Nick Rolovich, Washington State Cougars.
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.
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:
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.
If there is a headliner among the 2020 recruits, its wide receiver CJ Moore. The 6-4, 175-pound was ESPN’s number one Juco wide receiver. Explosive from the X-receiver spot, Moore should be a weapon for Jayden de Laura as early as next year.
Moore played one year at Oklahoma State. As a redshirt freshman in 2019, Moore appeared in five games for the Cowboys, catching four passes, including two for touchdowns. He transferred to Iowa Central Community College in June, but the school didn’t play this fall.
There are a few interesting prospects who signed a national letter of intent with Washington State. Linebacker Gavin Barthiel was a flip from Georgia Tech. The defensive line will get a boost with Raam Stevenson from Arlington, TX, and Xavier Young from Tallahassee, Florida.
Another player on that side of the ball to keep an eye on is Jaden Hicks, a defensive back. Hicks played at high school powerhouse Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas.
Two of the recruits this year are Washington natives. Defensive end Andrew Edson is from Mount Si high school in Snoqualmie, and LaSalle High School (Yakima) product Ryan Kershaw is an outside linebacker. Both are three-star recruits.
Then there is Xavier Ward, 24/7’s 22nd ranked quarterback. Ward comes into a very deep QB situation when he arrives on campus. After watching some of his videos on Hudl, the young man can throw. He has good arm strength to throw deep and touch.
One position Wazzu didn’t get any commitments from is running back.
On big key in building a recruiting base is to start at home. While the state of Washington doesn’t produce the number of players Texas does, there are some great high school products. UW understands this. They got four of the top eight Washington prospects and are still in contention for number one ranked J.T. Tuimoloau from Eastside Catholic.
Of the 20 commitments, Wazzu has only two are from in-state. It gets a little worse. Those two recruits are ranked 14th and 21st by ESPN. This isn’t a knock on Edson and Kershaw. They may turn out to be outstanding college players. What they need is more local talent around them.
I covered Rutgers for two years, before and after they rehired Greg Schiano. When he came back to campus, one of Schiano’s first goals was to re-establish the New Jersey recruiting base. This was the first recruiting class since coming back, and he pulled in eight of the state’s top 22 recruits.
For Washington State to be successful, they must pull more in-state talent. Regional talent as well. No recruits in this class come from either Idaho or Oregon. Rolovich has to establish his base and work out from there. Why should an out of state recruit consider the Cougars if players within the state or region don’t want to play there?
Under the current conditions, it’s hard for a new head coach, especially one who came from thousands of miles away, to forge relationships with high school coaches. Hopefully, when coronavirus restrictions ease up, that will be near the top of Rolovich’s to-do list.
In academic terms, a “C” grade is average. Exactly what the Cougs put together, an average recruiting class. There is no consensus four-star prospect out of the 20 commits. When compared against the rest of the Pac-12 and FBS as a whole, Washington State’s 2021 class is toward the mid-pack. That’s where they’ve been recently.
It’s important to note this is far from a final grade. We won’t know that for another four years.
Until the Washington State Cougars get better talent, they can’t expect to compete with the best in the Pac-12.