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Oregon St. got another recruiting "flip" as a result of the assistants new coach Gary Andersen hired.
Tuli Wily Matagi announced this afternoon that he's changed his mind, and will be becoming a Beaver.
I've decided to flip my commitment over to Oregon State, want to thank everyone who supported me through this decision. #GoBeavs
— Tuli Wily-Matagi (@TuliWM10) January 7, 2015
Wily-Matagi was a Utah commit, and a direct recruit by Kalani Sitake, who was Utah's Defensive Coordinator, until Sitake took the same position at Oregon St.
Further, Wily-Matagi, was also recruited by Wisconsin, where not only was Andersen the head coach, but also specifically by Chad Kauha'aha'a when he was the defensive line coach for the Badgers, before taking the same position for the Beavers.
Wily-Matagi, a 6'3", 230 lb. athlete who was a running and passing quarterback for Kahuku High in Kahuku, Hawaii, also had offers from Colorado and Washington St. of the Pac-12, as well as Utah St., before his previous announcement that he had intended to go to Utah.
Here's his offensive highlights from last fall, which do include some passing from the pocket, as well as roll-outs and designed runs:
Wily-Matagi is rated 2 stars by Rivals, but Scout has him as a 3 star prospect, as a defensive end.
It certainly looks like the Oregon St. staff will have options on how and where to use him.
In other recruiting news, with the start of winter term, Oregon St. has confirmed the enrollment of a couple of recruits who grayshirted, plus an additional kicker.
Xavier Crawford, who signed a financial aid agreement back in September, has qualified, and is another multi-position player, having played both running back and defensive back at Pittsburg High and Clayton Valley High, and is also a track athlete.
Ricky Liuchan, who was rated the #43 outside linebacker prospect in the country, is from Mission Hills High in San Marcos, CA, and committed to Oregon St. over Arizona St. and California in the Pac-12, was named to the PrepStar All-West Region team, after being a CIF Southern Section first team selection as a junior. Liuchan will be looked at to fill one of the outside linebacker vacancies that resulted from the graduation of both D.J. Alexander and Michael Doctor.
Oregon State also extended a preferred walk-on invitation to kicker Zach Standish, from Barlow high in Gresham, OR.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com