Fax machine takes center stage on Signing Day
COUGARS
FROM PULLMAN -- By the end of today, we should know -- officially and for serious -- who will compose the Cougars' freshman class next season. There's a heck of a lot going on today, so hurry up and read on for what we hope is a useful summary.
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First, we'll link our story on Faisal Aden, who will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL in his left knee. We also wrote this blog post on the same subject -- another similar story in the Kitsap Sun -- and summarized Ken Bone's press conference here. ... Linebackers coach Jeff Choate is featured in the second of our series of profiles on WSU's assistant coaches. ... John Blanchette examines the signing day frenzy. ... Here's the list of players expected to sign with WSU today. And, just as a reminder, the story we wrote on WSU's class that ran in Sunday's paper. ... Bud Withers takes a quick glance at the Cougars' recruiting class. ... Howie Stalwick chips in a similar story. ... Cedric Dozier, a four-star receiver from Lakes, chose California over WSU during a rather lengthy ceremony yesterday. ... The Cougars also regained the commitment of safety Taylor Taliulu, who had switched to Hawaii before apparently deciding again to come to WSU. ... Speaking of switcharoos, it looks as if Todd Sturdy is headed to Iowa State to coach receivers, despite previous reports that he'd taken the offensive coordinator job at Montana State. ... The Cougars are still in the running for Upland, Calif., receiver Kenny Lawler, the subject of this ESPN.com post. Lawler will decide today between WSU, Oregon State and Cal. ... Cool story from Rivals on a WSU linebacker commit. ... An update in the Leach/Craig James legal saga. ...
Around the Pac-12: Missed this yesterday, but Withers gave out his mid-season conference awards. ... Some more midway-point questions. ... Don't blame Kevin O'Neil for the Trojans' hoops struggles this year, says this columnist. ... USC is trying to weather the recruiting storm. UCLA has a crowded class of quarterbacks. ... Arizona State is still chasing some football recruits. ... Arizona coach Sean Miller comments on the "bizarre" string of player ejections he's seen lately. ... Cal has been dealt some pretty tough recruiting blows. ... Allen Crabbe didn't practice for the Bears on Tuesday. ... Stanford could have itself a top-10 class. ... Washington's late recruiting windfall continued Tuesday. ... C.J. Wilcox is still in too much pain to practice. ... Colorado may be the surprise team in the Pac-12 this season. ... The Buffs appear to have completed their recruiting class. It's a big one. ... Oregon State is riding a winning streak as it enters the second half of conference play. ... The Beavers are holding on to a top-30 class. ... The Ducks are getting a two-sport threat in Arik Armstead. They're also watching the fax machine. ... Utah's big man plans to return for his senior season.
As for today's festivities, you can head to WSU's signing day central page here. The school also has a "fax cam" set up, so you can watch the letters come in live if you honest to goodness have absolutely nothing better to do with your time. We'll also be updating the Cougars' list of signees in a separate post as the faxes roll in. Mike Leach is scheduled to address the media at 2 p.m., so we'll have updates from that, too. The coaches are heading to Northern Quest Casino in Spokane for a Signing Day party at 6 p.m. Vince will be there -- and on the air, I believe -- so we'll let him fill you in on the details.
We leave you with a final reminder -- fun as this day can be, it's still just a game, and these are still just kids. Keep that in mind, whether things go your team's way or not.
Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple