Just finished listening to the Paul Wulff press conference from 2:30 – 3:00 today. Sort of like the radio show, a lot of ground to cover, so if you missed it, here’s a recap:
- Wulff right away said “we believe this is as good a class that has come through here in the last 25 years. Coach Levenseller would agree with me, in the 18 years he’s been here it is as good as any class that has come through WSU. The academics on each of the kids are solid, some great, some not so great, but we believe all of them have the capability to graduate and have an impact in their collegiate athletic career.”
- Someone asked a question about recruiting Spokane. Wulff said “Spokane is important to us. All of the kids we signed, Connor Halliday, Jake Rodgers and Aaron Dunn, were all recruited by Pac-10/Northwest schools. As a staff you want to get the best players closest to your school, and we accomplished that this year. We think all three kids will have a major impact at WSU. And Spokane is a good indicator of our past success. When you look at our recent history, some of the better teams we had were with really good kids from Spokane.”
- A question about the northern California area with recruiting and how important that was this year, and will be going forward? Wulff said “I look at our history, again, the Northern California area has produced some excellent players at WSU. For some reason it is a really good fit, and was this year, the number of players we recruited and and how hard we recruited the area. Overall California and Washington are our primary recruiting grounds, they have to be our primary areas. But you look at what has been successful at WSU in the past and kids from Northern California have been “the flavor” of the talent that has made the program successful.
- The recruit of the day, C.J. Mizell was brought up. Where did you find him, how did you get him under everyone else’s noses? “We have some connections down there, and heard about him from Devard Darling, who told us that CJ just became eligible and passed his tests recently. He is a qualifier, and he is ready to go. We did our background check on him, and he did have a few incidents, but got the details and they weren’t very serious, although there have been some things that have happened. We went 3 years back to when he was a sophomore and did some checking – coaches, principal, etc. We brought him in for a visit, and he met all academic and compliance people and others on campus and everyone felt good about him after meeting him. Great person who isn’t into the “hype” of recruiting, simple kid who isn’t glued to his cellphone who just wants to go where he can play. He matches the character and personality with kids we already have now on our roster. He will be here in first part of May, if not he’ll be here in June and be in summer school. He will PLAY right away this year! Watching his film athletically he was as good as it gets. He didn’t play his junior year but if he did people felt he would have been the #1 or #2 linebacker in the country. Big, rangy, runs well, nasty mean streak and good football IQ, how he reacts and moves. Lot of work to do in front of him, and he is just 19, but he will have an impact at WSU.”
- Wulff was asked how in the world he was able to keep it so quiet on Mizell. Wulff said that “only Memphis and South Florida came in late, but he was under the radar and a lot of programs lost track of him after last year. His test scores came in really late, and quite honestly, nobody knew he was a qualifier. Devard Darling told us about it, we had some relationships and we got in. We actually had to “coerce” him to take the trip but it went really well, and he thanked us for taking the trip and was very pleased with it. We were really quiet about it, we tried to keep it as quiet as we could as we knew others would jump in on him late if word got out, and in the end it worked out. He was in this last weekend (Friday/Saturday).”
- Asked about the JC players. “We brought in 3 JC players – David Gonzales, Brandon Rankin, and Wade Jacobson, all three are already enrolled. We are also going to bring in another JC receiver, but cannot say his name as we don’t have his NLI yet. But the receiver is an outstanding player and will make an immediate impact on offense. We might bring in one more JC d-lineman, so we will probably have a total of 5 JC players out of 25 this year. Casey Hamlett will get a scholarship for this year, so, the remaining 19-20 spots in this class will be high-schoolers.”
Read on for the rest…..
- Asked about the D-line and the lack of quantity signed. Wulff said “There really wasn’t a big pool of d-linemen in the west, and we felt maybe there were some “reaches” out there. It wasn’t a real deep class. That said we feel great about Kalafitoni Pole, we are very pleased with him. We do have the opportunity to bring in one or two more of the JC route, plus Brandon Rankin is obviously enrolled and looks great. We also have some redshirts on the line, Justin Clayton, Jordan Puu-Robinson, Sekope Kafusi – all those guys will fill in and add depth to the d-line.”
- Asked about the players who could provide an immediate impact, Wulff said “No question SOME will play right away, largely due to their talent level. Rickey Galvin at running back, Kristoff Williams, Marquess Wilson on offense all have a chance. At corner Tracy Clark and Damante Horton are smart, intelligent players who have a shot. Deone Bucannon at safety and Brandon Golden bring speed that we need and could have an opportunity. And Aaron Dunn and John Fullington would be ideal to redshirt, but they may be able to play right away on offense. We have to see how they adapt in summer/fall.”
- Asked about losing some commits late, Wulff said “I think parents need to help keep kids stay true to their word, otherwise it won’t mean anything. Some will say “that’s how recruiting is”, and that’s fine, but what are we teaching? We are an academic institution, and we want to build winners and leaders. And as a staff, we generally don’t go out and try to play that game of getting kids to switch commits, that’s our philosophy and we stay that course.”
- Wulff was asked if this was a shot at Robb Akey (for Maxx Forde)? “No, not at anyone in particular. But it starts with parents and they can help shut off the inquiries from other schools. If they leave the door open, things like this can happen. But on that same note, over time you start to get to know the recruits and learn more and more about them over time, the further you get into recruiting and continue to communicate. Sometimes you learn some things, and maybe in the end it is best if a player does go somewhere else.”
- Asked about the late decisions to decommit by some of these kids, Wulff said “a line I use for late decisions is, OK, flip flop the situation. Say as a coach, I bring in another tight end the last week before signing day and we really like him. What if I take him, and then call you up and tell you that I am going to take this guy and you no longer have a scholarship here? Then the kid is on their own. It is a commitment on both sides, but kids just do it more than coaches.” Asked if they were surprised at some of the developments, Wulff said “some players we kind of knew that we were going to lose them in the last few weeks, so we weren’t shocked. And maybe if both feet aren’t “in” to what we are doing and where we are going, well, then they need to go somewhere else anyway.”
- On Devontae Butler from Sacramento: “A very good player, great kid, who started slow academically. People didn’t recruit him real hard because of academic issues. He is really catching up now and improving. He has a plan. If he does not make it he will be really close, and we could grayshirt him and start him in January ’11. But without a doubt he will be here next January at the latest, but a chance he will be in the fall. Physical, tough, good ball skills, a young physical back.”
- In general in regards to recruiting, Wulff said “Players want to be part of something special and building something. And the way we work and our personality as players and our coaching staff, we think we are really good recruiters. There is good personalities here with players and coaches. And we are recruiting our tails off. We already have 10 offers out to juniors right now, and we have wiped our board clean of this year’s seniors. We are already on next year. Whether we are winning a lot and having success, or having a down year or two, it will never affect our recruiting efforts.”
- In non-recruiting news, Wulff was asked about Steve Morton as o-line coach. “I came to WSU to play for Steve Morton as an O-linemen. He brings a wealth of experience, he is a Coug, and he has coached five Morris Trophy winners in his time (outstanding lineman award in Pac-10). He knows what it takes and how to work at WSU. Steve is going to be a great addition to the offense. We have to perform on the offensive line, no question. We are improving our talent without question and he will help take things another level. He will help the running game and the passing game look a lot better next year!”
- On James Montgomery, he is “doing well, lifting every day, walking normal. His calf injury, he continues to recover, doing extremely well. And from his knee, he had some surgery but he is walking around normal already. Just progression, staying on course, and he looks REALLY good!”
All for now. Enjoy the rest of your day, and GO COUGS!
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