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The month-long winter recruiting dead period is finally over, which means the Washington State Cougars coaching staff will be hitting the airways over the next few days in preparation for this weekend's official visits.
It's typical for coaches to initiate in-home visits with prospects that will be on campus that weekend so that they can get squared away logistically for the official visit. As of now, there's fourteen confirmed official visitors expected to be in town, so the staff will be busy tomorrow and Friday.
While not a lot has changed over the last couple weeks since our last big board update, this should serve as a completely unofficial overview of all things Washington State recruiting on the offensive side as we enter silly season.
For counting purposes, the Cougars currently hold 22 verbal commitments in addition to the four players that have already signed and arrived on campus. That puts the current class at 26, which is one too many, though there's no indication that the staff is at all close to be finished in this class, so expect fireworks or something.
While there's surely going to be some deflections, academic casualties and greyshirt news over the next three weeks, we're going to stay away from any of that speculation.
UPDATES
Saturday, Jan. 16 — Logan Tuley-Tillman, a graduate transfer from Michigan, has committed to Washington State. Despite the commitment, the 6-foot-7, 300-pound offensive tackle says he's still going to take his visits, which includes a trip to Houston in the coming weeks. Expected to graduate with his B.A. in May, Tuley-Tillman will have two years of eligibility remaining and can play immediately.
Monday, Jan. 18 — Darnell Salomon, a four-star receiver out of Miami, Fla., says he'll take an official visit to WSU on Jan. 29, the final weekend for official visits prior to signing day on Feb. 3. The Miami Central standout is being recruited by new Washington State assistant coaches Dave Nichol and JaMarcus Shepherd. He's committed to USF.
Tuesday, Jan. 19 — Mike Leach and Washington State assistants Ken Wilson, Dave Nichol, Alex Grinch and Eric Mele had an in-home visit with receiver verbal Dezmon Patmon, linebacker commits Mason Vinyard and Jihad Woods on Monday evening. The three San Diego prospects hosted the coaches together for a taco night.
Tuesday, Jan. 19 — Baldwin Park, Calif., offensive guard Paco Perez took an official visit to Washington State last month, however the current Cal commit appears to be down to California and UCLA, according to several reports, including Greg Biggins of Scout.com. We've removed him from the big board.
Tuesday, Jan. 26 — Late this these updates, as we posted them elsewhere last week, but four-star receiver Darnell Salomon and two-star receiver Keoni Makekau told CougCenter that they were no longer visiting WSU. It appears the Cougars are about wrapped up at receiver. Both have been removed from the big board.
Tuesday, Jan. 26 — Cougfan.com reported that Stephen Houston and Josiah Westbrook would not be signing with Washington State ($). CougCenter has since been able to confirm that Houston will not be signing, though we have yet to get ahold of Westbrook. Both have been removed from the big board for now.
Tuesday, Jan. 26 — Washington State lost a verbal commitment from two-star quarterback Quentin Davis on Friday, which happened to be the day he was expected to visit officially. He tells CougCenter that ii "just wasn't the right fit."
Fresno State appears to be the leader for Davis, though Boise State could also jump into the picture after losing their QB commit last week. As of now, it doesn't appear WSU will take a scholarship quarterback this cycle, opting to save the spot for other positions. Spanaway, Wash., quarterback Bryce Missey has committed as a preferred walk-on.
Tuesday, Jan. 26 — Logan Tuley-Tillman took an official visit to Houston over the weekend, which came a week after verbally committing to Washington State on an official visit to Pullman. During his visit, the Michigan grad transfer asked the media to stop contacting him during his recruitment.
We'd consider the former four-star a soft commit, at best, though he wouldn't count towards this class as a May graduate. We're going to remove him from the big board for that reason.
Tuesday, Jan. 26 — Three offensive targets remain on the board, as Frederick Mauigoa, Tayler Hawkins and Zion Echols have yet to make college decisions. Hawkins, a two-way athlete, took a visit to San Diego State over the weekend and could make a decision at any time between Colorado, SDSU and WSU, given each school has spots.
Mauigoa, the top prospect in American Samoa, visited WSU over the weekend and had positive things to say about his experience. He'll take a visit to Oregon State this weekend then choose between the two schools.
Echols tripped to Cal over the weekend, which happened to be the same day that secondary recruiter and offensive coordinator Tony Franklin bolted to Middle Tennessee State, but it appears that didn't have a massive impact on Echols, who will make a decision this week then announce on signing day.
