Cougars receive good news from Hill
PULLMAN – Jason Hill couldn’t see his head coach when he told him the news. That wasn’t necessary – the junior wide receiver knew exactly what Bill Doba was doing.
“He was smiling over the phone,” Hill said. “I’m a Coug for another year.”
Hill, who has spent the last month pondering a possible jump to the NFL, announced publicly Friday afternoon what he told Doba a week earlier: He’s coming back to Washington State for his senior season, with a legitimate shot to break a boatload of Cougars receiving records.
“You’re a Coug for life, buddy,” Doba said as he sat next to his star wideout during Hill’s news conference. “We’re happy to have him back and we’ll do everything we can to make his final year a successful year.”
But in the end, it wasn’t Doba’s friendliness or a love for WSU that made up Hill’s mind, even though he said both were factors. Instead, it was the NFL scouting evaluation. Hill submitted his name to the league’s central scouting service, which provides juniors considering leaving early with an evaluation.
When Hill received a phone call with the news that he was projected to be a fourth-round pick – maybe a third-rounder – the decision was made. Hill, 20, had said he wasn’t leaving unless he felt he’d be a first- or second-round pick, and he stuck to his word.
“I wanted to place my future in the hands of those people that make the decisions,” Hill said. “Those are the people that eventually will pay me, so I wanted to base everything solely off of that.”
Now that the decision is final, however, Hill is plotting his senior season as a Cougar. If it ends up resembling what the San Francisco native envisions, Cougars fans should be happy.
Hill said he wants to see WSU back in a bowl game after a two-year hiatus, and made it clear his personal goal for 2006 is the same as it was in 2005 – to catch one more pass for one more yard and one more touchdown than he did the year before. After reeling in 62 passes for 1,097 yards and 13 touchdowns as a junior, that would work well.
“I have three objectives,” Hill said. “One is to raise my stock in the draft. I want to be the best receiver to ever play here at Washington State University. … And my third objective was to graduate from college. No one in my family has ever done that.”
Hill is on pace to graduate in December, meaning he can complete his college career and degree simultaneously and spend the following spring preparing for the NFL Draft. The junior also has contingency plans as well, as he said he’s looking into insurance policies that are offered to potential draft picks in case of serious injury during their senior seasons.
For the Cougars, the benefit of having Hill return is obvious. Not only will they have an established playmaker on the field, but it also allows them to recruit differently with signing day less than a month away.
If Hill had opted to go pro, the Cougars would have had just five returning scholarship wide receivers, and a position of need in recruiting would have turned into a position of desperate need.
“Coach (Mike) Levenseller’s job got a lot easier,” Doba joked about the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach. “I told the rest of the staff I had gotten my recruit, now they’ve got to go and get theirs. I got the best one.”
Injury updates
Two Cougars have already undergone off-season surgery and a handful of other significant contributors continue to rest lingering health issues.
Quarterback Alex Brink had arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone chip from his ankle and defensive tackle Aaron Johnson had a thumb injured in the Apple Cup surgically repaired as well. Head trainer Bill Drake said both players’ recoveries are going well.
End Mkristo Bruce, the team’s defensive MVP, has not needed surgery to repair an injured knee and rest appears to be working well for the junior.
Two others remain in limbo. Tight end Cody Boyd has an appointment Monday to determine if surgery will be needed to repair three bone cysts in his heel, an injury that nagged him all season. A decision is expected in about a week, and surgery would likely keep him out of spring practices. Cornerback/kick returner Lorenzo Bursey suffered a ligament sprain in his foot during the Apple Cup. While no surgery is necessary, he’s likely to miss all of winter conditioning and possibly spring practice.
Notes
A pair of scholarship players is expected to join WSU on Monday when the spring semester begins. Finas Rabb, a junior college wide receiver who has his two-year degree, and Joey Eppelle, an offensive lineman who signed last February but agreed to delay his college entry by a semester, should both be on campus and participating in spring practices. … Greg Walker, another recruit once thought to be lined up for January admittance, may not be a slam dunk. … Two other JC players, defensive tackle Bryan Tarkington and cornerback Brian Walker, are probably a semester away from arriving. … WSU’s most prominent oral commitment lately came from San Diego WR Anthony Houston, who had offers from Miami and Nebraska.