It’s Monday, and these are links
COUGARS
FROM PULLMAN -- Breaking: I've given a verbal commitment to write another morning post. My 40 time is rusty and I can't run or throw, but I've got a serviceable motor and plenty of intangibles. Read on.
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Sorry, got confused there for a second. All this recruiting talk has gotten to me. Anyway, we're two days away from signing day now, with WSU and everyone else around the nation working to finalize its 2012 class. The Cougars did pick up a commitment on Saturday -- a link we missed in our adrenaline-fueled late-night blogging session -- from another American Samoa native, which brings the Cougars' commitment list to 24, according to Scout.com. WSU is still in the hunt for Lakes receiver Cedric Dozier, as well as highly touted receiver Kenny Lawler, so lots to watch for between now and Wednesday. ... Speaking of recruiting, I wanted to pass along this Grantland column by John Brandon, their oustanding college football writer. He gives a good take on the whole process. ... Some WSU football players made mention on Twitter last night of Mike Leach's "Midnight Maneuvers," which is the name of the coach's winter conditioning program. Those who have read "Swing Your Sword" are familiar with the exercise. Here's a link to the passage that discusses the workouts. Essentially, Leach wants players to devote their evenings to the team for two weeks during the winter. And he likes doing the conditioning at night because, as he wrote in the book, "I've heard a lot of teams do their conditioning at dawn, but how many games are their players going to play before breakfast?"
Around the Pac-12: Two basketball games yesterday. Oregon State used a big second half to knock off Oregon, keeping the Ducks a game out of first place at the halfway point. ... California defended its home court with a win over Stanford, the Bears finishing the first half of the conference season 7-2, tied with Washington for first place. ... Oregon won the Arik Armstead sweepstakes, as the five-star defensive tackle gave a verbal commitment to the Ducks yesterday. ... Paul Buker studies the life of a "recruiting operations-type guy." ... Washington has one solid QB commit, and one that remains uncertain. ... Arizona doesn't have much margin for error without Kevin Parrom, who is out for the season with a foot injury. ... Steve Kelley says the Pac-12 hoops race is still too close to call.
All for now. We'll be back as events merit, as usual.
Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple