Cougars Land Coveted 320-Pound Offensive Lineman Waldrop Picks WSU Over Schools That Include Nebraska, UW And Asu

Nebraska’s Frank Solich, Washington’s Rick Neuheisel and Arizona State’s Bruce Snyder all made visits to Danny Waldrop’s home last week.

But it was Washington State’s Mike Price who walked away with the prize 6-foot-6, 320-pound recruit from Banning High, east of Los Angeles. The Prepstar All-American became the 26th player to orally commit to the Cougars on Monday.

“Danny is a guy that you are not going to believe his size and how agile he is,” said Banning coach Chris Gutierrez. “And very mature.

“In fact, I remember when he came here as a sophomore, we were out on the practice field and his younger brother was out here and his mom walked out,” he continued. “I went over to thank her for sending her son to school here and she said: `Both my sons are going here.’

“Where’s the other one?” Gutierrez asked.

“Right here,” she responded pointing to the man next to her.

“I thought Danny was Mr. Waldrop.”

Banning used Waldrop at guard, where he was the lead blocker for most of running back Chris Howard’s 2,300 yards. In fact, Banning, which finished 10-4 and lost in the L.A. City Championships, proved to have an almost unstoppable offense.

Two of its loses came to Top 20 teams. And in a one-point loss to No. 2 Long Beach Poly, Banning, behind Waldrop, rolled up 34 points. That was the most scored all season on a team with nine Division I recruits.

For his efforts, Waldrop was named to the all-state, all-league and all-city teams. He was also part of the Long Beach Press Telegram’s Best of the West and on its first team Dream Team.

One drawback is that due to his natural ability, Waldrop has not spent much time in the weight room.

“He could probably bench press 300 pounds just because of his size,” said Gutierrez. “But now he knows he has to get in there and I’m sure that’s going to be a big part of his life.”

Waldrop has a 3.0 GPA and should have no trouble qualifying for WSU.

Players can sign national letters of intent Wednesday.