Jordan Pulu will be heading east of the mountains to play college football. The Federal Way High School linebacker gave a verbal commitment to Washington State University last week.
“The whole program seemed like it was on the right track,” said Pulu, a 6-foot-1, 235-pounder. “I feel like that coaching staff has a plan even though they haven’t been successful the last couple of years.”
During his junior season, Pulu led Federal Way in tackles with 65.5 on the season, including 54 solo tackles. His best game came during a loss to Jefferson when he tallied 15.5 tackles. He also finished with 10.5 tackles and two sacks during a loss to Curtis. He was a second-team, All-South Puget Sound League South Division selection by the league’s coaches at linebacker.
Pulu fell in love with the Washington State campus when he made an unofficial visit to Pullman during Spring Break to participate in the Cougars’ annual Junior Day for prospective recruits.
“I liked the small-town feel of Pullman,” Pulu said. “It felt like everybody knew each other. Wazzu was the whole town and that is special.”
Washington State finished 2-10 overall last season under head coach Paul Wulff and 1-8 in the Pac-10 Conference. The Cougars’ lone league victory came over Oregon State in the second to last week of the season.
Pulu will be the second member of his family to ink a Pac-10 letter of intent after playing football at Federal Way High School. His older brother, Andru, signed with the University of Washington in 2009. Andru Pulu, a linebacker/defensive end, is now playing football at Eastern Washington, the defending NCAA Division I national champions.
Pulu will also be the second Federal Way football player to sign with the Cougars in the last three years. Running back/linebacker Andre Barrington inked with Washington in 2009.
Pulu wanted to get the whole recruiting process out of the way before his senior season for the Eagles, he said. Federal Way finished 4-6 overall last year, snapping the program’s four-year streak of playing in the postseason.
“After I put some thought into it, I wanted to focus on my high school team,” Pulu said. “I’m hoping for all good things. Not to get ahead of ourselves, but we have a lot coming back and we’ll see how the young guys do this year after playing last year.”
Pulu will be able to officially sign his national letter of intent on Feb. 1, 2012, the first day football recruits can make their commitments binding.
But Pulu isn’t the only Federal Way junior who has impressed college scouts. That honor also goes to running back D.J. May and lineman Uso Olive.
May has made a huge impression during the spring camp series. The 5-foot-11, 187-pound speedster showed up recently along with 600 other players at the Nike SPARQ Combine at Tigard High School in Oregon. While there, May clocked a laser-timed 4.49 in the 40-yard dash and had one of the highest combined scores during the workout.
Last season for the Eagles, May finished the season with 1,310 yards on the ground to finish third in the SPSL South. May also finished with 11 touchdowns on the ground and two more receiving.
May was a first-team, All-SPSL South selection. His best game came during a loss to Jefferson when he ran the ball 28 times for 266 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught three passes for 21 yards and a touchdown during the game. He also had 225 yards during a loss to Bethel.
He was also named the Most Valuable Player in the running back category at the prestigious Northwest Elite Football Camp in Sammamish, which included 365 participants from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. Scout.com lists Portland State, Washington and Washington State as having “medium interest” in May.
Olive, a 6-foot-1, 290-pound lineman, also brought home a little hardware from the Northwest Elite Football Camp. Olive was named the MVP of the defensive lineman.
As a junior, Olive finished with 23.5 tackles and one sack for the Eagles. According to Scout.com, he has interest from programs like Arizona State, Idaho, Missouri, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State.
