WSU recruit Treshon Broughton’s path to D-I football had twists and turns

PULLMAN – Treshon Broughton’s journey to college has had more unfortunate obstacles than most, and his path to a Pac-12 football scholarship has rarely been clear. But, he’s never gone wrong sticking with the Hoyds. Broughton lived with Greg Hoyd III and his father, Greg II, on and off throughout high school in California. When Hoyd transferred from Tustin High to powerhouse Vista Murrieta to play on a stacked defense that included current USC star Su’a Cravens, Broughton transferred too. After his first year of junior college, Broughton, a cornerback, wanted to transfer to a school with a better history of placing prospects at FBS schools; he ended up at Riverside City College, where the elder Greg Hoyd coaches linebackers. And Wednesday, Broughton will sign a national letter of intent with Washington State, the school at which Hoyd III just finished up his freshman season. Broughton will graduate this spring and head to Pullman on June 22, his birthday. Hoyd will be waiting for him, as will Riverside teammate Jeremiah Mitchell, to celebrate a birthday, a welcoming and a reunion. It’s been a long time coming for Broughton, who intended to sign with Fresno State out of high school but academic issues sent him on the junior college route. He spent one year at Fullerton College then left for Riverside. “What happened honestly was they weren’t really putting guys out,” said Riverside defensive backs coach Isaac Shipp. “Guys weren’t getting scholarships or a lot of looks so, you know, everybody’s goal is to get to the next level, to get an offer and we have a track record of that.” He accepted a scholarship offer from Oregon State this season, but decided not to go that route when coach Mike Riley left the Beavers to coach Nebraska. And while WSU did not yet have a defensive coordinator, his relationship with linebackers coach Ken Wilson, as well as with the Hoyds, convinced Broughton, who has a redshirt season available, to spend the next two or three years in Pullman. “Most coaches just talked to me about football stuff and whatever but (Wilson) talked about school, life, what I wanted to do in school and after school and that’s what made me feel so comfortable,” Broughton said. The corner’s arrival is a boon for the Cougars, who have only been getting younger at the position. Last season, 21 of WSU’s 22 starts at the cornerback positions were made by five different underclassmen, two of which are no longer with the program. Freshman Kevin Griffin left the team shortly after the season while sophomore Daquawn Brown was dismissed for an unspecified violation of team rules. Brown’s loss is particularly costly since he was both the team’s best defensive back and its leading tackler, the rare cornerback capable of bringing a physical presence to a young secondary. But Broughton appears to have qualities that could help mitigate Brown’s loss as the Cougars replace one aggressive junior cornerback with another. “He’s the guy that always wants to make a play, he’ll come up and hit,” Shipp said. “He’s not afraid of contact. He’s definitely a corner you want on your team.” In a 28-24 upset of Mt. San Antonio College, Broughton had three interceptions off former Hawaii quarterback Justin Alo, and returned one for a touchdown. For comparison’s sake, the WSU defense had the same number of interceptions in the entirety of last season. Scout.com national director of recruiting Brandon Huffman recalls watching Broughton cover Trent Irwin, a wide receiver that is expected to sign with Stanford on Wednesday. At 6-foot-2, 193-pounds, Irwin had a distinct size advantage over the 6-foot, 180-pound Broughton. The quarterback threw a jump ball and Broughton ripped it out of Irwin’s hands to win the matchup. “He’s just so aggressive and physical that he was going to win that battle and he did,” Huffman said. “He’s going to be able to come in and play right away.” The Cougars are hoping a number of signees in the 2015 class will be able to contribute on the field next season and to that end WSU will tap into the junior college ranks. Mitchell and safety Shalom Luani are already on campus, and Broughton, wide receiver C.J. Dimry and possibly linebacker Jonah Moi, another Riverside product, are expected to sign. All are expected to play early – coaches don’t bring in players halfway through their college careers to warm the bench – and their successes or failures will be the primary reasons why what happens Wednesday will have a major impact on WSU’s ability to compete next fall.