Two-way standout Malcolm Watkins flips commitment from Oregon State to Washington State

A week after de-committing from Oregon State, Bakersfield (Calif.) Frontier athlete Malcolm Watkins has committed to Washington State.

The Cougars picked up an under-rated gem in Watkins, who’s rated a high three-star prospect with an 88 Rating by Rivals.com.

He’s an exciting two-way player who could end up at receiver or corner at the college level but will start out on the offensive side of the ball for the Cougs.

“I visited Washington State over the summer and really enjoyed it there,” Watkins said. “I love the all around fit and I like the offense a lot.

“I have a strong comfort level with the coaching staff and I like the plan they have in place for me. Development is huge and I know I can get developed and improve my skills there.”

Watkins said the coaching staff appealed to him on and off the field.

“The coaches are building something special and are also great people off the field as well,” Watkins said. “I talked to the whole staff there, not just one or two coaches but my main guys are coach (Jimmy) Rogers and coach (Jake) Menage the WR coach.

“It was getting tough to decide because I talked with coach Shep ( JaMarcus Shephard) and he’s a good guy. Down the stretch, Washington State showed how much they really wanted me and told me I can come and make an immediate impact and that’s what I’m looking forward to doing.”

Watkins is an explosive athlete who makes plays in all three phases of the game including returning punts and kicks.

He’s a legit game breaker with the ball in his hands, runs well after the catch and has the speed to get behind a defense. He makes plays out of the backfield on sweeps and end arounds and should be a lot of fun to watch in a creative college offense that can get him the ball in space and let him go.

He has the track background we value in a skill player as well and ran several sub 11.0-100m times as a junior with a personal best 10.85. He also clocked 22.05-200m, ran on 4x100m relay team that finished 6th at Masters with a 42.51 and season best 3:25.94 in the 4X400m.