WSU Reaps Talent Bonanza
A ``Best in the West'' running back, the defensive player of the year in Nevada and a Franklin High School athlete are among seven final prospects landed by Washington State University in a late football recruiting surge.
The seven players either made up their minds yesterday or word of their commitment to WSU surfaced. Today, they and 17 other WSU recruits were scheduled to sign national letters of intent.
The running back is Derek Sparks, 6 feet 1, 212 pounds, from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif. His cousin and high-school teammate, Leland Sparks, a 5-11, 170-pound defensive back, also has accepted a WSU scholarship.
The other new recruits are: linebacker John Peaua, 6-3, 234, of McQueen High School in Reno, Nev.; Mark McCloskey, 6-4, 280, offensive lineman from Bend, Ore.; safety-linebacker Chris Hayes, 6-1, 195, from San Gorgonio High in San Bernardino, Calif.; Tommy McCoy, 6-0, 185, wide receiver-cornerback from Franklin High; and Eric Thompson, 6-2, 230, linebacker from Golden West (junior) College in Huntington Beach, Calif.
McCoy had announced his intention to accept an Idaho scholarship, then changed his mind when WSU called with an offer yesterday afternoon.
Derek Sparks is WSU's third ``Best in the West'' recruit since the Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Telegram began publishing its list of top West Coast high-school football talent 15 years ago.
Others who made the list and became Cougars were Mark Rypien in 1981 (now quarterback of the Washington Redskins) and Kyle Foye in 1989. Foye was a special-teams player for the Cougars last season.
Sparks received six votes from a panel of 10 coaches who vote on whether they think an athlete can be a Pac-10 Conference impact player by his sophomore year.
Sparks chose the Cougars over Illinois and Arkansas. He gained 1,789 yards last season on 248 carries and scored 13 touchdowns.
His high-school career was marked by transfers and controversies. After moving from Wharton, Texas, he enrolled at Banning High School near Los Angeles. He transferred to Montclair Prep in Van Nuys, Calif., and gained 1,954 yards and scored 35 touchdowns as a junior.
He and Leland played for Montclair in a game in Hawaii last August, then he eventually transferred to Mater Dei in Santa Ana, where his mother had moved.
Montclair didn't want to lose its star back. The Orange County Register reported that Sparks' uncles alleged that Montclair officials offered the running back illegal payments and also tampered with his transcript. The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is looking into the allegations.
After sitting out two games because of the transfer, Sparks scored on runs of 80, 80 and 62 yards in his first Mater Dei game - the first three times he touched the ball.
Leland Sparks missed several games last season because of an injury but still gained a reputation for making big plays. He chose WSU over New Mexico.
Peaua of Nevada's state-champion McQueen High School of Reno, selected WSU over Brigham Young, Utah, Nevada, USC and UCLA, said McQueen Coach Ken Dalton.
``He's not a big-city kid,'' said Dalton said. ``He also hit it off well with the Washington State coaches.''
COUGAR FOOTBALL COMMITMENTS
Following is a list of recruits who indicated they would accept Washington State University football scholarships. Today was the first day players could sign letters of intent; X indicates they had signed by press time.
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Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown Signed
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Gary Banks WR 6-1 175 Miami - .
Robert Booth LB 6-2 225 Pasco X .
Chad Eaton OL-DL 6-4 278 Puyallup (Rogers) X .
Shawn Deeds QB 6-5 225 Poulsbo (N. Kitsap) X .
Mark Fields LB 6-2 210 Southwest L.A. JC X .
Chris Frank DL 6-4 260 College of Siskyous, Ca. - .
Chris Hayes DB-LB 6-1 195 San Bernardino, Calif. - .
Terrell Henderson CB 5-11 168 San Francisco X .
Derrick Hentz LB 6-3 218 Belmont, Calif. - .
Stephon Jackson RB 6-1 190 Merced, Calif. - .
Albert Kennedy WR 6-2 185 San Jose, Calif. X .
Santana Lewis WR-DB 5-9 165 Miami Beach, X .
Mark McCloskey OL 6-4 280 Bend, Ore. - .
Tommy McCoy WR-DB 6-0 175 Seattle (Franklin) X .
Singor Mobley RB-FS 5-10 178 Tacoma (Curtis) X .
Eric Moore TE 6-5 210 Garden Grove, Calif. - .
Shane Peterson DE 6-5 235 Auburn (Auburn) - .
John Peaua LB 6-3 234 Reno, Nev. - .
Noa Pua DE 6-2 220 Garden Grove, Calif. X .
Derek Sparks RB 6-1 212 Santa Ana, Calif. - .
Leland Sparks DB 5-11 170 Santa Ana, Calif. - .
Matt Storm DL 6-5 250 Edmonds (Edmonds-Woodway) - .
Eric Thompson LB 6-2 230 Golden West CC, .
Huntonigton Bch, Ca. X .
James Witkowski OL 6-4 250 San Diego - .
The following junior-college recruits enrolled at WSU in January. They do not count on the NCAA limit of 25 scholarship players that who can be signed beginning today.
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Player Pos. Ht. Wt. School or hometo Signed .
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Kevin Ashworth LB 6-2 210 Golden West CC, .
Huntington Bch., Ca. X .
Cal Schexnayder WR 6-1 190 Fresno City JC, Calif. X .
Robbie Tobeck DE 6-3 250 Kilgore JC, Texas X .