UW, WSU Recruits: No Surprises

The harvest of high-school football players went as expected today for University of Washington and Washington State coaches.

By mid-morning, Washington had signed 10 prep players to letters of intent; Washington State had signed eight.

There were no surprises. All of the early Husky signees had announced their enrollment intent before today, the first day NCAA schools could sign players to letters of intent.

The lists:

Washington - Damon Barry, wide receiver, Northglenn, Colo.; Richie Chambers, linebacker/defensive back, Lake Stevens; Bryan Conlan, offensive line, South Delta, B.C.; Frank Garcia, offensive lineman, 6-2, 270, Phoenix; Mike Derrow, linebacker, Federal Way; Russell Hairston, defensive back, Bellevue (Newport); Travis Hanson, kicker, Spokane (Mead); Eteka Huckaby, running back, Cupertino, Calif.; Jeff Jackson, tight end, Corona Del Mar, Calif.; David Killpatrick, LB/RB, Anchorage; Lamar Lyons, defensive back, Santa Monica; Josh Moore, defensive back, Torrance, Calif.; Keith Navidi, defensive line, Anaheim, Calif.; Andrew Peterson, OL, Port Orchard (South Kitsap); Tyson Pollman, linebacker/tight end, White Pass; Donovan Schmidt, linebacker/center, Palm Springs, Calif.; Paxton Tailele, DB, Hawaii (Colege Of The Desert, Palm Springs, Calif.; Mondela Wilkins, defensive lineman, San Diego.

Washington State - Drew Bledsoe, quarterback, Walla Walla; Clay Reis, tight end, Cupertino, Calif.; Eric Ness, defensive lineman, South Kitsap; Ryan Blakemore, defensive lineman, Lompoc, Calif.; Ron Childs, running back-strong safety, Kennewick (Kamiakin HS); Deron Pointer, wide receiver-defensive back, Tacoma (Curtis HS); Torey Hunter, wide receiver-defensive back, Tacoma (Curtis HS) and Mark Whitmire, quarterback-safety, Tenino (Charles Wright Academy, Tacoma.

Washington went into the first permissible signing day with 19 known oral commitments and Washington State had 22. The Huskies, who still have a few hooks in the water, were hoping to add another player today. It would be a major surprise if the Cougars do.

WSU Coach Mike Price this morning said he thought recruiting ``was much better than I thought it would be.''

Price said the Cougars sought speed and height and got both. He said 20 of the 22 expected recruits run the 40-yard dash in under 5 seconds.

Price said three unfilled scholarships may go to African track athletes already on campus. He said one weighs 300 pounds ``and can squad and bench-press Bohler Gym,'' another is a Nigerian Olympic team sprinter who wants to play wide receiver and the other is a 235-pound potential running back.

Price said if the Africans turn out for spring football, they must be given football scholarships under NCAA rules. He said his staff must try to determine whether they are bona-fide football players before spring drills.

Price acknowledged that his recruiting class lacks a big-name high-school running back. He said the Cougars were second in recruiting battles for running backs who wound up at Colorado and USC.

No recruit may have used a stranger method to pick his school than Husky recruit Navidi.

Navidi, a defensive lineman from Esperanza High School in Orange County, Calif., couldn't decide between scholarship offers from Oregon or Washington. He liked both schools because he is an avid fisherman.

``I sat down and wrote out what I liked best about each school,'' Navidi told California reporters. ``It was still a tough decision, so I let the Lord decide.

``Then, I was driving on the freeway one day, and the car ahead of me had a University of Washington bumper sticker on it. The one next to it was a sticker with the dove sign. That's when I made up my mind to go to Washington.''

In the Pac-10, USC and UCLA are expected, as usual, to sign the most blue-chippers.

As ex-WSU (now USC) basketball Coach George Raveling once said, ``The position of USC and UCLA in athletics is like the Arabs in oil - by a quirk of nature they're sitting on 50 percent of the merchandise.''

Of the 29 athletes selected for the Best in the West rankings by a panel of coaches for the Long Beach Press-Telegram, USC is expected to sign seven and UCLA six.

The Huskies are getting one - 290-pound lineman Andrew Peterson of South Kitsap High School.

The top Cougar recruit is Bledsoe, who was Super Prep magazine's Far West offensive player of the year.

Today's signing date - the second Wednesday in February - is a day of relief for recruits, coaches and coaches' wives.

Sandy Lappano, whose husband, Tim, coaches WSU running backs and recruits in the Bay Area in northern California,has a special reason this year for wanting her husband home - she is expecting the couple's baby in three weeks.

She said the pregnancy ``was very well-planned, and fortunately it's working out according to plan.''

Since early December, the Lappanos have seen each other only a couple days a week, when recruits fly to Pullman for weekend visits. During the rest of the week, he is in California.

He stays at the San Francisco Westin, where he gets a special rate and where WSU alumni on the hotel staff look after him and make sure he gets all his messages.

Still, as Sandy said, ``It's not the life of luxury people think. When Tim gets home, he really appreciates a home-cooked meal.''

Some trends have appeared in recent years.

One is a decrease in signing-day drama. Incidents of coaches camping on players' doorsteps on signing day are rare. Most players tend to make their decisions weeks or days in advance of signing day. They make it public to stop the flow of telephone calls from recruiters and reporters.

Another trend is the growing importance of summer camps in recruiting. At least four Husky recruits attended the UW's football camp, where coaches got a thorough look at them.

Elsewhere ...

EASTERN WASHINGTON

Harold Fox, DL, 6-4, 260, Vancouver (Evergreen)

John Vindivich, TB, 6-3, 190, Tacoma (Mount Tahoma)

Bobby Fuller, DB, 5-9, 175, Tacoma (Lakes)

Bobby Skoor, WR/DB, 5-10, 170, Auburn

Steve McCaskey, DL, 6-4, 240, Lewiston, Idaho (Walla Walla CC)

Randall Ensley, TE/DE, 6-5, 235, Gold Beach, Ore. (Walla Walla CC

Dion Wilkins, WR, 5-11, 185, Spokane (Walla Walla CC)

Evan Brady, DB, 6-3, 205, Yakima (Davis)

MONTANA

Scott Gurnsey, WR, 5-11, 180, Tumwater

Dennis Scates, LB, 6-3, 228, Spokane (Rogers)

Jay Turner, DE, 6-4, 225, Marysville

Garrett Venters, LB, 6-3, 232, Richland

MONTANA STATE

Clint Morton, RB, 5-9, 170, Spokane (Ferris)

BOISE STATE

Prentice Stephens, RB/DB, 5-11, 188, Tacoma (Lincoln)

T.J. Tuntland, LB, 6-2, 235, Kent (Kentwood)

Mike Kalby, OL/DL, 6-3, 260, Sammamish

Mac McCallister, RB, 5-11, 195, Juanita

Lindsey Yowell, WR, 6-1, 185, Inglemoor

IDAHO

Alan Allen, WR/DB, 6-1, 178, Tacoma (Clover Park)

Eric Koss, OL, 6-5, 285, Kirkland (Juanita)

Sean Watkins, DL/OL, 6-5, 235, Clarkston

Brian Strandley, DL, 6-3, 222, Tacoma (Curtis)

Donnis Henry, RB/DB, 6-0, 177, Federal Way (Decatur)

OREGON

Kyle Crowston, QB, 6-2, 180, Vancouver (Evergreen)

WEBER STATE

Brad Otton, QB, 6-1, 185, Tumwater

NEBRASKA

Vince Hawkins, FB, 6-2, 205, Spokane Community College