NATIONAL SIGNING DAY: Berger joins 'brother' in Boise

The Coeur d'Alene-to-Boise State connection got deeper on Wednesday when Coeur d'Alene High senior linebacker Drew Berger, a four-star recruit by one scouting service, made it official Wednesday, signing his letter of intent to play football at Boise State.

In Boise, he'll join his "brother," former Coeur d'Alene tight end Chase Blakley, who redshirted with the Broncos this past fall.

Berger and Marquis Hendrix of Ocala, Fla., are two of the three incoming linebackers in this class. The third, Riley Whimpey from San Clemente, Calif., plans to go on a two-year LDS mission next year.

"We have good linebackers coming back," second-year Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said. "We'd love for these guys to redshirt, maybe they don't, they have the chance to play if they're the best players. We have a good group of linebackers, and we'd like these guys to replace the group that we have."

Harsin said they also had a "signing day" for the high school seniors who came to Boise State early to be a part of spring ball. That group included Brett Rypien, the record-setting quarterback from Shadle Park in Spokane.

The other signee from Idaho was Garrett Larson, an offensive lineman from Fruitland High.

Montana: Former Coeur d'Alene High quarterback Chad Chalich gets a new start at Montana, where new coach Bob Stitt favors a passing-based system with up to five wide receivers.

Chalich redshirted at Idaho in 2012, then played the last two seasons. He has two years of eligibility remaining.

"Chalich has played in FBS games," Stitt said. "He's got a good arm, got good touch, a natural thrower, has good feet, and he can run to make the defense honest. And we need that in this system. We're not going to run a lot with the quarterback, but we have to run a lot to keep the defense honest."

Chalich will be one of several QBs looking to replace Jordan Johnson, who started the last three seasons.

Washington State: Washington State coach Mike Leach signed a quarterback and three wide receivers for his Air Raid offense, but wanted to highlight some other players in his latest recruiting class of 23.

"The quality of the offensive and defensive line and the defensive backs in particular," Leach said when asked to place an identity on his recruiting class.

"This is the best class in my opinion we've had since I've been here," said Leach, who is entering his fourth season with the Cougars.

Safety Deion Singleton of Pasco was the only in-state player Leach signed. Singleton originally signed last year but was declared academically ineligible.

Leach said the Cougars are likely to add some walk-on players from Washington.

Freshman quarterback Tyler Hilinski from Upland, Calif., graduated from high school early and has already enrolled at WSU for the spring semester.

Eastern Washington: Eagles coach Beau Baldwin announced the signing of 21 high school players on Wednesday.

All-State linebacker Ketner Kupp, from Davis High in Yakima, Wash., will join his brother, Cooper Kupp, who has been an All-America wide receiver for the Eagles the past two seasons. Their great-uncle, Jeff Kupp, played for Eastern from 1982-84.

"The bloodlines are there, but his family will be the first to admit that he and Cooper are different," Baldwin of the Kupp connection. "Ketner will come in with his own personality and be his own type of player."

Other area products signed by the Eagles include safety/linebacker Roy Hyatt (Mt. Spokane) and offensive lineman Will Gram from Troy High in Idaho.

Idaho State: Bengals coach Mike Kramer announced the signing of 18 players.

Recruits from Idaho include defensive lineman Tristan Cano (Rigby), defensive lineman Daniel Heck (Emmett), defensive lineman Chance Salutregui (Skyview), linebacker Kody Graves (Skyview) and offensive lineman Garrett Smith (Shelley).

Washington: Huskies coach Chris Petersen believes he found something special in quarterback Jake Browning. And the last thing Petersen wants is additional expectations heaped on the national high school record holder for career touchdown passes.

Yet even Petersen acknowledged that Browning has some of the same characteristics Petersen saw in Kellen Moore when the pair were setting records at Boise State.

"I think when you have really good players at certain positions you're looking for those characteristics and so certainly we do. I hate to put any expectations and say 'He's going to be like this,' and those type of things but I think there are a lot of them," Petersen said. "I think the first time we ever walked into Jake's high school, his coach said that to me, 'I know you hear this all the time, but we've got Kellen Moore,' that type of thing."

Browning was at the top of Washington's recruiting class of 24 players. Browning has been on campus for a month already, having enrolled at the start of winter quarter after setting high school records at Folsom High School just outside of Sacramento, Calif. Browning threw 229 touchdown passes in just three seasons. He had 91 TD passes and just seven interceptions in 2014 before graduating early and enrolling at Washington.

Washington's class features depth at nearly every position, including a scholarship long snapper. The Huskies landed some of the top in-state recruits, including cornerback Austin Joyner, defensive end Benning Potoa'e and running back Myles Gaskin.

Also: Several other local athletes signed letters of intent on Wednesday. Their photos will run in upcoming editions of The Press.

They include:

Casey Bourque, Lake City, signed to play football at Dakota State in Madison, S.D.

Erica Simpson, Post Falls, signed to play soccer at Community Colleges of Spokane.

Gibson Green, Coeur d'Alene, signed to play baseball at Wenatchee Valley College.

Myles Flannigan, Coeur d'Alene, signed to play football at Montana Western.

Connor Cardinel, Coeur d'Alene, signed to play baseball at Wenatchee Valley College.

Michael Hicks, Coeur d'Alene, signed to play baseball at Yavapai College in Prescott, Ariz.