Rodgers picks WSU

PULLMAN – Jake Rodgers received his first college football scholarship offer from Washington State University.

Thursday night, the 6-foot-7, 245-pound lineman from Shadle Park High decided it was the one he wanted to accept. So he called Paul Wulff and told him.

“I just told him I felt WSU was the best fit for me and he seemed pretty excited,” said Rodgers, offered a scholarship last winter.

Rodgers, a first-team All-Greater Spokane League tight end last fall as a junior, is making his oral commitment to the Cougars now.

“I just wanted to get this whole thing over with so I could focus on my senior year in high school,” he said.

“I’ve been there a lot,” Rodgers said of WSU. “I feel they are getting a lot better and I really wanted to buy into the program, be a part of it. … I like the fact I’ll be close to home. I’ll be far enough away where I can be my own person and everything but close enough where I can still visit my family.”

And then there is the offense, which Rodgers thinks is getting better despite last year’s 2-11 season.

“Obviously, being a tight end, I like they’re running a two tight-end set,” Rodgers said.

High school seniors cannot sign a binding letter of intent until February.