WSU football recruiting: 4-star CB Austin Joyner verbally commits

WSU's 2015 recruiting class got a major shot in the arm on Friday with 4-star cornerback Austin Joyner verbally committing to the Cougars, according to Adam Gorney of Rivals.com. Joyner is a consensus 4-star prospect and ranked as one of the top players in Washington.

Many of the recruiting websites list Joyner as a running back, but he recently decided he wanted to play defense in college. The 5'11, 186-pound prospect from Marysville was originally committed to Washington, before rescinding his pledge following the coaching change. While his offer list includes offers from Arkansas, Oregon State, Colorado and others, Joyner reportedly narrowed his choices down to Boise State and WSU. At one point, reports indicated he was a Boise State lean, but that appeared to swing recently, according to Justin Hopkins of 247Sports.

Without getting overly hyperbolic, this is a very significant pickup for the Cougars, for a few reasons. WSU has struggled to find cornerback depth and while there are some young players in the pipeline, adding a player with Joyner's ability is a major boost going forward. The fact he's one of the top prospects in the state and the Cougars beat out a few Pac-12 teams and BSU for him is just icing on the cake.

Joyner made a name as a prolific running back and as you might imagine, the majority of his highlights are of him shredding defenses. That may not give a great indication of his ability to play corner, but his athleticism, speed and other skills jump off the screen.

Those are his sophomore highlights, with some more recent highlights available on his hudl page. Joyner becomes the second commitment in the 2015 recruiting class, joining 4-star defensive tackle Thomas Toki. A pair of 4-star prospects at positions of need is a great start to the class.