WSU football recruiting: Wazzu commits, targets earn postseason honors

Washington State's current recruiting class is still a work in progress heading into tomorrow's National Signing Day, though of the 26 prospects signed or currently verbally committed, many of them have earned postseason honors.

The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) announced their All Southern Section teams two weeks ago, and several WSU commits were recognized for their outstanding play this season.

For the second consecutive year, Downey, Calif., cornerback Jalen Thompson, who enrolled in classes in early January, was named All-CIF-SS Southeast Division, this time as a receiver after earning the honor as a defensive back last season. Thompson was joined on the Southeast team by Washington State verbal commit Renard Bell, also a receiver.

WSU verbal commits Stevie Houston (Western Division) and Skyler Thomas (Inland Division) also earned All-CIF-SS honors. Houston was also named first team All-Pacific View League as a receiver. A pair of athlete targets, Tayler Hawkins and Zion Echols, were named to the All-CIF-SS Eastern and Central Divisions, respectively.

(Of note, Houston is not expected to sign with Washington State on Wednesday, according to a source. It's unknown whether he'll grayshirt or blueshirt.)

San Diego, Calif., linebacker commit Jihad Woods earned All-San Diego Section first team defense honors for Helix, in addition to being named to the East County Grossmont Hills all-league first team. Woods' teammate and fellow linebacker verbal commit Mason Vinyard was named East County Grossmont Hills all-league honorable mention.

A pair of junior college verbal commits were also recognized this offseason. City College of San Francisco safety Robert Taylor earned All-Bay 6 League honors on defense while Contra Costa C.C. linebacker Chima Onyeukwu was named to the All-Pacific 7 League defense. The lone junior college signee, defensive end Garrett McBroom, was named to the All-Southwest Junior College Conference second team defense.

Offensive tackle commit Keenen King picked up a slew of honors, including All-Northwest League first team and Nevada All-State first team offense as an offensive lineman. The Tacoma News Tribune also included King in their Western 100 list, the only Nevada prospect on the list.

West Palm Beach, Calif., Dwyer receiver Isaiah Johnson named Florida All-State Class 7A honorable mention. La Verne, Calif., Damien offensive lineman Liam Ryan was named to the All-Baseline League first team offense. Cornerback Marcus Strong was named to the Citrus Belt League first team defense.

Cal-High Sports came out with all-state teams this week, in which several Washington State commits and targets were honored. Defensive end Danny Bender out of San Diego, Calif., and running back Romello Harris, despite injuries during his senior season, were named to the Medium Schools first team defense and offense, respectively.

Christian Haangana, a three-star offensive line commit, was named to the Cal-High All-State second team offense while Harris landed on the third-team all-state offense. Woods added an additional honor as a fourth-team selection.

Nilsson Gaisoa, the Cougars' newest known verbal commitment, was named All-Hawaii Football Division I honorable mention as an offensive lineman. Fellow offensive line commit Josh Watson was named to Washington's All-State 4A first team as a tackle.

Another uncommitted target, Wayne Kirby, was named to the Idaho 5A first team defense as a defensive tackle.

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This post will be updated if and when we dig up more honors. In the meantime, you can get caught up on everything WSU football recruiting by accessing the offensive and defensive big boards.