2017 RB Cyrus Habibi-Likio commits to Washington State

For the second time in as many days, WSU has picked up a commitment from a Junior Day visitor who also attended the Crimson and Gray Game -- this time, it's running back Cyrus Habibi-Likio.

Habibi-Likio is a composite three-star player out of Mountain View, California. He chose the Cougars over offers from Iowa State, BYU, Army and much of the Mountain West. Washington had also been showing some interest as of late, but he pulled the trigger on the Cougs.

The other commitment yesterday, of course, was wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins -- the two are friends and traveled together to both Pullman and Spokane this spring. Running backs coach Jim Mastro was the lead recruiter on both.

Like quarterbacks, WSU typically takes just one running back a cycle, and the Cougs have added a little different style runner to their stable than last year's signee, Romello Harris. Harris came in listed at 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds; Habibi-Likio is listed at 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds. So, while Habibi-Likio is rated by most services as something like the 10th-best running back on the west coast, he's going to be an excellent fit for what WSU needs him to do in the Air Raid.

For more on what he brings to the table ...

Brian Anderson's take

Habibi-Likio is a really good-sized back, at just under 200 pounds in his junior year of high school, with a frame that could easily bulk up to that 215- to 225-pound range at which we see Gerard Wicks compete. He runs hard north-and-south, with really great vision and balance -- pretty key attributes for an "every down" sort of back.

WSU hasn't taken a cookie cutter approach to developing their backfield; each of their running backs on the roster bring a little something different to the table, and Habibi-Likio looks like a back that could take over the hard, between-the-tackles type of running. Most of the spectacular plays in his highlights are where he bounces a zone, but he consistently hits the line hard. He really does a great job at finding a lane and getting up field, and showed it takes more than arm tackles to stop him from going somewhere.

Here's the video: