:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/25038095/20130831_sal_bl7_029.0.jpg)
Two days after landing a pair of offensive line recruits, the WSU coaching staff was back at it on Thursday, snagging two more verbal commitments in the 2014 class. Tight end/offensive tackle prospect Nick Begg and junior college offensive lineman Miguel Machado both went crimson.
Machado's commitment was first reported by Keenan Bowen of Coug247.com. The 6-foot-6, 280-pound prospect racked up more than 20 offers during the recruiting process. He chose WSU over Michigan State, Louisville, Illinois, Purdue and others. He's rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals and could be a candidate to play immediately. WSU will have three new starters along the offensive line next season, including at right tackle. There will be a few players in the mix for playing time, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see Machado among them.
Machado will graduate from Pasadena College this month and will be able to enroll in January. That should bode well for his prospects of playing early. He'll be able to go through winter conditioning with the team and participate in spring football. Machado took an official visit to WSU in late November before tripping to Michigan State the next week. Winning a recruiting battle against a team headed to a BCS bowl at a position of need is a nice coup for the coaching staff.
Begg was originally a 2013 prospect. He verbally committed to Arizona State with the plan to greyshirt then enroll in January. Those plans changed and Begg is now headed to WSU, according to Britton Ransford of WazzuWatch ($). A three-star prospect according to Rivals, Begg is an interesting player. The 6-foot-5, 240-pound prospect is listed as a defensive end by Rivals. He'll play offense in Pullman, however, and told Ransford he'll come to WSU as a tight end "with the idea of molding him into an offensive tackle further down the line."
Although he enrolled at ASU, Begg was only a part-time student and thus will come to Pullman with five years to play four. Begg played high school football at Santa Margarita Catholic high school where he was teammates with current WSU freshmen River Cracraft and Riley Sorenson. According to ASUDevils.com, Begg said he wanted to play with friends and thought WSU was a better fit.
THIS just happened - Nick Begg is a Coug!! Santa Margarita pipeline. #GoCougs #harrywelch pic.twitter.com/qwPBmvkZwl
— mamacracraft (@MamaCracraft) December 12, 2013
Considering all three went to the same high school as Klay Thompson, I'm going to go ahead and give Klay credit for opening the Santa Margarita to WSU pipeline.
Hopefully the WSU equipment staff is stocked up on extra large clothing. If you're keeping track at home, WSU landed four prospects this week which check in at 6-foot-5, 240; 6-foot-7, 285; 6-foot-5, 240 and 6-foot-6, 280. All four of which project to play along the offensive line.
