WSU picks up commitment from Sam Carrell, New Mexico defensive end

The Washington State Cougars picked up a bit of positive recruiting news on the eve of the early signing period when defensive end Sam Carrell announced he was committing to Nick Rolovich’s program.

Carrell is a three-star recruit from Albuquerque, New Mexico’s Sandia High School who is 6-foot-4 and 254 pounds. He had been committed to the Baylor Bears since last April, only to decommit last week. He has no other reported Power 5 offers.

His commitment comes on the heels of a decommitment of WSU’s own — the Cougs lost Houston, Texas, linebacker Jayhvion Gipson yesterday. (It’s probably not a coincidence he picked up a TCU offer at roughly the same time, and then shortly thereafter also got a Texas Tech offer.) Gipson projected as a pass rusher, and so does Carrell, so this is probably a like-for-like replacement in the class.

Here’s a look at his highlights from his junior year:

Carrell is the 18th commitment in the 2021 class heading into the opening of the early signing period on Wednesday. He’s the fifth defensive lineman in the class, joining Raam Stevenson, Xavier Young, David Gusta, and Andrew Edson.