Happy Monday Cougs!!!
As I mentioned last week, this was a big recruiting weekend for the coaching staff as they welcomed in a gang of official visitors, and came away with a huge commitment in the form of Brandon Tuliaupupu.
Tuliaupupu hails from Claremont, CA which is about 30 miles outside of L.A. At 6’2” and 290 pounds, he is a stout prospect who will come to Pullman as a defensive tackle. He chose WSU over offers from Kansas, New Mexico, San Jose State, UTEP, and Wyoming.
Although he didn’t boast the most impressive offer sheet, he was very high on our recruiting board and the coaching staff has been on him for awhile.
You can NEVER have enough talent in the trenches, and adding him to the mix gives us three versatile defensive line prospects in this class. With T.J. Poloai and David Davis already in the fold, adding Tuliaupupu gives the coaching staff the luxury of trying one of them out at offensive line when fall camp rolls around. Although interior D-Line is a huge priority for this class, interior O-line is equal priority. Both B.J. Guerra and Wade Jacobson, the projected starters at guard, will be seniors this next season.
If you look at Mr. Tuliaupupu’s senior highlights, you should have reason to get excited.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G64RpdVYlKM&w=424&h=343]
He doesn’t look to have the quickest “get off” in the world, but has EXCELLENT pad level and great instincts. When engaging, he puts his blocker on their heels and he sheds blocks well with some crafty swim moves and overall solid technique. I also love how he’s constantly getting his hand in the air and batting passes down…
Welcome to the Cougar family Brandon!
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A few other notes from the weekend….
– Four other current Cougar commits were also in Pullman this weekend for their official visits. They are Max Hersey, T.J. Poloai, Logan Mayes, and Bishop Sankey. However as we all know, Sankey is far from a solid commit and it sounds like it’s now a two horse race between UW and WSU. He will make his final decision after officially visiting UW this next weekend. Cross your fingers Cougs!
– One other official visitor this weekend was safety prospect Rodrick Ryles. Ryles, rated a three-star prospect by scout.com, was once committed to Arkansas until they pulled his scholarship. He is from Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, FL, the same high school as Cougar commit Darryl Monroe. Apparently Monroe has been doing some recruiting for us, according to this article.
– My esteemed colleague, Sean Hawkins, wrote a post this weekend about the coaching rumors surrounding Malik Robertson. In the post, he cited an article that surfaced last week that mentioned T.J. Poloai’s high school defensive line coach, Dave Lose, would be coming to WSU to fill the same position. The prospect of filling Robertson’s job with a high school position coach raised quite a stink amongst Cougar nation. But have no fear! …for we have Mr. Grippi to clear the air.
That’s all for now Cougs, but stay posted as we have another big recruiting weekend on the horizon.
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