WSU football recruiting: Top programs set their sites on Cougar commits

WSU fans have gotten rightfully excited about the 2015 class that Mike Leach and his staff have put together, as it's currently rated between 32nd and 27th, depending on which scouting service you like to place the most faith in. It's projected to be the highest rated WSU recruiting class in a decade.

However, there's a downside to securing verbal commitments from such talented players: Other teams want talented players, too!

Welcome to the silly season, when in-home visits from coaches and official visits from players can swing the fortunes of a recruiting class as National Signing Day draws near on February 4.

Take, for example, WSU commit Jonah Moi. He's a three-star linebacker from Riverside Community College who pledged his allegiance to the Cougs about a month and a half ago. Here's what his Twitter page looked like this morning:

The reason he's in Texas? He's got an official visit with TCU. And, oh by the way, during that meeting with Oregon at his home, the Ducks officially offered Moi a scholarship. A minute after tweeting he had a great meeting with those coaches, he tweeted a picture of himself on a fake ESPN The Magazine cover as a Coug.

Good luck reading the tea leaves!

Other players committed to the Cougs whom big programs are pushing for?

• Nebraska has come after three-star Cerritos College linebacker Aaron Porter, but he says he's absolutely committed to WSU.
• Michigan has invited three-star WR Deontay Burnett for an official visit, and he's mulling it over.
• Four-star linebacker Kyahva Tezino is taking a visit to San Diego State this weekend, and there have also been reports that Ole Miss is sniffing around.
• Cal is making a late push for three-star offensive lineman Noah Myers, who says he's solid to WSU.
• Linebacker Logan Tago, from American Samoa, looks to have an offical visit to Oregon State this weekend and is classified as a soft verbal.

Of course, WSU is still working on flipping guys themselves:

• We told you about Tae'on Mason, who has decommitted from USC and figures to be committing to the Cougs, although he hasn't done so yet.
• Mike Leach, David Yost and Dennis Simmons visited three-star Utah WR commit George Wilson.

And WSU is also in pursuit of a number of undecided players (other pursuing schools in parentheses):

• Three-star receiver Lavan Alston (Nebraska, Cal, Oregon State)
• Three-star linebacker Fotu Leiato (Oregon, Michigan State, UCLA)
• Four-star receiver Carlos Strickland (UCLA, Cal, Texas Tech, Texas)

Now, you might know that WSU already has what appears to be a full class. All I can say is ... well, this is what big boy recruiting looks like. Get used to it.

And buckle up.