Why WSU QB Zevi Eckhaus committed without taking a visit — and why he’s glad he did

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Apr. 13—PULLMAN — Zevi Eckhaus had everything set up for his flight to Alabama, the site of Jacksonville State, where he had signed to play football.

The former Bryant quarterback was ready to move on, ready to play at a higher level, when his phone rang.

On the other end was Ben Arbuckle, Washington State’s offensive coordinator, making a push for Eckhaus in January.

“We’ve got an open spot,” Arbuckle said. “We’re looking for a guy. It’s an open competition. Do you wanna be the guy?”

“I wanna say it took me less than 24 hours to get back to him,” Eckhaus said. “I might have just slept over it.”

The next day, Eckhaus rearranged his plans. He decommitted from Jacksonville State — transfer portal players don’t enter binding agreements until they enroll on campus — and signed with WSU. Without taking a visit to Pullman, without a guarantee he would see the field next fall, Eckhaus became a Cougar.

“I think it’s just the name, the reputation that this school has,” Eckhaus said. “They’ve obviously produced a lot of great players. We have a couple players that are going to be in the (NFL) draft this year. The name speaks for itself. It was an opportunity to put myself in a great position as an athlete.

“I feel like, whether you’re a high school athlete, or Pop Warner, or whatever it is, I think every kid’s dream is to play (Power Five) one day, and I was given that opportunity. I was very fortunate, and I couldn’t pass that one up.”

Washington State may not enjoy the Power Five status the way it did for the past century — WSU and Oregon State are using a two-year grace period to attempt to rebuild the Pac-12, playing as Mountain West affiliate members next season — but it did have enough status to lure Eckhaus to Pullman.

In Eckhaus, the Cougars landed an agile quarterback, last season’s Big South-OVC Offensive Player…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-wsu-qb-zevi-eckhaus-020100903.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2024-04-14 02:01:00

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