ESPN West recruiting Blog

Posted by Greg Biggins

Washington State has been very active and aggressive recruiting the Bay Area this year. They picked up a pair of commitments last weekend from Pittsburg (Calif.) and are doing well with one of the top running backs in the state in Berkeley (Calif.) standout Ricky Galvin.

Washington State was one of the first schools to offer Galvin. The running back will take an official visit to Pullman later this month.

"He's going down there [Oct. 10] when they play Arizona State," Berkeley coach Alonzo Carter said. "It's homecoming that weekend so it should be a good atmosphere for Ricky. He's friends with Damante Horton, who already committed to Washington State and they're going on that visit together.

"Washington State is doing a nice job out here. We just played Pittsburg last weekend and Robert Jiles was talking up Washington State to Ricky after the game was over. I would definitely say Washington State leads for Ricky but I'm not sure if he'll commit on the visit. He might want to take one more trip before he commits anywhere but you never know."

San Diego State has also offered Galvin and is high on the list. Galvin rushed for 233 yards and three touchdowns last week in the Yellowjackets' 18-16 win over Pittsburg last weekend. He has more than 700 yards rushing on the season and leads the area in yards and touchdowns.

"He's the best back out here," Coach Carter said. "He's so strong, people think he's small but he's not. He's short but he's not small, big difference. He's a lot like Maurice Jones Drew, probably not as fast but so powerful. Ricky can squat 405 pounds 20 times and we have our guys go all the way down to the floor. He's a beast out there and is having a great season for us."

Stills making changes
Wideout Kenny Stills (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) picked up a new offer Thursday morning and is making some changes to his list.

Stills has already taken one official visit to Tennessee and will take an unofficial visit this weekend to Cal to watch the Bears take on USC.

"I'm excited, it should be a great game," Stills said. "Cal has been recruiting me hard from the beginning and they have always been in my top five. Right now, the schools I'm most interested in are Michigan, Florida, UCLA, Cal and Oklahoma and that's in no order."

The Wolverines just offered Stills on Thursday and likely take the place of a former Big 10 team on his list.

"I had Penn State high up there and was going to take an official visit there but it doesn't look like that will happen," Stills said. "They emailed me and said they're running out of spots so it looks like we're going in a different direction and that's fine.

"I still have Oklahoma and Florida set and when I set Michigan, that will be four with one left to go. I work out with Tate (Forcier) in the summer and he's doing great at Michigan. I was excited by that offer and look forward to learning more about them.

"I would love to hear from Miami and Texas as well. My coach is trying to make contact with the staff over there. Texas has always been kind of a dream school and if they offered, I would probably jump on it. I've always liked Miami too and would love to take a visit out there. Right now, I'm just trying to find the best overall fit for me and after I'm done with my visits, hopefully I'll know where that is."

One school to watch out for here is Florida as the Gators have made a strong impression on a handful of SoCal players.

"We all talk, we know what's going on," Stills said. "Ronald (Powell) is high on Florida and Josh (Shaw) loved his visit. I know Dietrich likes them a lot too. They're coming out to my game tomorrow night and that shows a lot of commitment on their part since I'm clear across the country.

"I'm not saying we're all going to be some big package deal or anything but those are some great players and it would be fun if we could all play together. I'm definitely looking forward to visiting the Swamp because I've heard a lot of great things and I'm anxious to see it firsthand myself."