Washington State football: Grading Nick Rolovich’s first National Signing Day
With National Signing Day in the books, we assess Washington State Cougars head coach Nick Rolovich’s first class.
Wednesday was the mad scramble known as National Signing Day for high school football recruits. That made it a huge day for Nick Rolovich, the Washington State Cougars head coach. This is his first recruiting class at WSU.
There were recruiting challenges this cycle, the likes that have never been seen in college athletics. Due to COVID-19, there were no in-home visits for coaches, and players couldn’t visit campuses. Even without the “personal” touch, the Washington State Cougars have 20 student-athletes committed to the school.
College Football fans know that recruiting rankings are a starting point. There have been great recruits that turned out to be not as good as advertised, for one reason or another. Then there are those kids who, through hard work, determination, and coachability, become stars.
What the program does to build a player up once he arrives on campus is more important than a recruiting ranking. But as evidenced by the top programs, like Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, or USC, it’s much better to have great talent to start with.
National Rankings
There are three big sites that are are the “go-to” for recruiting rankings, 24/7 Sports, Rivals, and ESPN. The Cougs class is made up of mostly three-star players (depending on the site). Here is how Washington State fared in the rankings:
- 24/7: 56th nationally, 8th in the Pac-12.
- ESPN: 69th nationally, 11th in the Pac-12.
- Rivals: 50th nationally, 5th in the Pac-12.
Every scout sees things a little differently, and opinions greatly differ at times. Some of them have “Player X” ranked high, and others don’t think he’ll be very good. Without endorsing one over the other, 24/7 seems to be about the mid-point between ESPN and Rivals.