Chau Smith picks WSU as Nick Rolovich lands first commit

With the regular signing day looming on Wednesday, Nick Rolovich finally landed his first verbal commitment of the 2020 class when cornerback Chau Smith announced his intention to sign with the Washington State Cougars.

In the weeks since Rolovich was named coach of the Washington State Cougars, he and his staff had courted a lot of players for the final handful of available scholarships — Smith was among seven reported official visitors last weekend — but it wasn’t until Super Bowl Sunday that he finally got one.

Smith is a mid-three-star prospect out of Chicago who was previously committed to the Wyoming Cowboys. That he flipped to WSU should be no surprise: The Cougs’ new defensive coordinator, Jake Dickert, held the same position at Wyoming, and WSU brought over two other coaches from the Cowboys. Smith also held offers from the Pittsburgh Panthers, Purdue Boilermakers, and a slew of Group of 5 schools.

He’s smallish at 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds, but his speed is good if his running back and special teams highlights are to be believed. Those highlights also suggest a corner whose shiftiness should allow him to quickly change direction in coverage.

Smith is the fifth defensive back in this class, joining signees Hunter Escorcia, Justin Anderson, Jackson Lataimua and graduate transfer Phillip Powell. Only Smith and Anderson are believed to be signing as cornerbacks, however, and WSU is believed to still be pursuing at least one more corner, given the need at that position on the roster.

The regular signing period opens up on Wednesday, and WSU is believed to still have six scholarships to offer, presuming Powell is joining WSU as a scholarship player. You can check out the entire class here.