According to Scout, at least five high school players will be taking their official visits to the Palouse this weekend, as Mike Leach and Co. attempt to persuade them to play their college ball for the Washington State Cougars. Who will be here? Let's take a look.
Committed Players Visiting:
Tyler Bruggman, QB, Phoenix, AZ (✯✯✯✯)
Demarcus Ayers, WR, Lancaster, TX (✯✯✯)
Non-committed Players Visiting:
Sean Dowling, OT, Fallbrook, CA (✯✯✯)
Jake Roh, WR, Scottsdale, AZ (✯✯✯)
Nick Terry, DT, Elk Grove, CA (✯✯)
Interestingly enough, the visiting recruits aren't limited to football this weekend. Both Noah Allen and Josh Hawkinson are basketball players taking their official visits to WSU this weekend as well. Allen is the more interesting of the two, as he's a 3 star SF from California with offers from at least 10 other schools.
The headliner of this group is obviously Bruggman, and other sites are reporting he's buddies with Roh. The best recruiters are often players themselves, as hearing from your peers that you should commit is much different than hearing from coaches and recruiting coordinators. I know when I originally evaluated Bruggman I talked about not being surprised if he de-committed. After thinking about it more, though, I don't think that's going to happen. The QB position de-commits a lot less than other positions, though it's definitely not immune. Bruggman's second choice -- Arizona State -- has already snagged their guy in Joshua Dobbs, a 4-star, Elite 11 QB. Bruggman has at least 10 more BCS offers, but at this point, I'd be surprised if he de-committed. In a weird way, both current Coug QBs struggles thus far has made committing more appealing. If a kid thinks the job is up for grabs, even as a true freshman, that might be an advantage over a school with a starter entrenched for at least a year or two.
Ayers visiting on the same weekend his future QB only helps. While it's certainly not necessary for a QB and WR to be best friends, being buddies doesn't hurt. Plus, Ayers helps Bruggman in terms of recruiting the other guys. If college has taught me anything, it's that peer pressure is real. Just commit already, all the cool kids are doin' it!
Dowling is an interesting prospect, and he's currently a UCLA commit. He originally verballed to the Bruins back in April, but is committed to taking his official visits. This has caused panic amongst Bruins fans, and his commitment has even been downgraded to "Soft". I don't understand the problem with a 17-year-old kid taking his allotment of free visits to schools where they'll shower him in praise for an entire weekend. Mrs. Kyle & I went back to a restaurant we knew we weren't choosing for our Rehearsal Dinner simply because we had a coupon for a free appetizer. Moral of the story: free stuff is awesome, and people courting you is too. Don't begrudge recruits who want to take all of their official visits, even after they've committed to another school.
Dowling is a big kid with a frame to add more weight. In many ways, he's the type of offensive lineman Paul Wulff would have gone after. He's listed as 6'6 and 265 pounds. He currently holds offers from UCLA, Oklahoma, Wazzu, Arizona, Arizona State, Army, Colorado, Cornell, Harvard, Michigan State, Navy, Nevada, Oregon State, San Diego State, and Vanderbilt. That's quite an impressive and diverse set of offers. Big time schools are after him. Ivy League schools are after him. Service Academies are after him. These three different types of offer mean he's good, he excels in the classroom, and he is high in character.
Dowling's highlights are available here. I highly suggest you go watch them. I really, really like what he brings to the table, and if we could steal him from UCLA, that would basically be the proverbial cherry on top. FIRE CHANTI DAN!
Roh is really athletic, as he played both WR and LB for Chaparral HS in Scottsdale, AZ. You can check out his highlights here and here. I don't think there's any one thing he particularly excels at; rather, he's sort of a jack-of-all-trades dabbling in a bit of everything. It has been reported that he and Bruggman are close, so don't be surprised if he commits this weekend. He currently holds offers from Arizona, Duke, Oregon State, and Wazzu.
Terry is a bit of a mystery, as I couldn't find tape on him. Scout lists him as a 6'4, 270 pound defensive tackle, though. He currently holds offers from Boise State, Cal Poly, Colorado State, Fresno State, Nevada, Oregon State, San Jose State, UNLV, and Wazzu.
The Cougs don't necessarily need to beat Cal to pick up a verbal commitment from any of these kids, but it certainly doesn't hurt.
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