As we bask in the glow of the Oregon win (more on that in a moment), some actual football recruiting buzz is starting to percolate. What do you know? Desmond Trufant has been making a name for himself down in Tacoma, and is drawing raves from all over. And I guess Wulff meant it when he said that right after signing day they are already working on next year’s class. Wulff has already stepped up and offered Trufant a full ride (what a difference with this coaching staff?).
Yes, that is Trufant, as in the Tacoma Trufant’s. Do the Cougs’ have a leg up in this fight? Well, as of today, young Desmond is wide-open in the recruiting battle. We’ve offered, but so has Ty Willingham. And Oregon is interested as well.
Maybe Wulff has an edge here, not only with the WSU lineage with Marcus, but we all likely know that the middle Trufant, Isaiah, played for Wulff at Eastern. So we’ll see how it all plays out.
Trufant is an interesting prospect. Good size for a high school junior at 6-0, 170, and reportedly runs a 4.5. But his coach at Wilson already says that he’s better at this stage than his older brothers in terms of making big plays and showing pure athletic ability. He’s also a heck of a guard on the hoops team. He made second team All-Narrows league this season and will be a likely first-team candidate next year. He also ran track in ’07, running in the 4×100 relay. And as a frosh, he even triple-jumped over 40 feet, good for 5th best that year against a bunch of upper-classmen.
You know what’s great though? Wulff is out there fighting for this kid, regardless of his name and the possible “ins” we have here. Can you imagine the former staff actually offering a kid this early?? Never would have happened. I think back to losing Cameron Elisara to UW and how that former staff handled a player that many thought would be a sure thing to WSU. After all his dad played on the ’81 team, he was playing in Spokane, he had interest in WSU. But while we collectively fell asleep at the wheel, he chose UW because they were after him, showed him the “love”, that sort of thing. I can’t WAIT to see what sort of classes Wulff can put together over the next couple of years once he has a chance to establish his product!
So the latest polls have our hoop team at #17 in the AP, #19 in the coaches/USA Today. Seems about right. You can’t help but feel good about how they’ve righted the ship. I’ll let Brinkhater go off about the x’s and o’s, but from where I sit they seem to have that swagger back that they were lacking there for a tough stretch. That same swagger they had earlier in the season while winning close road games at Gonzaga, Baylor and UW, it all seems to be coming back. The health of Weaver is a concern, no doubt, and that seems like it might be something to really keep an eye on down the stretch. But it’s also a situation that appears to have let Rochestie take more of the offensive load? He has stepped up his offensive numbers lately, and was huge at the stripe down the stretch on Saturday. Finally, LOVED TO SEE LOW get off! I told Brinkhater last week that I am still waiting anxiously for him to just get it rolling, and the start of that Oregon game was huge for him. He is so streaky, but he has moments where he’s really, really special and looks like he could take over a game at any time. He shows those flashes of big-time scorer and you wonder where it is all the time, but that’s just the nature of being a fan I guess.
The Arizona schools are up next, starting with the Sun Devils on Thursday. Oh those naughty Sun Devils! 
Then of course it’s Arizona on Saturday.
A sweep of the desert schools would sure be nice. But for some reason I suddenly don’t hate them all that much, do you?
On the Sonics war front – Can David Stern please SHUT THE F*CK UP? More rhetoric, more saber-rattling, more sky is falling. Yet you still hear and see no sign of panic among the Seattle “leaders”. Why? Because for one simple reason – they KNOW they won’t lose in court! The NBA and the Sonics ownership is screwed and they know it. The NBA doesn’t want to be drug through the mud which, coincidentally, this case would start during the NBA Finals, when the whole nation is watching the league. Their only hope is to try and buy out the city so they can get the hell out of here, but the city knows how strong a case they have. They know it, you know it, I know it, Bob Dole knows it. The thing to be a little uneasy about however is the story today that says “we won’t settle…..for now.” Let’s hope they do the thing that is in the best interest of the fans, and that’s stick to the outcome of the court case, period. And if the city somehow loses? Just appeal, appeal, appeal, and delay their departure. Make it painful on Clay-Clay.
The other side to this is that there are strong rumors that a local group is forming, all behind the scenes, to make a tremendous offer to buy the team. But that offer won’t come until after the case is heard. The other part of that equation is that a huge Key Arena remodel package is also in the works, one that would come right along with the new ownership group. But again, all that is behind the scenes and kept private until the outcome of the court case. It’s a frustrating way to play it, all the silence, but it’s the way it should be done for now.
Here’s the thing. The city has Slade Gordon on the roster to fight for this thing. I can’t think of anyone better to be on our side than Stud Gordon. Do you know why we even have the Mariners right now? Slade Gordon sued Major League Baseball after the Pilots bolted for Milwaukee, and WON Seattle a franchise! Do you know why the Seahawks are here? Slade Gordon was part of the group that stood up to Ken Behring and helped play a role in getting Paul Allen to the table with Behring. Today the Seahawks are a model NFL franchise. Slade Gordon doesn’t lose to professional sports leagues, PERIOD. So let David Stern say there’s no hope, no miracle. Let them flap their wings about settlements and such. But at the end of the day, they are staring at a losing cause in court, and they know it.
Enjoy your Tuesday!
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