Huffman on Recruiting – : WSU, OSU land impact transfers while Washington secures top in-state player (for the first time in years)

Story by Brandon Huffman 24/7Sports 

The End of an Era

When the confetti fell in Houston’s NRG Stadium on Monday night, it was the final game for the Pac-12 as it’s been known, with Washington coming up short against a future Big Ten rival, Michigan, in the national title game.

For now, just Oregon State and Washington State remain the next time a football game is played in the fall, in the Conference of Champions.

Cougs, Beavs Add Impact Transfers

Both remaining schools have added significant transfers.

In the last week, the Beavers have landed Oregon lineman Tevita Pom’ee, Cal cornerback Sailasa Vadrawale, Liberty cornerback Kobe Singleton and Ole Miss running back Jam Griffin.

For Griffin, the move marks a return to Corvallis, where he signed a letter of intent out of high school.

They also have added a pair of junior college prospects, with Kilgore (Tex.) safety Jaheim Patterson and Butte (Calif.) College linebacker Aiden Sullivan.

Meanwhile, Washington State went to Oregon for a handful of pickups, starting with Portland State linebacker Parker McKenna.

The Cougars also landed an Oregon native and former Duck (who played last at Louisville) in linebacker Keith Brown, plus Oregon receiver Kris Hutson, who’s originally from Southern California.

WSU also pulled in Louisiana Tech receiver Kyle Maxwell.

Bittersweet Monday for UW

While Washington fell short in its quest for the school’s first national title since 1991, the day wasn’t a complete loss.

Earlier, the No. 1 player in the state in the class of 2025, linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale picked the Huskies over Miami, Oregon, Penn State and Florida State.

In fact, the four-star prospect from Spanaway High School in Bethel was supposed to announce his decision at last week’s All-American Bowl in San Antonio, and the Seminoles were the favorite.

But he backed away from that and picked the Huskies.

Why is it big for Washington? Rainey-Sale will be the first No. 1 player from the state to select UW since cornerback Kyler Gordon in 2018 — that’s an eye-popping seven classes, with Oregon and USC combining to land the top recruit from the state the previous three years.

More Transfers Headed West

Several key transfers headed to departing Pac-12 schools, including Cole Martin, who left Oregon, where his father Demetrice Martin, is the defensive backs coach. He’s returning to the desert, where he attended high school, and announced his transfer to Arizona State.

UCLA picked up linebacker Joseph Vaughn, a transfer from Yale who prepped at San Jose (Calif.) Archbishop Mitty before having an all-Ivy League career with the Bulldogs.

Utah will bring in former Stanford safety Alaka’i Gilman, who started for the Cardinal but will skip the move to the ACC in favor of the Big 12.

The biggest move, however, was UNLV quarterback Jayden Maiava, who announced his transfer to USC one day after it looked like he was headed to Georgia.

Lone Wolf for 2024

There is only one top-100 recruit in the country in the class of 2024 who has yet to announce a commitment: receiver Gatlin Bair from Burley, Idaho.

Bair committed to Boise State in August, then backed away in December after the Broncos dismissed coach Andy Avalos.

Upon decommitting, Bair said he would only consider Michigan and Oregon.

He reiterated that stance last week at the All-American Bowl, saying that it will be between those two.

With Bair set to begin serving his church mission next month in Dallas, a decision will come closer to National Signing Day. He doesn’t plan to enroll until 2026.

What’s Next

The end of the recruiting dead period has arrived. For the next three weeks, coaches can be on the road to wrap up any final needs with 2024 prospects but more likely will see players in the 2025 and 2026 classes.

There can be official visits the next four weekends before the traditional National Signing Day on Feb. 7.

The transfer portal is closed until April, with the exception of players whose head coach has departed (e.g., Alabama). They have an additional 30 days to transfer. (There is no deadline to select a school once a player enters the portal.)

Next week, the final all-star game of the 2024 recruiting cycle will take place with the Polynesian Bowl.

Each Pac-12 school, save Stanford, will have recruits participating in Honolulu. Oregon leads the way with a game-high 10 signees. USC has three, with two each for Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Washington State. Cal, Colorado, Oregon State, UCLA and Washington have one.

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