Cougars Receive A Swift Kick Star Placekicker “99 Percent” Certain He’Ll Sign With WSU

Washington State’s football recruiting class finally got what it needed most - a kicker.

Graham Siderius of McQueen High School in Reno, Nev., has given the Cougars a “soft commitment.”

“I’m really close, like 99 percent,” said Siderius. “I just want my parents to see it and make sure they like everything. I don’t know why they wouldn’t. I liked everything about the school.”

Siderius and his parents will be making a trip to Pullman the week after Christmas. Siderius made his official visit to Pullman last weekend. “The one thing that convinced (to commit) were the players and all the people,” he said. “My brother, he played for UNR (University of Nevada-Reno), and it was always kind of segregated. There (at WSU) everybody hangs out with everybody else. You would go somewhere and everybody, even when they didn’t know you were a recruit, treated you nice.”

It was the treatment of the coaching staff as far back as a year ago that also convinced Siderius that Washington State was the program for him. Cougars kicking coach Jeff Banks had singled out Siderius as the primary kicker they wanted to recruit. From that point, WSU coach Mike Price and secondary coach Chris Ball, who recruits the Reno area, stayed in constant contact with Siderius.

“Wisconsin was the other school I was thinking about,” said Siderius. “But they didn’t even compare to what Washington State did.”

The Cougars’ commitment paid off by getting what many consider the top kicker on the West Coast.

As a senior, Siderius kicked 11 of 14 field goals with a long of 54 yards. His misses were from 39, 42 and 50 yards. In contrast, Washington State was 11 of 19 on field goals and 24 of 29 on point-after attempts last season. Three of the Cougars’ missed field goals were potential game winners.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Siderius was also the punter and quarterback for McQueen. He led the Lancers to a 14-0 record and the state title.

The Cougars will probably use Siderius exclusively as a field-goal kicker his first year. Alan Cox returns to handle the punting duties. Either Cox or Moorpark JC transfer Adam Holiday, a recruited walk-on who might earn a scholarship later, will handle the kickoffs.

“I think I still would be going to Washington State if I had to redshirt,” said Siderius. “But being able to come in right away and kick, that is a bonus.”

Siderius will have some competition for the starting field-goal kicking job. Nick Lambert and Drew Dunning are both expected to return. Lambert was the starting kicker last season until he pulled his thigh muscle. Dunning kicked against USC and in the Apple Cup.

But Lambert and Dunning were not very impressive, so the job appears to be Siderius’ to lose.

Washington State now has 22 oral commitments. Rivals.com, a national recruiting Web site, had the Cougars’ recruiting class ranked 33rd nationally before Siderius’ commitment.

Letter-of-intent day is Feb. 7.

This sidebar appeared with the story: BY THE NUMBERS Kick-start

Graham Siderius’ numbers as a senior in high school:

Field goals 11 of 14

Longest field goal 54

Siderius made three other field goals of 40-plus yards and his percentage of touchbacks on kickoffs was reported to be 60 percent.