No Place Like Home

We’ll not try to pass this off as the abridged Fiske Guide to American Colleges. Just noodling a few numbers and drawing a conclusion.

And the conclusion is, if Washington State University truly is a tough sell to a high school football player in Spokane, it shouldn’t be.

Not when Steve Gleason is one of the advertisements.

This came to mind last Saturday when Gleason made the stop du jour - our call - in the Cougars’ already legendary 28-21 victory over USC. Possibly you’ve forgotten: score tied, third-and-4 for the Trojans at the WSU 44, Gleason bulldogging slippery Billy Miller down after 3 yards on a pass route the Trojans had been using to get 6 or 7 most of the afternoon.

It was the last of four second-half USC thrusts into Wazzu’s turf that netted the Trojans nothing. It was also USC’s last best hope, as Kevin McKenzie chose the next series to do his SportsCenter thing.

Cougars across the country are still nursing the hangover, something Gleason finds mildly amusing.

“We didn’t go down there expecting to lose,” he said. “I’d say that takes some of the surprise out of it.”

So maybe the surprise is this: Leading the Pac-10 in tackles in this infant season is Gonzaga Prep’s own Steve Gleason, the Cougars’ sub-compact strong-side linebacker.

Rare is the sophomore linebacker who squeezes into the starting lineup at Wazzu - Ron Childs did, Chris Hayes a few times. Gleason’s startling impact is the offspring of the Cougars’ rather urgent need and his own accelerated development.

It certainly isn’t his physical stature. The average Pac-10 linebacker goes 6-foot-2, 232 pounds. Wazzu lists Gleason as 5-11, 214.

“Five-eleven and a quarter,” Gleason corrected. “They didn’t give me half an inch or a pound in the press guide. Trying to make opposing linemen overconfident, I guess.”

Doesn’t matter. Gleason is quick and bright - and he hits big. That’s enough.

And adding seniors Shane Doyle from Shadle Park and Cory Withrow from Mead - who have made 45 starts between them - the Cougars have three Greater Spokane League alums in the lineup together for the first time in 11 years.

Which got us to wondering: What happens to the Pac-10-level talent that winds up elsewhere?

So we went back 10 years, expanded the recruiting radius to 75 miles from downtown and came up with 32 athletes who have found their way into college football’s big time. Just 12 of those wound up at Wazzu - but that’s not the most revealing stat.

Of those 12, only one washed out of the program - and Malik Roberson became a small-college star when he gave himself a second chance at Central Washington. Six others became long-term starters. A gruesome ankle injury has kept Jon Kincaid from being No. 7 - he’s still trying to come back - and four youngsters in the program all figure to contribute eventually.

By contrast, of the 20 local players who went off to Washington, Stanford and elsewhere, maybe five have had any meaningful impact - some of the rest having careers cut short by severe, sometimes freak, injuries.

Of course, all Steve Emtman did was win the Outland Trophy at Washington. Tim Hanshaw used BYU as his route to the NFL. Travis Hanson is fourth on UW’s career scoring list. And who can predict what lies ahead for the Class of ‘97 - Ty Gregorak (Colorado), Austin Lee (Stanford) and Joe Collier (UW)?

But obviously, the numbers speak highly of Wazzu’s success.

“I’ve thought about that, too,” said Gleason, who picked WSU over Stanford (“it wasn’t the place for me”) in 1995. “There were a lot from Prep who went to Stanford and never made their mark - though if he hadn’t been injured, Justin Strand would be a huge factor for them now.

“I don’t know the reason. But there’s something unique about WSU, about how supportive people are here. I know it’s helped me - having friends from high school here and my family so close. And I think they do a good job here of developing players who might have been passed up.”

You can’t beat the comfort zone. Steve Gleason lives in a house with seven other ATO brothers - including Matt Shaw, a former Prep teammate and a WSU walk-on - and a Siamese cat named Tijo (after Teriyaki Joe’s, many a Coug’s kitchen away from home). His family is in the stands every home-game Saturday.

Still, as player development goes, his has been remarkable if for no other reason than his divided attentions: Gleason has played outfield for the Cougar baseball team the past two springs, fitted around football practice.

“I like to think of myself not as a football player trying to play baseball,” he said, “but as an athlete who plays both.”

He also likes to think of himself as a winner, but last spring’s 13-42 baseball record obviously tested that.

“It was hard - I’m not playing baseball to say I did both sports, I’m playing it to win,” he said. “At first, it was unbelievable - you thought it would turn around. But it didn’t. For a while, I was playing OK - instead of a loss and an 0-for-4, I was at least getting a couple of hits. So you try and take some good feeling from that to build on. But mostly it was just a learning experience.”

And he learned what?

“That there’s going to be a brighter day,” he said. “Maybe we’ll beat USC next fall. Maybe that’s what I was thinking.”

Steve Gleason tried to contain the smile when he said it, wondering if his visitor would buy the premise. Turns out it wasn’t such a tough sell after all.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 3 Photos (2 Color)

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: SIZING UP … Steve Gleason Year: Sophomore Height, weight: 5-11, 214 Position:Strong-side LB Tackles: 17 (all unassisted, including one tackle for loss) Passes broken up: 1

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Blanchette The Spokesman-Review