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HCA: Football recruiting adds three, loses one

Cougs are finishing strong entering the home stretch before early signing day on Dec. 19.

Washington v Washington State Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images

College football’s early signing period begins on December 19, which means we are just a few weeks away from the Washington State Cougars inking the majority of their new crop of recruits. Coaches are already hitting the road for in-home visits and some news was made in the past week with a few commitments and one decommit.

The day of the Apple Cup, the Cougars actually got some good news, as Colorado Buffaloes commit Don Chapman switched allegiances to WSU. With the firing of head coach Mike McIntyre, we should expect to see a lot of these Colorado pledges back on the market, and the Cougars have already scooped up one.

Chapman is a 6-foot-2 185 pound safety out of San Diego. He is considered one of the top 100 players in the state of California, and is rated as three stars by the 247sports composite metric. In addition to Colorado, he also boasted offers from the Arizona Wildcats, USC Trojans, and a host of MWC schools. He is WSU’s highest rated defensive back recruit. Here are some highlights of Thompson.

More recently, the Cougars received some more exciting news with the commitment of running Jamir Thomas out of Massillon, Ohio, on Tuesday. Thomas, rated as a high-three-star prospect by 247sports and Rivals, had an impressive offer list including the Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans, Iowa State Cyclones, Minnesota Gophers and West Virginia Mountaineers.

The 6-foot-1/215-pounder was the 27th ranked inside linebacker in the country, but WSU’s apparent willingness to let him play running back may be one of the reasons he is heading west. Thomas rushed for more than 1,900 yards and 24 touchdowns this year so he is certainly a promising offensive prospect as well. Here are some highlights of Thomas.

Finally, the Cougars picked up another commitment from a junior college defensive back about a week ago when Bryce Beekman announced he’d be signing with WSU. Beekman is the teammate of offensive lineman commit Dontae Powell at Arizona Western Junior College. Beekman is the third juco defensive back to commit to the Cougs, and the highest ranked one of the trio. Here’s some video:

As we well know the recruiting gods giveth, but they also taketh away. Cougar fans were pretty excited to land defensive tackle Nassir Sims back on November 5. Well, now Sims has switched gears and announced his decommitment on Monday. It is unfortunate as defensive tackle is a perennial area of need for the WSU defense and they are not easy to come by.

With that, here’s how the recruiting class now stands. There are now 20 known commitments from those with scholarship offers and one preferred walk-on (kicker):

2019 WSU football recruiting commitments

Player Expected Pos. 247 Composite Composite Value NLI received? Enrolled Early? Measurables (via 247) Commit Date City State CougCenter Profile Comments
Player Expected Pos. 247 Composite Composite Value NLI received? Enrolled Early? Measurables (via 247) Commit Date City State CougCenter Profile Comments
Travion Brown LB ✯✯✯ 0.8748 YES NO 6-3/215 10/2/18 Temecula CA Link Rated four stars by 247sports evaluators
Jamir Thomas RB ✯✯✯ 0.8676 YES NO 6-1/215 11/27/18 Massillon OH Link Ranked as a LB, converted to RB as a senior
Gunner Cruz QB ✯✯✯ 0.8607 YES YES 6-4.5/215 5/31/18 Queen Creek AZ Link Threw for 5700 yards and 70 TDs as soph/jr
Bryce Beekman DB ✯✯✯ 0.8582 YES YES 6-2/190 11/20/18 Yuma AZ Link Teammate of OL commit Dontae Powell
Jouvensly Bazile RB ✯✯✯ 0.8540 YES NO 5-10/180 6/28/18 Naples FL Link Has reportedly clocked 10.98 in 100 meters
Patrick Utschinski OL ✯✯✯ 0.8537 YES NO 6-7/280 9/10/18 Walla Walla WA Link Rated four stars by 247sports evaluators
Konner Gomness OL ✯✯✯ 0.8532 YES NO 6-4/270 9/29/18 Fresno CA Link Reported offer from Louisville and lots of midmajors
Billy Pospisil WR ✯✯✯ 0.8463 YES YES 5-11/190 2/16/18 Arvada CO Attends same high school as 2018 signee Max Borghi
Armauni Archie DB ✯✯✯ 0.8456 YES NO 6-1/175 10/12/18 El Cerrito CA Link Chose WSU over an offer from Nebraska
Derrick Langford DB ✯✯✯ 0.8448 YES YES 6-2/185 11/15/18 San Francisco CA Link Juco who has four to play three
Tyler Garay-Harris DL ✯✯✯ 0.8444 YES NO 6-5/230 11/4/18 Oakland CA Link Offers from Utah and ASU
Donovan Ollie WR ✯✯✯ 0.8431 YES NO 6-3/205 10/15/18 Wylie TX Link Chose WSU over Iowa State and Utah
Peni Naulu LB ✯✯✯ 0.8423 YES NO 6-1/210 9/6/18 Kapolei HI Link Other offers: UW, Oregon, UCLA, Cal, Nebraska
Cosmas Kwete DL ✯✯✯ 0.8418 YES NO 6-3/220 11/5/18 Phoenix AZ Link Inexperienced player, specialized in Rugby
Daniel Isom DB ✯✯✯ 0.8407 YES YES 5-10/180 11/8/18 Council Bluffs IA Link Played as a true freshman for NIU before transfer
Rocky Katoanga LB ✯✯✯ 0.8366 YES YES 6-2/205 2/6/18 Oceanside CA Grayshirted
Jimmy Price OL ✯✯✯ 0.8306 YES NO 6-5/295 1/26/19 Houston TX Link Picked WSU over Arizona State
Shahman Moore DB ✯✯✯ 0.8267 YES YES 6-0/170 12/20/18 El Segundo CA Link Two years of eligibility remaining
Ma'ake Fifita OL ✯✯✯ 0.8154 YES NO 6-5/250 12/16/18 Snohomish WA Link Staff targeted him as a center
Gatlin Grisso DB ✯✯✯ 0.8072 YES YES 6-1/185 6/23/17 Aubrey TX Link Grayshirted
Nicholas Sheetz DL ✯✯✯ 0.8072 YES NO 6-3/253 2/3/19 Greenwood SC Link Lightly recruited; offered PWO by Georgia
Simon Samarzich LS ✯✯✯ 0.8043 YES NO 6-0/200 6/8/18 Upland CA Rated the top long snapper in the country
Gage Gubrud QB NA YES YES 6-2/205 1/26/19 Cheney WA Link Grad transfer from EWU

Football

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/nov/27/pac-12-power-rankings-with-washington-at-no-1-and-/

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http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/nov/28/washington-states-gardner-minshew-one-of-five-fina/

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https://247sports.com/college/washington-state/Article/Mike-Leach-Washington-State-Cougars-Recruiting-Pullman-Class-125522674/

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