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There has been some decent activity on the WSU recruiting trail in the last month with the Cougars picking up eight recruits since June 5. That included a very busy day last week when WSU landed three verbal commitments in the span of a couple hours.
The dust has settled from that commitment spree and WSU is left with 10 verbal commitments in 2016 and its first of the 2017 class. WSU is off to a solid start as it approaches the midway point of what should be a 25-player class. Things are heavy on the offensive side -- including five wide receiver commitments -- but that can always change. And the current coaching staff has proven it will switch players from offense to defense, or even the other way. There is the usual heavy emphasis on California with seven of the 10 from California. The other three are from Washington, a state WSU hasn't recruited especially heavy in recent years.
What WSU doesn't have very much of yet is lineman, on either side of the ball. Offensive lineman Josh Watson is the only linemen currently committed. The Cougars typically take at least three offensive linemen in each class and Joe Salave'a will be busy building out the defensive line. It's a solid start, but there is still plenty of work to be done and WSU will need to land a few highly-rated players if it wants to improve on last year's class ranking.
Here is where things currently stand.
| 2016 Recruiting Class | ||||||
| Player | Position | Height/Weight | Hometown | Rivals | Scout | 24/7 Sports |
| Ian Book | QB | 6'0, 193 lbs | El Dorado Hills, Calif. | ★★★ | ★★★ | ★★★ |
| Jihad Woods | LB | 5'11, 215 lbs | La Mesa, Calif | ★★★ | ★★ | ★★★ |
| Renard Bell | WR | 5'10, 165lbs | Los Angeles, Calif | ★★★ | ★★★ | ★★★ |
| Jalen Thompson | WR | 5'11, 169 lbs | Downey, Calif | ★★★ | ★★★ | ★★★ |
| Stephen Houston | WR | 6'3, 185 lbs | Oxnard, Calif | ★★ | ★★ | ★★ |
| D'jimon Jones | ATH | 6'1, 170 lbs | Federal Way, Wash. | ★★★ | ★★ | ★★★ |
| Josiah Westbrook | WR | 6'1, 180 lbs | Bellingham, Wash. | ★★★ | ★★ | ★★ |
| Joshua Watson | OT | 6'5, 265 lbs | Everett, Wash. | N/A | N/A | ★★★ |
| Grant Porter | WR | 6'2, 184 lbs | Upland, Calif. | ★★★ | ★★★ | ★★★ |
| Skyler Thomas | DB | 5'11, 174 lbs | Perris, Calif | ★★ | ★★★ | ★★★ |
| 2017 Recruiting Class | ||||||
| Player | Position | Height/Weight | Hometown | Rivals | Scout | 24/7 Sports |
| Tayari Venable | DB | 6'0, 180 lbs | Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. | ★★★ | ★★★ | N/A |
*****
Football:
G&T Blog matters: Cougs get three more commits - Spokesman.com - July 5, 2015
Washington State received commitments from three football players from California, two of them in the class of 2016. But the first to announce his decision will take the longest to get to Pullman.
Taking A Close Look At Close Calls In The Pac-12 - Building The Dam
The Cougs would be more than pleased with a 6 win season with wins over Oregon and Oregon St., and a bowl trip. But they could just as easily have also had a 1 win season, and probably already have fired Leach!