Andre Dollar becomes first tight end commit in a decade for Washington State

Less than a week after announcing the return of tight ends to Washington State’s offense, first-year coach Jake Dickert got a verbal commitment from one of the top prep recruits at the Cougars’ new position.

Oklahoman tight end Andre Dollar pledged to WSU’s program Tuesday, flipping from the University of Oregon a day before the start of the NCAA’s early signing period.

“I am committed to be the TE at Washington State University!” he tweeted.

Dollar is the first tight end to commit to WSU since Tacoma’s Max Hersey chose Paul Wulff’s Cougars in 2011, according to 247Sports.com.

WSU’s former offensive systems – coach Mike Leach’s Air Raid and Nick Rolovich’s run-and-shoot – traded tight ends for an extra receiver.

But the position group returns to Pullman with incoming offensive coordinator Eric Morris, who developed a balanced brand of the Air Raid after learning passing principles from Leach.

For its first TE in a decade, WSU could have done much worse.

When he committed to Oregon in September 2020, Dollar was ranked 10th nationally among tight ends in the 2022 class, per 247Sports.com.

Dollar is a three-star prospect and the top-rated among WSU’s 11 commits from the ’22 class. He’ll be a rookie to watch in a wide-open preseason competition at tight end.

Dickert said the Cougars will entertain “all options” concerning how they fill an empty position group with bodies in one offseason.

“We’re not even in that process yet,” he said. “We’ll get to that point. Obviously, recruiting-wise, that’s what we’re looking at, to bring in some guys with some experience at that position, then we’ll look at our roster when the time comes and see who potentially could fit that skill set.”

Dollar’s commitment marked a good start. At 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, he shows up on film as a rangy deep threat with soft hands and room to grow into his prototypical tight-end frame.

Dollar prepped at Mustang High, which competes in Oklahoma’s top classification, 6A-I.

He chose the Cougars over a couple dozen other Power Five offers, including Arkansas, Michigan, Michigan State, Arizona State, Penn State, Nebraska, Iowa State, Minnesota and Oklahoma State.

Dollar reportedly visited WSU during UO’s coaching shakeup – fourth-year Ducks coach Mario Cristobal took the top job at Miami on Dec. 6.