Could Washington State Be Outrecruiting Its College Football Rivals?

Year in and year out, skeptics contend that you can't recruit good student-athletes to Washington State.

"Pullman is 73 miles from a small town!"

"The WSU campus isn't at the the end of the world, but you can see it from there."

And the sniping goes downhill from there...

Enter new head football coach Paul Wulff.

Suddenly, talented high school players are committing to play for Wazzu. Coach Wulff already has six three-star players verbally committing to join the Washington State family. Yes, that's before the high school season has even begun when recruits start narrowing down their choices. Heck, there are only seven three-star recruits in the entire 2008 class.

Why the turnaround?

Part of the answer to that question was offered up, unintentionally, after the Friday afternoon practice session.

Going into fall practice, one of the positions that appeared to be strong was wide receiver. Injuries to sophomore Jeshua Anderson, a world-class hurdler in track, and projected starter Daniel Blackledge have caused the coaching staff to take serious looks at the rest of the depth chart. There has been speculation that two true freshman, Jared Karstetter and Kevin Norrell, won't redshirt this coming season.

Wulff said there's a "good chance" Karstetter will not just see significant playing time, but likely get the starting nod next Saturday in the season-opener against OSU.  That's Oklahoma State University, not the other OSU in the Big Eleven...er, Big Ten. Norrell should see significant playing time this coming season, as well.

That's the kind of coaching decision that turns the heads of recruits. If you have the talent and make a good showing for yourself, you will be playing in the Pac-10 if you attend WSU.

Coach Wulff is turning a disadvantage in his favor. Presently, the Cougs aren't very deep at any position. Seriously. For young players, that means the coaching staff will give everyone a solid look.

Now, if Wulff can turn things from giving players a solid look into a team that looks solid, he'll really have something.