Arrow-right Camera
Subscribe now

Washington State receives commitments from highly rated Floridian defender, running back out of Texas powerhouse

By Colton Clark The Spokesman-Review

Washington State’s football program attained a pair of commitments Saturday night, securing verbal pledges from a top talent out of the Jacksonville, Florida, area and a running back out of a perennial prep powerhouse in Allen, Texas.

Tony Carter, a versatile defender for the Mandarin Mustangs, led all players at Jacksonville schools with 151 tackles as a senior last season and earned all-region honors. The 6-foot, 195-pound three-star prospect played both safety and linebacker. Also an accomplished wrestler at the Class 3A level, Carter is considered a top-200 prep prospect at the LB position, per 247Sports.com.

Carter received an offer from the Cougars last week and took an official visit to Pullman this weekend. His other offers included Maryland and Western Kentucky. WSU secondary coach Jordan Malone spearheaded his recruitment.

About three hours before Carter’s commitment surfaced on Twitter, running back Jaylen Jenkins announced over social media that he’ll be joining the Cougs’ roster next season after a productive senior season at Allen High, a traditional high school heavyweight on a national scale.

Jenkins, at 5-8 and 180 pounds, registered 1,519 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns last year, averaging 10.1 yards per carry for the 11-win Eagles, whose season ended in the Class 6A quarterfinals.

Despite his efficiency against some of the country’s best prep teams, Jenkins seems to have fallen under the recruiting radar. He doesn’t own a star rating on 247Sports.com, and his only other FBS offers came from Group of Five programs Utah State, Hawaii, Arkansas State, Tulsa, UTSA and Western Kentucky.

New WSU offensive coordinator Eric Morris took the lead on Jenkins’ recruitment. Morris, while serving as head coach of FCS Incarnate Word in San Antonio, had apparently been scouting Jenkins last year.

The Cougs offered Jenkins on Tuesday, and he took a trip to Pullman on Friday.

Later Monday, Zack Miller, a 6-foot-7 offensive tackle from Southern California, also committed after a weekend visit to Pullman.

Miller is the sixth prep offensive lineman to have either signed with or pledged to the Cougars since mid-December.

The 295-pounder is a three-star prospect and the No. 62 OT recruit in the country, according to 247Sports.com. He chose WSU over Ivy League options at Harvard and Princeton, 247Sports reported, and also held offers from Colorado and Liberty.

Clay McGuire spearheaded his recruitment after being hired in early December out of USC to coach WSU’s O-linemen. The Trojans didn’t offer Miller, but they had hosted him for an individual workout during McGuire’s stay in L.A., per an article from 247Sports.

“We had a good relationship and I learned a lot from him,” Miller told 247Sports of McGuire, who tutored WSU O-linemen from 2012-17. “He has had success everywhere he has been and he gotten guys drafted everywhere he has been.”

Miller was an anchor at left tackle during his prep career at Orange Lutheran in Orange, California – just south of L.A. The Lancers compete in the Trinity League, which is widely regarded as one of the nation’s most competitive high school conferences. It includes prep powerhouses such as Mater Dei and St. John Bosco.