LET THE COUGAR RECRUITING DAY BEGIN!

WASHINGTON STATE ENTERS the National Letter of Intent signing extravaganza with 24 known verbals and few question-marks. If all goes as expected -- and you never truly know what surprises might beckon -- look for the Cougars to wrap up the day with, among other things, four of the top high school and JC running backs in the nation; a load of talented receivers; one of the four most touted prep prospects in the state of Washington; and some much-needed help at cornerback.

Editor’s note: Cougfan.com will be bringing you wall-to-wall recruiting coverage throughout the day, including a continuously updated list of players whose LOIs have been received; a late lunch-hour visit for CF.C subscribers with two of the very best in the business — Robin Pflugrad and Leon Burtnett — in the CF.C chat room; Signing Day photos and much, much more. Now, back to the story . . .

The Cougars’ expected haul at running back hasn’t gotten a ton of attention this recruiting season, but facts are facts. Both of the presumed prep pickups, Marcus Richmond of Mesa, Ariz., and Skylar Jessen of Spokane, are rated among the top 100 in the nation at their position. In addition, JC All-Americans J.T. Diederichs and Derrell Hutsona are three-star playmakers with two years of outstanding production under their belts.

In addition, there’s a fifth potential entry for the Cougars at running back. Chris Ivory of Longview, Texas, a recent WSU verbal, is a standout fullback and linebacker. We tentatively have slotted him at linebacker, but there’s definitely nothing certain.

So there you have it -- a very quick sneak peek. CF.C will keep you up to the minute as the LOIs roll in.

When all is said and done, we expect the class to include the following names and maybe more. Many of these are multi-dimensional athletes, with their other possible position assignments in parenthesis.

SAFETY
Cornorris Atkins (WR)

LINEBACKER
Andy Mattingly (TE)
Chris Ivory (RB)

DEFENSIVE LINE
Toby Turpin
Preston Brooks
Ansley Clevil
Kevin Kooyman (TE)

CORNERBACK
Kerry Maddox
B.T. Walker
Brian Williams

RUNNING BACK
Marcus Richmond
Skylar Jessen
J.T. Diederichs
Derrell Hutsona (KR)

TIGHT END
Jason Price
Trevor Mooney

OFFENSIVE LINE
Grady Maxwell
Micah Hannam
Joey Eppele

QUARTERBACK
None

WIDE RECEIVER
Anthony Houston
Keith Rosenberg (DB)
Finas Rabb
Charles Dillon
Greg Walker

SIGNING DAY SURPRISES?
We should know by day's end.

NOTABLE NOTES:
* At 12:30 pm Pacific Time, WSU recruiting coordinator Robin Pflugrad and linebackers coach Leon Burtnett will be coming by the Cougfan.com chat room to discuss the class of 2006. The Q&A session is available to all CF.C Premium subscribers. We suggest you get there 10 minutes early and have your questions ready for one of the preeminent recruiting coordinators, and one of the most dynamic recruiters, in all of college football. Of note: for bandwidth reasons, we’ll have to cap participation at about 200.

* Late in the afternoon, Washington State will hold a press conference. The staff of CF.C will bring you complete coverage of the event, including coach Bill Doba's remarks.

* While the recruiting action is going on, you can also check on the status of signees through our Cougfan.com message boards or chat with fellow members of the Cougar Nation and get real-time feedback as new recruiting information is happening. Click on the Cougfan.com Premium chat (Subscription Required).

PROGRAMMING NOTES:
After the thrill that is National of Letter of Intent Day, we'll pause for about 5 minutes and then come at you Thursday and Friday with more perspective.

And for good measure, we'll begin our 2007 recruiting coverage before the week is out.

But that comes later, now it's all about the Washington State class of 2006. Here are a few quick links that will make for essential viewing by all Washington State recruiting fans:

Washington State's Commit List
Scout.com's Team Rankings
Scout.com West Hot 100
Scout.com Northwest Hot 100

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