WSU adds a receiver
Even as Washington State begins adds commitments for t 2016, the Cougars are still wrapping up their 2015 recruiting class. Sort of.
Tavares Martin from West Palm Beach, Florida, turned in his national letter of intent to the WSU coaching staff on Tuesday, according to multiple outlets. Martin was recruited in the 2015 class but will likely count as a member of the 2016 class for the Cougars. More on that below.
Martin originally planned to sign with West Virginia, but had his scholarship offer rescinded following an arrest for attempted burglary. Martin allegedly broke into a home and stole some stuff, including a flat screen TV.
While the arrest happened long before Martin committed to WVU, various reports state that it was the reason for the scholarship offer to be revoked. He then signed with Ellsworth Community College in Iowa.
Because theft is one of WSU coach Mike Leach's three violations that are cause for immediate dismissal, Martin will undoubtedly be under tight scrutiny from both fans and coaches.
Martin told Cougfan.com that he had a one-on-one meeting with athletic director Bill Moos, who apparently gave Leach the go-ahead to sign the talented receiver.
In the article, available to Cougfan subscribers, Martin said, "(Moos) told me that he's glad that I learned from my mistakes and that I need to make better decision. I need to hang around better people … Mr. Moos gave coach Leach the stamp of approval."
In Martin the Cougars are getting an undeniably talented receiver, one who reportedly had scholarship offers from Alabama, Forida, Ohio State and many other successful programs.
He also fills a need, since Rickey Preston (another late addition to the class), opted to sign with Tulane a few weeks ago. Because WSU already has the max of 25 scholarships given out for 2015, the plan for Preston was to sign financial aid papers and count against the 2016 class, while still being able to play right away. It seems reasonable to assume that's what Martin will do, and that he actually signed financial aid papers, rather than an NLI. I'm still trying to confirm that's the case and will update when I can.
