A Grip on Sports: Even if the process is only half finished, college football signing day was filled with superlatives – as always
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Quality or quantity? It depends. For every college football coach on every signing day, it’s quantity. If they sign a bunch of players. If they don’t? It’s quality. Of course.
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• Every signing class is the best ever, isn’t it? Maybe not. At least not just yet. After college football changed to two signing periods a few years back, December’s group of players have been just the beginning. Each school heralds their class, sure. But they are never done. Not even at Alabama. If the Tide were to sign 20 of the top-rated prospects in the nation, Nick Saban would be talking about still trying to fill out the class in February.
Basically, if you wondered how the heck your Huskies can survive with only five signees Wednesday, your new coach, Kalen DeBoer has the answer. Though the five are the best five ever, they are just the beginning. A foundational group. Give him time. There will be five, 10, 15 more in February. Wait and see.
You don’t have to wait if you cheer for the Pac-12 team on the other side of the state. At least not as long. Jake Dickert has been around Pullman for quite a bit longer and he signed twice the class. By number. And 60 percent of the 10 incoming Cougars played their high school football in Washington.
“We feel that a lot of guys in this state really fit what we want to do here,” Dickert told our Colton Clark, calling the group a “foundational class.” Add that to the 10 or more players sure to sign in a couple months and Washington State might have built an entire first floor.
That doesn’t mean the Cougars can be found anywhere near the top of the national recruiting rankings. They never are. Not when everyone you recruit has three stars (out of five) next to their names. But WSU has done a good job of developing players and getting the right fit for what it does. It’s a trend Dickert hopes to keep up.
• Maybe the biggest upset on the early signing day is the University of Idaho signed anyone at all. The Vandals fired head coach Paul Petrino weeks ago, have yet to replace him and yet two high school players decided to make the leap of faith.
Quarterback Ridge Docekal, from Arizona, and receiver Cade Ledesma out of California, signed letters of intent not knowing the direction the Vandal offense is headed. That’s commitment.
There is a caveat, however. If UI hires a new coach who doesn’t value their talents, a parting of the ways would probably occur. And if the attraction isn’t mutual from the other direction, the school would be raked over the coals if it didn’t allow them the freedom to go elsewhere.
Today, however, they are Vandals. And should be celebrated.
• The NFL and NHL are having COVID-19 problems. Same with some college hoops programs – UCLA had to cancel a game last night, joining Washington on the sidelines. It’s just another sign the pandemic isn’t over and may be taking another turn due to another virulent variant.
One reason for all the cases is the prevalence of testing among athletic programs, a practice that reaches all the way to local high schools. The idea is to catch a case early and contain it before the virus can spread throughout a team. It’s an idea that doesn’t seem to be working all that well, despite strong vaccination numbers.
The bad news is a whole bunch of players are catching the virus. The great news is none are getting really sick. At least so far.
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Gonzaga: Texas Tech will take its old-school defensive mindset into Saturday morning’s showdown with the Bulldogs in Phoenix. The Zags will counter with their free-flowing new school offensive approach. Which will prevail? Jim Meehan talked it over with a Red Raider beat writer. … That game is also part of Larry Weir’s latest Press Box podcast. … ESPN decided to examine the best college basketball transfers of all time. Then pick the top 20. Gonzaga just happened to have four of the group. Theo Lawson has more in this story. … If you feel the need for another Drew Timme story, we can pass one along. It is getting to the point, however, where learning something new is no longer in the cards. … Around the WCC, Portland lost at Oregon.
WSU: Recruiting news is all the rage today. We pass along Colton’s story on the Cougar signing group, a piece we linked above. … But football wasn’t the only sport in the spotlight yesterday. The basketball team took Friel Court to host New Mexico State. It built an 18-point lead early in the second half. Than proceeded to let it all slip away. As Colton tells us, for the third time in four games, the Cougars lost a close one. And for the second consecutive time, they lost a game they should have won. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college football, it’s all about the signings. Stanford seems to have attracted the top class thus far. … Washington ended up with five players after a late start. … USC didn’t magically attract a top 10 class under new coach Lincoln Riley. But the Trojans did better than might have been expected. … Oregon kept some of its recruits in line after the coaching change but lost others. … Oregon State signed a large group, as did Utah. Both credit their recent success as helping to propel players their way. The Utes had the most recent title to dangle as incentive. … Colorado signed one of the largest groups and success wasn’t a selling point. … California kept its coach and most of its commits. … Arizona is trying to rebuild and seems to have done a good job selling opportunity. … Arizona State’s top recruit might just be its returning quarterback. … UCLA is still looking for its next quarterback. … Oregon has settled on a new offensive coordinator. … Oregon State will be playing its first bowl game in a long time Saturday. … Utah will be playing its first Rose Bowl game ever. … ASU has running back issues heading into the Las Vegas Bowl. … In basketball news, who are the best teams on the women’s side? … USC had to be lucky. It’s the only way to explain the undefeated Trojans’ win over UC Irvine. … Oregon rolled over visiting Portland. … Arizona rolled over NAU.
EWU: The Eagles class of seven was all about quality (see above) according to Aaron Best. Dan Thompson has the coach’s thoughts on the group that sent in LOIs. … The Eastern basketball team also played and Dan has that story as well. The Eagles rolled over Multnomah 95-56. … Around the Big Sky, Montana put together another good class. … Montana State had to change its recruiting pattern due to recent success. … Weber State signed one player it didn’t expect. … Idaho State has a new coach and a new class of recruits. … Northern Arizona signed a large group. … In basketball news, Utah State defeated Weber State. … Northern Arizona lost at Arizona.
Idaho: We mentioned the Vandals’ class above. Peter Harriman has more here.
Preps: The top-rated recruiting class in the nation? Some have it as Texas A&M’s class. That group includes Mt. Spokane kicker Ethan Moczulski. Dave has this feature on his signing. … Wrestling is underway around the area and Dave Nichols gives it the spotlight this morning. His lead story focuses upon Craig Hanson, the longtime East Valley coach. … He also has capsules on every team in the area. … There were also matches last night and Dave has a roundup.
Seahawks: This week’s opponent, the Rams, have more than a dozen players in COVID-19 protocols. The Seahawks? Zero. Pete Carroll expounded on why he feels that’s the case. … The Hawk defense is better than its numbers indicate. … Chris Carson had surgery. … So did Gavin Heslop, who was flown back from Houston on Jody Allen’s plane.
Kraken: The second game of the road trip was against the best of the West, Anaheim. The Ducks flew past Seattle 4-1.
Mariners: There has been some shuffling behind the scenes with the M’s.
Sounders: Next year’s schedule it out. How does it look for the Sounders?
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• Hopefully, Interstate 90 will be OK today from here to North Bend. After that it’s always good, right? Crowded but good. Until later …