Cougar News: Washington State Moves Up to No. 6

Things are looking pretty darn good for Cougar Nation these days. The Washington State basketball team has rebounded nicely from their loss to UCLA in Los Angeles with two solid wins over Oregon State and Oregon.

The Cougs leaped over UCLA who dropped from the No. 4 slot down to No. 7. However, the toll of playing in the Pac-10 is beginning to effect the rest of the conference. Only three teams are rated in the USAToday/ESPN poll, including Stanford at No. 21. The AP Top 25 includes ASU at No. 24. One conspicuous PAC-10 team missing from the national polls is Arizona.

Despite a rough road trip through the Washington schools, Oregon is a very talented basketball team capable of competing in the NCAA Tournament in March. The Ducks appear to be victim to Pac-10 road games.

While on the topic of moving onward and upward, Coach Paul Wulff and his staff are beginning to attract high school prospects. They have clearly been aided by the success of Cougar basketball. This past weekend WSU hosted a bevy of recruits to visit the Pullman campus.

Included in the visit was time dedicated to watching Cougar basketball on Sunday. The energy and enthusiasm of 11,000+ fans was infectious for many of the recruits.

Results? The obvious. A herd of Coug fans were elated to see their team come back to defeat the Ducks. The win catapulted WSU up in the national rankings. The recruits saw how emotional Cougar Nation is about pride in the WSU family and winning. Four recruits Coach Wulff was keenly interested in have verbally committed to WSU following their weekend visit. The latest verbals include:

Jay Matthews - Lake Oswego, OR - Safety **

Brian Baucham - Torrance, CA - Running Back **

Kevin Norrell - Long Beach, CA - Receiver **

Tyree Toomer - Bellflower, CA - Safety *

This group joins four of the top-rated junior college transfers, all three star prospects, who recently tripped to Pullman:

Chantz Staden - Cupertino, CA - Running Back ***

Jesse Sanchez - Culver City, CA - Defensive End ***

Josh Luapo - Wilmington, CA - Defensive End ***

Myron Beck - Glendale, AZ - Receiver ***

Perhaps these incoming recruits will be able to add the necessary push to make the difference between the past few seasons and the days of football glory. The Cougar football team has been just a few plays away from success over the past three years. Coach Wulff is confident that these incoming recruits can, and will, be able to make those plays happen.

GO COUGS!!!