Washington State gets a commitment from Francisco Mauigoa

Last week, Nick Nordi let you all know that Francisco Mauigoa, a three-star linebacker originally from American Samoa, received a scholarship offer from your Washington State Cougars. Yesterday, Mauigoa announced his commitment to the Cougs:

He even held somewhat of a hat ceremony:

No word on whether that’s Francisco’s own hat or a hand-me-down from his older brother, Frederick Mauigoa, a mainstay on the WSU offensive line for the last four seasons.

The younger Mauigoa checks in at 6’3, 215 pounds. WSU is his only Power 5 offer, and he had G5 offers from Army, Utah State, Hawaii and San Jose State. He is Nick Rolovich’s 19th known commitment for the 2021 class. He’s the fourth linebacker to commit, joining Jayhvion Gipson, Fred Thompkins and Ryan Kershaw.

Here are some highlights:

It seems WSU has opened up a Mauigoa pipeline, which could pay off big time if the youngest Mauigoa brother goes crimson. Francis Mauigoa is a four-star offensive tackle with an offer list that includes.....are you ready?.....the Michigan Wolverines, Oregon Ducks, USC Trojans, Utah Utes, Arizona State Sun Devils, LSU Tigers, Mississippi State Bulldogs, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oklahoma Sooners, Tennessee Volunteers and Washington Huskies, in addition to Washington State.

No chance for Wazzu, right? Well, 247sports has WSU in the “warm” category along with Michigan, Oregon, USC and Utah, for what it’s worth. Francis is just a high school sophomore, so there’s a long way to go.

For now, WSU is now two-for-two on Mauigoas.

WSU announces the team’s Leadership Council

We’d heard a few things about WSU’s Leadership Council, a group of players Nick Rolovich wanted to create the team culture and such. Yesterday, we learned which players were named to that council:

Some notes:

• A long snapper!
• A lot of these names are expected....Max Borghi, Abraham Lucas, Liam Ryan, Jahad Woods, Renard Bell, Travell Harris, etc.
• Two of the three quarterbacks are on here: Cammon Cooper and freshman Jayden De Laura. Does this mean Gunner Cruz is third in line for QB reps? I wouldn’t read too much into it.
• There are other freshman: Joey Hobert and Chau Smith-Wade, two players who’ve been singled out as potential (probable?) contributors this season. Good for them.
• Hello, Amir Mujahid. In case you forgot, he’s a JC transfer on the d-line.

Basketball is Near!

Emma introduced you to a few women’s basketball players yesterday, and we got a brief glimpse of the men’s team as well:

Snow!

If you’re anywhere in Eastern Washington, North Idaho or Western Montana, you hopefully enjoyed the season’s first snowfall. The Cougs were lucky enough to practice in it:

If you’re like me and wondered who the Cougs would have played this weekend had there been no pandemic, you were disappointed: this was supposed to be WSU’s bye week.

RIP, John Rushing

Rushing, a member of WSU’s Palouse Posse, was just 48. He leaves behind his wife Angela and their four children.

Links

John Rushing, who coached Wildcats defenders in 2018 and '19, dies at 48 | Arizona Wildcats football | tucson.com
Rushing coached under Kevin Sumlin at the UofA in 2018 and '19.

Washington State preseason notes (Oct. 23): Cougars don't 'flinch' as season's first snow arrives on Palouse | The Spokesman-Review
One way or the other, in mid-October or late-November, Mother Nature was bound to interfere with Washington State's late-starting 2020 football season.