Kyrin Priester signs financial aid agreement with WSU football

WSU received a bit of good news on the recruiting front today when it announced that former Clemson wide receiver Kyrin Priester had signed a financial aid agreement with the school. He will have to sit out in 2015 because of NCAA transfer rules.

Priester was a non-qualifier in the 2013 class who reclassified to 2014 by attending prep school, but he was considered a consensus three-star recruit in his original class, and he also had scholarship offers from Ohio State, Georgia, Ole Miss, South Carolina and others.

While it appears WSU is landing a coveted athlete, the move does not come without caveats. Priester was dismissed on Sept. 3 by Clemson coach Dabo Swinney just one game into his first year with the Tigers, with Swinney saying, "Just a poor attitude. No respect for authority. He's a good kid, just lost his way."

Is this a harbinger of potential problems on the horizon for WSU? Britton Ransford of WazzuWatch writes:

A source tells WazzuWatch.com that the Washington State staff has been in touch with the Clemson staff regarding Priester's dismissal and have determined that it was nothing too serious, but "at the time it was best for both parties to go their separate ways."

If, indeed, Priester's problems are behind him -- and Mike Leach has demonstrated over the years that he's willing to give kids a fresh start -- then WSU could be getting an explosive playmaker on the outside unlike anyone the Cougars have had since Leach's arrival.

Priester is 6-foot-1/188 pounds and figures to be an outside receiver in the Air Raid. His prep school coach compared him to former Clemson star Jacoby Ford and said Priester possesses "legit 4.4 speed."

When Priester signed in 2014, Swinney said, "This guy can motor. I think he is a Jaron Brown with a little more speed and athleticism. Jaron Brown played as a rookie a lot and played in the NFL with the Cardinals this year. He will be a very versatile player and we can moe him around and he has an ability to stretch the field."

Judge for yourself:

Based on this, I'd be surprised if he's "4.4 fast," but he's definitely fast, with the size and long stride speed that screams outside receiver.

An interesting part of this is that he's from Georgia, and the vast majority of his offers out of high school were in the southeast, with a couple of midwest schools (OSU, Purdue) and TCU mixed in. He quite literally considered nothing out west. And yet, he's decided to come all the way out WSU to continue his career. He also was being recruited by Utah, but never took a visit.

Moving to Pullman can be a jarring experience for some students, but he did take an official visit last weekend, so he has some idea of what he's chosen. And he certainly wouldn't be the first kid to thrive after finding Pullman a nice place to get away from the distractions of home.

Let's hope it works out for him.