WSU offensive recruiting big board (10)
| Quarterback (0 of 1) | ||||||||
| Running Back (1 of 1) | ||||||||
| Name | Hometown | Ht/Wt | Stars | Visit | Commit | Offers | ||
| Romello Harris | Tulare, Calif. | 5-10/173 | *** | 22-Jan | Yes | CSU, Duke, Fresno, UW, WSU | ||
| Wide Receiver (5 of 5) | ||||||||
| Name | Hometown | Ht/Wt | Stars | Visit | Commit | Offers | ||
| Grant Porter | Upland, Calif. | 6-2/184 | *** | 22-Jan | Yes | WSU, BSU, CSU, KU, SDSU, SJSU, Utah | ||
| Renard Bell | Los Angeles, Calif. | 5-10/165 | *** | 15-Jan | Yes | WSU, BSU, Fresno, Nevada, SDSU | ||
| Isaiah Johnson | West Palm Beach, Fla. | 6-3/190 | *** | 4-Dec | Yes | Florida, Miami, L'Ville, So. Car, WSU | ||
| Dezmon Patmon | San Diego, Calif. | 6-4/202 | *** | 4-Dec | Yes | WSU, BSU Cal, CU, CSU, SDSU | ||
| Offensive Linemen (5 of 5) | ||||||||
| Name | Hometown | Ht/Wt | Stars | Visit | Commit | Offers | ||
| Joshua Watson | Everett, Wash. | 6-5/265 | *** | 15-Jan | Yes | WSU, BSU, Fresno, Idaho, UC Davis | ||
| Keenen King | Las Vegas (CA) Arbor View | 6-4/297 | *** | 4-Dec | Yes | WSU, ASU, CU, CSU, OS, SDSU, USU | ||
| Jaelen Lewis | Antelope (CA) HS | 6-6/270 | ** | 15-Jan | Yes | WSU, Fresno, UNLV, USU, SDSU, SJSU | ||
| Liam Ryan | La Verne (CA) Damien | 6-6/270 | ** | 11-Dec | Yes | WSU,AF, Fresno, NV, NM, SJSU | ||
| Christian Haangana | Milpitas (CA) HS | 6-5/345 | ** | 22-Jan | Yes | WSU, Oregon St., SJSU | ||
| Frederick Mauigoa | Pago Pago (A.S) Tafuna | 6-4/290 | *** | 22-Jan | No | WSU, OS, BYU | ||
| Athletes (0 of 1) | ||||||||
| Name | Hometown | Ht/Wt | Stars | Visit | Commit | Offers | ||
| Zion Echols | Covina, Calif. | 5-8/175 | *** | 15-Jan | No | WSU, Cal | ||
| Tayler Hawkins | Palm Springs, Calif. | 6-0/180 | *** | 15-Jan | No | WSU, Cal, SDSU | ||
Adds: ATH Tayler Hawkins
Drops: OL Nate Herbig, WR Khris Vaughn, QB Cody Brewer, OL Paco Perez, QB Quentin Davis, WR Stephen Houston, WR Josiah Westbrook, WR Darnell Salomon, WR Keoni-Kordell Makekau
* — Waiting on confirmation about which class Tuley-Tillman will count towards, though my preliminary assumption is that they'll figure out a way to push him towards next year's class, which means he'll sign a FAA following his graduation in June.
As mentioned in the last big board, Washington State is pretty full on the offensive side, and hasn't seen any action since swapping quarterback commits, which we'll get to below. But by no means does that indicate the Cougars are done recruiting offensive prospects, as they'll host several this month and, if you've followed recruiting, there's bound to be some silliness.
QUARTERBACK (1 of 1)
The biggest change on the offensive big board was at quarterback, where Washington State made a change shortly after the recruiting dead period began. As we'd mentioned previously, the Cougars were actively recruiting a quarterback from California for some time, which turned out to be Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco's Quentin Davis.
Davis, who spent the last two seasons behind former No. 1 overall quarterback and current UCLA standout Josh Rosen, jumped on his Washington State offer days after longtime commit Cody Brewer de-committed in what was a "mutual decision."
Davis, as we detailed in our commitment post, brings a very accurate arm and polished pocket presence to the fold. Playing for the top team in the country, Davis lit up opposing defenses to the tune of 40 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He'll take an official visit to Washington State on January 22 and is expected to enroll in June.
RUNNING BACK (1 of 1)
When Tulare (Calif.) Union's Romello Harris verbally committed to Washington State last month, it was expected that the Cougars were finished at the running back position given the crowded backfield already on campus.
However, Washington State will be hosting another running back this weekend in addition to Harris, three-star playmaker Zion Echols out of Covina (Calif.) Charter Oak. The former Cal commit is as electric of a playmaker as you'll find on the West Coast and one of those players that the staff will make room for.
Listed as an athlete, Echols, like Harris, can do a lot with the ball in his hands, whether it be at running back, inside in the slot or in the return game. Despite having already parted ways with Cal, Echols is expected to visit Berkeley next weekend and make a decision shortly after.
WIDE RECEIVER (5 of 5)
Also in town this weekend is Palm Springs (Calif.) athlete Tayler Hawkins, a versatile athlete who could line up at cornerback or receiver. Hawkins, a consensus three-star prospect, is down to Washington State, San Diego State and Colorado, though don't be surprised if he pulls the trigger this weekend prior to his final official visit to SDSU next weekend.
OFFENSIVE LINE (5 of 5)
The top prospect in American Samoa, Frederick Mauigoa, will take his official visit to Washington State next weekend, though he's also considering BYU and Oregon State, whom he's also expected to visit this month.
The Cougars, as you know, have a strong track record when getting Samoan prospects on campus, and WSU should be considered the favorite to land the 6-foot-4, 290-pound guard prospect. They'll make room for him.