WSU lands three 2019 defensive commits on a busy Monday

It has been a busy, busy day for Jeff Phelps on the recruiting trail. Less than a day after Tyler Garay-Harris pledged crimson, two more defensive linemen ended their recruitment and given their verbal to the Washington State Cougars, as well as an outside linebacker. Not bad considering WSU started Sunday morning with zero defensive line commits.

We’ll start with the early afternoon and the commitment of Cosmas Kwete, a three-star lineman from Phoenix Central High School, first reported by Cougfan. Kwete’s story is a superb one: he and his brother both committed today (his brother is heading to play for the Massachusetts Minutemen); they both arrived in the United States from a Zimbabwe refugee camp and neither had been on a football field prior to three years ago.

Kwete is certainly raw, but at 6’3”, 220 pounds, the physical size is there. He has a lot of experience playing rugby.

Just a couple of hours later, the good news continued to roll in with the commitment of defensive tackle Nassir Sims, a three-star defensive tackle also out of the Phoenix area. Sims stands at 6-foot-1 and nearly 270 pounds.

Sims chose the Cougs over offers from several Power Five schools, including the Arizona Wildcats, Colorado Buffaloes, Oregon State Beavers and Syracuse Orange.

Lastly, another defensive tackle joined the party: Dejon Benton, a three-star recruit from Pittsburg, Calif., who made his official visit about five weeks ago, finally pulling the trigger and choosing WSU over Arizona.

One would presume both Sims and Benton are destined for a redshirt with Lamonte McDougle eligible to play next year, but you never know; WSU is incredibly thin on the defensive line already, and with Taylor Comfort, Logan Tago and Nick Begg graduating, there will be plenty of snaps available.

What a day! You deserve to celebrate, coach.

Here’s how the class now stands: