Idaho LB is headed to the Pac 10

Boise (Idaho) Centennial linebacker Marshal Pirtz took an official visit to Washington State this past weekend. The athlete went in to the visit knowing if an offer came from the Cougars, he would waste no time in accepting it and that's exactly what he did.

Pirtz, 6-1, 215 pounds is one of the top players in Idaho and had a solid showing at the NIKE Camp in Oregon this past June. The athlete had a solid senior season totaling 101 tackles, 13 for loss, two sacks and one interception that he returned 35 yards for a touchdown.

On the recruiting front, Pirtz went in to the visit with Washington State with an offer from Idaho State and interest from Boise State as well.

"I knew ahead of time that as soon as I got an offer, I was going to jump on it," Pirtz said. "That's exactly how it played out. As soon as they offered, I accepted on the spot. Washington State is a great school and there were a lot of reasons why I liked them so much.

"For starters, I like the coaching staff a lot. Coach Rosenbach has been the one recruiting me for the last month and then on my visit, I really got along well with the rest of the staff. I like the city of Pullman a lot. I come from a small town and I'm kind of a small town guy so Pullman was very attractive to me.

"The campus there is insane and I like the Pac 10 a lot as well. So there were a lot of pluses and it was a pretty easy decision for me. I played inside linebacker at Centennial but I was recruited to play outside 'backer. As of right now, they told me they want me to come in expecting to play next year.

"That's exciting for me and it's going to make me work even harder in the off season knowing I'll have an opportunity to play as a true freshman at a major Pac 10 school. Right now, I'm in wrestling but when the season is over, I'm going to start training pretty hard and getting ready for the fall."