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Three-star wide receiver Josh Meredith flips from Fresno State to Washington State

Washington State players enter the field before an NCAA college football game against Oregon in Pullman, Wash., Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020.  (Associated Press)
By Theo Lawson theol@spokesman.com(509) 459-5584

Within the past two months, three players who had committed to Washington State decided to reopen their recruitment and play their college football somewhere other than Pullman.

Friday, someone who’d originally planned to sign elsewhere committed to the Cougars.

Josh Meredith, a three-star wide receiver from Southern California powerhouse Mater Dei, flipped from Fresno State to Washington State, giving the Cougars their 18th commit in the class of 2021 and their first since before Halloween.

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The 6-foot, 170-pound native of Chula Vista, California, adds to a strong wide receiver class that also includes former Oklahoma State player/junior college transfer CJ Moore along with two fellow Californians, Orion Peters and Tsion Nunnally.

The Cougars had a wide receiver spot open after the decommitment of three-star receiver Joseph Manjack of Tomball, Texas.

According to 247Sports.com, Meredith had two other FBS offers, from New Mexico State and UNLV, as well as FCS offers from Idaho and South Dakota. He’d been a Fresno State commit since Aug. 1, but flipped to the Cougars just a day after receiving an official offer from Nick Rolovich and staff.

Greg Biggins of 247Sports.com considers Meredith a Pac-12 talent who was hurt by the lack of a true spring evaluation period – something that could’ve catapulted his recruiting had the COVID-19 pandemic not interfered.

“Meredith is a sleeper wide receiver prospect and would have really benefited from a spring evaluation period,” Biggins wrote.

“His stock likely would have soared and he definitely looks like a Pac-12 level receiver in our eyes.”

Because of the pandemic, Meredith hasn’t played his senior season, but the Cougars have been on his radar for some time. The receiver developed a strong relationship with Rolovich over the past year or so.

“Coach Rolovich is very cool and I have a strong comfort level with him and the staff,” Meredith told Biggins. “I’ve never been out there before but last weekend, we did a virtual tour and it was a really good presentation of the school. I learned a lot about how things are done there and what the campus looks like, so I feel good about the decision, even without taking a trip.”