Wed., July 8, 2015
WSU freshmen enter the Summer Bridge program
Not all of Washington State's incoming football players have arrived on campus yet; the school tells me more are expected to arrive at the end of July.
The Cougars signed 23 players in the last recruiting cycle and only 17 of them are currently participating in the summer bridge program. Also participating are freshmen Jeremiah Mitchell and Tyler Hilinksi, who participated in spring practices and have attended a few college classes.
Deion Singleton, a member of the 2014 signing class who delayed his enrollment until the spring semester, is also participating in Bridge.
Here's the full list:
Matt Abramo
Cedric Bigge-Duren
Hunter Dale
C.J. Dimry
T.J. Fehoko
Tyler Hilinski
Shalom Luani
Tavares Martin
Hunter Mattox
Jeremiah Mitchell
Darrien Molton
Nnamdi Oguayo
Noah Osur-Myers
Kameron Powell
Amosa Sakaria
Deion Singleton
Kyle Sweet
Logan Tago
Those players are included on WSU's roster, although it doesn't appear that their heights and weights have been updated since signing day, and only the players that participated in spring practice have been assigned numbers.
So what is the Bridge Program, anyway? Here is the document given to incoming athletes that explains the program, which helps the freshmen acclimate to college life before they have to start worrying about fall camp and such. A major component is Summer Advantage, a four-week program available to all students in which they can earn up to seven credits while meeting people and getting used to college courses on an emptier, presumably less intimidating campus.
There's some other interesting stuff in that Bridge document, which illuminates how the process of selecting dorms, roommates and classes is different for football players than for general students.
What's left unsaid, however, is how much that cash stipend for Friday-Sunday meals is. I mean are we talking Cub Burgers at Cougar Country here? Or can Sean Harper, the 180-pound defensive back from Georgia, grab a catfish po boys at Birch and Barley?