Kyle Smith makes signing of Australian Ryan Rapp official

New Washington State Cougars coach Kyle Smith added another player to his first recruiting class as 6-foot-5 Australian guard Ryan Rapp announced via Instagram that he was flipping his commitment from Smith’s previous school to his new one.

This comes just a week after new San Francisco Dons coach Todd Golden announced he had signed Rapp to a letter of intent, but Rapp actually signed the letter during the early fall signing period. The San Francisco Examiner is reporting that USF will grant Rapp’s request for a release from his LOI.

“A lot of things have changed these past few weeks, and I’m glad to say that I will be signing with Washington State University!” Rapp posted. “I’m honoured to have had the opportunity to play at San Francisco but decided to follow my head coach to the [C]ougars to play in the Pac-12!”

UPDATE: It’s official!

“Ryan Rapp is a 6-5 combo guard who has a great feel for the game,” Smith said via news release. “He sees the floor extremely well and can make plays at both ends with his length. He is a good rebounder and gets his hands in passing lanes. He is the son of a coach and plays like it. He was raised in the land down under and can hopefully carry on the tradition of great Aussie Cougs like Brock Motum and Aron Baynes.”

Video is scarce on Rapp — if you’re desperate for a glimpse, there are videos of him on YouTube from a California tour two summers ago — but he sounds a bit like a project who probably is a decent candidate to redshirt this season.

EDIT: We found some video from April! No. 23 on the gray team — this is the Victorian Youth Championship in Victoria, Australia.

The Examiner says that Smith, before he left for WSU, described Rapp as a “Steve Blake-type guard who is adept at passing,” and Golden described him as “a big combo guard (whose) best basketball is ahead of him.”

“He already has a great understanding of how to play the lead guard position,” Golden said in USF’s news release announcing Rapp’s signing. “He has great feel, and is very comfortable operating out of the pick-and-roll. He’s made big strides in his all-around game over the past year, and we expect him to continue on that trajectory. He already has a great frame, and we expect him to continue to add strength as he develops in our program.”

He most recently played for the Dandenong Rangers in their junior club league, and he’s listed on the club’s Eurobasket at 6-foot-3, making it likely that he’s actually grown a significant amount in the last year.

This brings Smith’s 2019 class unofficially up to six, as he’s now secured signings from five other recruits: Deion James (whose grad transfer has been officially announced by the school), junior college transfers Daron Henson and Isaac Bonton (the former of which has already signed an LOI), Seattle-area point guard (and WSU legacy) Noah Williams, and Ukrainian big man Volodymyr Markovetskyy.

Smith still could have more scholarships still to give, as we’re still waiting to hear if Marvin Cannon, Ahmed Ali and Wade will indeed be transferring, as well as whether Nigel John will be released from his letter of intent. John has given no indication of his intent one way or the other.

You can track all of the activity with WSU’s roster this offseason right here.

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