU's signing class hasn't fallen apart. The Cougars were pushing for a top 30 class a couple weeks ago, but that target is out of the picture now, barring a massive unexpected late surge. WSU will instead likely ink a top 40 class and its best in years.

*****

Football:

Defensive tackle Thomas Toki ‘excited’ to sign with Cougars | Cougar Football | The Seattle Times
His signature, as a four-star prospect by both Rivals.com and Scout.com, would be one of the highlights of a WSU class Scout.com ranked 27th nationally Monday, the Cougars’ highest in years.

Jason Gesser and Ernie Kent Guests on Cougar Calls with Bill Moos - Washington State University Official Athletic Site
Monday's Cougar Calls with Bill Moos show at the The Swinging Doors in Spokane featured special guests Ernie Kent and Jason Gesser.

Maryland linebacker chooses WSU | The Spokesman-Review
Maryland linebacker Nnamdi Oguayo will travel across the country to play his college ball.

Women's basketball:

Cal women eke out 5th straight win - SFGate
Foul trouble meant the Cal women’s basketball team had to try to protect its lead for key minutes of the second half without seniors Brittany Boyd and Reshanda Gray on Monday night.

Boyd Etches Name in Cal History Book in 57-54 Win Over WSU - California Golden Bears - University of California Official Athletic Site
Freshman Mikayla Cowling led the Bears with 15 points and senior Brittany Boyd became Cal's all-time assists leader after registering six assists as California (16-5, 8-2 Pac-12) held on to win its fifth-consecutive Pac-12 game with a 57-54 win against Washington State (13-8, 4-6 Pac-12) on Monday evening at Haas Pavilion.

Washington State women lose at Cal | Cougars | The Seattle Times
Mikayla Cowling scored 15 points and Brittany Boyd made two free throws with 12 seconds left to help the California women’s basketball team beat Washington State 57-54 on Monday night.

Cougars Fall In Final Seconds at California - Washington State University Official Athletic Site
Washington State suffered a 57-54 heartbreaking defeat at the University of California Monday.