Oregon St. National Signing Day News

Today is NCAA Football National Signing Day, when all of those commitments that have been made can actually be formalized, with the submission of Letters of Intent.

With the transition from former long time coach Mike Riley to new coach Gary Andersen, its been the most eventful recruiting season in Oregon St. history, as several young men who committed to Coach Riley, or his system and assistants, reconsidered. But so did several others, who were originally anticipating joining Andersen at Wisconsin, and even more who were planning around Defensive Coordinator Kalani Sitakie being at Utah, but have taken a closer look at Corvallis since the overhaul.

And RB coach Telly Lockette, from South Florida, has gotten the interest of some who were unlikely to ever arrive in Oregon under other circumstances.

As a result, the Beavers are expecting a incoming class that has a new look to it.

Oregon St. got some good news yesterday evening, with word that 6'2", 225 lb. 3 star linebacker Thor Katoa, formerly a Utah commit, has announced he has changed his mind, and will be come a Beaver.

Then one of the key recruits that has been outstanding, as Simi Moala, a 6'7", 240 lb. 3 star DE from Cathedral High in Los Angeles, CA, made his choice be Oregon St. The Beavers were in competition with Utah and Miami, and Moala also had offers from Washington St., Fresno St., & Illinois.

Oregon St. has once again invited the public to drop by the Valley Football Center, starting at 7 AM to check in on how it goes, and breakfast ($6) and lunch ($8) are available, if you are so inclined.

You can also watch the live stream from the VFC.

(The replay will hopefully become available, but appears to have broken.)

SB Nation also has a National Signing Day show available to track how things are going across the country, starting at 10 AM:

We'll be updating this post as soon as we can as the LOIs are confirmed, and feel free to scoop us in the comments below, as Oregon St. welcomes the newest Beavers!

And before the breakfast bar was even open, 9 LOIs had rolled in.

Fort Lauderdale, FL, RB Deltron Sands has the honor of being the first of the morning, with his paperwork in place at 6:02 AM (remember, that was 9:02 in Florida.

Another RB from Florida, 3-star Taylor Thomas from Jacksonville, was next, only a minute later.

The first offensive line recruit on board is 6'5", 265 lb. Zach Lucas, from Katy, TX.

Seconds later, Mike Fifta, a 3-star 6'5", 260 lb. offensive lineman from Bradenton, FL, joined him.

The 6:05 minute was a big one, as 3-star DB Jay Irvine, who is 6'1" & 185 lbs, and has run a 4.5 40, signed on as the second recruit from Jacksonville, FL.

Oregon St. also addeed Australian punter Nick Porebski, a transfer via Snow College in Utah, and then a 3rd RB, 6'1" 200 lb. Zachary Lopini Katoa, from American Fork, UT. Lopini Katoa will be a delayed arrival, after completion of a Mormon mission.

The Beavers then got another RB, and one that hadn't been talked about a lot, but one that was a major get for Coach Andersen, given the other offers 3-star Paul Lucas from Mountain Pointe High in Phoenix, AZ sent in his LOI.

Lucas was targeted originally by former Oregon St. coach Mike Riley, and some had written him off to Nebraska, and if not there, the to Pac-12 rival Arizona St., who had heavily recruited him.

Lucas, and his 4.4 40 speed, also had offers from Pac-12 schools Arizona, UCLA, Utah, and Washington, and Notre Dame, San Diego St., and Tennessee from the SEC.

With the building log-jam at RB, and that speed, its possible that in Andersen's spread attack, Lucas could relocate to a receiver position, similar to what Oregon did with Brandon Marshall this past season, in order to get as many quality players, and as much speed, as possible on the field at once.

Some more secondary support rounded out the 6 o'clock hour, and continued the Beavers' recent pipeline from Texas, with the signing of DB Omar-Hicks-Onu, from Carrollton, TX.

Moala made his middle of the night decision official at 7:05 AM, just after breakfast was served, and then Oregon St. got their top targeted in-state recruit, when 6'7", 270 lb. 3-star o-lineman Blake Brandel from 2-time Oregon State Champion Central Catholic High in Portland, OR signed on.

One of the biggest gets from the "Utah connection" of the new coaching staff, not just head coach Andersen, but also D-line coach Chad Kauha'aha'a, linebackers coach Ilaisa Tuiaki, and Defensive Coordinator Kalani Sitake,  was 6'1", 245 lb. 3-star LB Christian Folau, from East High in Salt Lake City.

Folau's LOI that arrived at 7:22 finalized the Beavers' recruiting win over not only home-state Utah and Utah St., but also Wisconsin, Oklahoma St., Washington, California, Stanford, and Vanderbilt.

Linebacking and in-state recruiting both got a boost to begin the 8 o'clock hour, with the signing of 6'1", 205 lb. LB Hamilton Hunt from West Salem, OR High.

Jalen Moore, a 6'1", 190 lb. DB from Upland, CA, was next on-board, at 8:29.

Oregon St. added another 3-star recruit, and continued the TE tradition for the Beavers, when 6'5", 185 lb. Noah Togiai, from West Valley Utah, came aboard. Also know as Ian, Togiai was also recruited as a basketball player by Oregon St. hoops coach Wayne Tinkle before he decided to focus on football going forward.

The 8 o'clock hour was rounded out with 6', 165 lb. 3-star athlete Shawn Wilson, from Pomona, CA.

The tight end position got another addition at 9:15, which kept the Hawaii connection going as well (remember, it was only 7:15 AM there, so it wasn't as late as it sounds), with the addition of 6'3", 230 lb. 3-star Tuli Wily-Matagi, from Kahuku, HI.

Minutes later, 6'3", 205 lb. DB Treston DeCoud transferred from Northwest Mississippi Community college. DeCoud should provide immediate assistance to the Oregon St. secondary that graduated 3 starters this season.

DeCoud has a wide list of prospects, with Utah St., Toledo, Louisiana Lafayette, and East Carolina topping the list, though Fresno St., Houston, North Texas, Southern Miss, UT-San Antonio, SE Louisiana, and Western Kentucky had all also offered.

The disappointment of the day was the loss of Keivonnis Davis, a 6'4", 225 lb. DE from Miami Central High in Miami, FL, one of the players targeted by Lockette. Davis decided to stay closer to home, and went with Florida. This was the only late defection of note.

Just before 11, Katoa filed his LOI, and then the Beavers got their biggest recruit, physically, when Elu Aydon, a 6'3", 310 lb. DT American Samoa sent in his paperwork (remember, that was still early in the morning there.)

The class also includes QB Seth Collins, who was an early enrollee last month, for winter term.

The class is rated 68th best in the country, up from 81, on the Rivals ranking, now tied for Colorado, but still at the bottom of the Pac-12.

USC, finally free of recruiting restrictions, is ranked #1 overall, ahead of Alabama and Florida St. UCLA checks in at #13, with Oregon and Stanford #17 & #18.

California and Washington are #29 & #30, just ahead of Mike Riley's Nebraska class.