Tyler Hilinski signs with WSU
Welcome to the WSU Coug Family @Tyler_Hlinski9!!! #gocougs
— WSUCougFootball (@wsucougfb) August 19, 2014
With the above tweet the Washington State football program made official the financial aid agreement signed today by prep quarterback Tyler Hilinski. The NCAA allows student athletes that are able to graduate high school early to sign with schools well before national signing day in February, and to enroll in time for spring football.
Last spring Calvin Green and Sean Krepsz took advantage of this rule and participated in spring football after finishing up their high school careers ahead of schedule.
More on Hilinski after the jump.
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Rivals.com rates Hilinski a four-star prospect, while Scout.com and ESPN.com give him three stars. There is consensus, however, that he also had scholarship offers from California and Utah State.
By enrolling early Hilinski gives himself a shot in what looks like a wide-open competition to replace Connor Halliday as the starting quarterback. While asking a true freshman to start at quarterback is undoubtedly a tall task, his competition won't have much more experience. The other scholarships on the roster at that time will likely be Luke Falk (who is currently still a walk-on) and Peyton Bender, who is likely to redshirt this season, his first on campus.
By that same token it is unlikely Hilinski would have come to WSU if he didn't think he had a reasonable shot to beat out those two players, since whoever wins the job next year could very well hold it for three or four years.
