Happy Wednesday Cougar Nation!
Between now and letter of intent day, there stands two more weekends of official visits. Two weeks from tomorrow the LOI’s will be rolling off the fax machine in Bohler.
Today I want to take a look at a few of the intruiging prospects that remain uncommitted, and my thoughts on where they wind up. 24 players have pledged Crimson and Gray thus far, but that number does include Bishop Sankey. Furthermore, five players are already enrolled in class for the upcoming semester, and another one or two in this class will likely delay enrollment until January 2012. That means we have room for roughly eight more guys to sign, and likely less as there is the 85 scholarship limit (I am too lazy to look-up where we are in that regard). Read on for more.
Bishop Sankey
Everybody knows about Bishop Sankey. He has narrowed his list down to the Cougs and UW and will take a visit to Seattle this coming weekend. Lots of people have hammered on Bishop for wavering on his commitment, but I will hand it to him, he played the game the right way. Wazzu was his first BCS offer, the team in his own backyard, and he commited to the Cougs in December of 2009. If Sankey chose not to verbal at all until the end of the process, it is possible he wouldn’t have a chair when the music stopped. For example, Bellevue’s Kendrick Van Ackeren chose to not accept WSU’s early offer, believing he would land an offer from Oregon. But Oregon’s offer never came, and in the process the Cougs landed other DB commitments, so WSU pulled his scholie offer.
In Sankey’s situation, Wulff and Company appear to have back-up plan, which comes in the form of WSU wide receiver Bobby Ratliff’s former teammate, Marcus Mason. Mason appears to be in the mold of Jacquizz Rodgers and currently holds offers from New Mexico State, plus a few other FBS programs.
I think even if we land Sankey, which I believe we will, this kid could still play a vital role for our program’s future. He reminds me of Rahmel Dockery (imagine him returning punts!), but Mason’s academics are in order! Take a look at his highlight reel below and tell us what you think in the comments section.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUS9OGf-ssY&w=425&h=344]
Moving on…..
Faigame Lopa and Darryl Paulo
Our coaching staff made national headlines when they offered four players at Grant Union HS in Sacramento last February. Two of the prospects have commited elsewhere, leaving us with Lopa and Paulo who plan to visit WSU next weekend. Lopa, the 6’2.5″, 250 LB DE who goes by “Puka” would team rather nicely with Travis Long coming off the edge. In a recent article, Lopa’s coach at Grant, Mike Alberghini said:
“He can run extremely very well. He was the area leader in sacks (in ’09) and is a guy who plays with a really big motor. He’s probably the meanest of the group. He plays really, really hard. They all play well, but he’s the one with the motor.”
Meanwhile, Paulo didn’t start playing LB until his Junior season, and is being courted by Oregon State and SDSU. Getting these two to Pullman on the final weekend of official visits should give us a leg up on the Beavs. I think we land them both!
Rodrick Ryles
Ryles, who was once an Arkansas verbal commit but has backed away from the Razorbacks, is a high school teammate of current Coug commit Darryl Monroe. For a while it looked as though Max Gama might be the only Safety we took for this cycle, but that changed a few weeks ago. Ryles is rated the #89 Safety in the country and could probably play a few different positions for the Cougs. Michigan, Michigan State, and Utah are the three Wazzu appears to be competing with for Ryles’ services. Check out his video below, looks like a Ball Hawk to me!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEscfnQi11Q&w=425&h=344]
Fou Fonoti
Fonoti is an OT from Cerritos College, and appears to have three years to play two once he decides where he would like to go. In addition to the Cougs, whom he visited back in October, his suitors are Michigan State, UCLA, Arizona, and Rutgers. He would be another solid prospect to land along the OL, in a year where this coaching staff was only able to land one high school linemen. However, I think he favors Sparty and Rutgers.
Akeem Gonzalez
Currently rated the #65 OT in this class by Scout, Gonzalez appears to have the frame (6’5″, 250″) to play either OT, G, or even DL at the next level. His offer sheet includes Oregon State, Nebraska, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah. All of which he has or will be visiting, so I believe the likelihood of landing him is slim to none.
Marcus Peters
With news that Mercy Maston commited to the Sun Devils last weekend, I would imagine Peters is the only remaining CB left on this staff’s board. Peters has offers from all four NW schools, the Arizona schools, Boise and Utah. Last weekend he visited OSU and has since stated he has narrowed it down to the Beavs and UW. If we pursue any other CB’s, I would be shocked.
In conclusion…
These are the known commodites out there right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if this staff offered Curtis (Tacoma) DT/OL Cornelius Edison in a fashion similar to how they offered Xavier Cooper last year. Edison was a monster in the SPSL this year, but for whatever reason, he has been ignored by everybody. Also out there is Georgia Military product Brandon Johnson, who is a 6’6″ DE/DT. Chaffey College’s Colin Munro is also still available as is Thomas Gomez from Graham-Kapowsin. These last three guys, however, I highly doubt become Cougs. There is no need to sign players just to sign players. UW has used that philosophy the last few years, and is now forcing players out of their program (see Demitrius Bronson). I just don’t think that is Wulff’s style.
Like I said about this time last year…
“Get them to sign on the line that is dotted!” Have a great day Cougar fans!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-AXTx4PcKI&w=425&h=344]
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