He prefers not to go into detail publicly, but his family hit hard economic times that reached a low point his junior year, he told Cougfan.com on Wednesday after signing his letter of intent with WSU.

St. Francis DT Thomas Toki

Toki tells his story matter-of-factly, without self-pity. Upbeat by nature, he manages to put a positive spin on the family's eviction from their home.

“It taught me a life lesson, that even though things don’t go the way we want them to go, we still have to keep fighting and keep going, because eventually we’ll get through it.

“Just look at us now. We’re in California and my parents have good jobs. We’re living better.”

Toki said a job offer for his father prompted the family’s move from the Seattle suburb of Kirkland to Mountain View, Calif., for his senior year. Toki was a first-team All-KingCo Conference pick in both his sophomore and junior seasons at Juanita. As a freshman, he made All-Wesco League South Division honorable mention while at Edmonds-Woodway High, north of Seattle.

Finances dictated the family’s move from Edmonds to Kirkland, Toki said. With money so tight and the ability to travel so limited when he was growing up, Toki said that factored into his interest in making campus visits to Oklahoma State, Arizona State, Oregon State and Colorado as signing day for letters of intent approached. Utah also pushed hard at the end.

Toki literally had his bags packed Jan. 16 for a trip that evening to Oklahoma State when WSU defensive line coach and recruiting guru Joe Salave’a talked him out of it. Toki had contacted Salave’a earlier in the week to tell him of his travel plans.



TOKI: 22 SCHOLIE OFFERS, INCLUDING 8 FROM PAC-12.

“Oklahoma State, they were recruiting me hard,” said Toki, who spoke by phone from Arlington, Texas, where he’s preparing to play in a prep all-star game Saturday against a Canadian squad (11 a.m., www.ESPN3.com). “They were sending me a lot of mail. They were sending me like 100 ‘mails’ in a couple days ... 500 letters every week.”

As it turned out, one more home visit from Salave’a with Toki and his parents was enough to offset 500 letters from Oklahoma State. The Cowboys came after Toki long after he became WSU’s first 2015 verbal commit on Christmas Eve of 2013.

“My parents wanted me to be loyal to Washington State ... (and) there’s no negatives that could describe Coach Joe,” Toki said. “Coach Joe is all about positives.”

Salave’a told Cougfan.com that Toki was “raised right” and has “qualities you want in your kids.” Salave’a is well known for having qualities you want in your recruiters.

“The greatest thing about this recruiting process is, you get to build a relationship with the kids,” Salave’a said Wednesday night at the Cougars’ recruiting banquet outside Spokane.

“The biggest thing that you try to get across is integrity and communication. It was just a matter of visiting with the kid and the family and kind of going over the reasons of his commitment.

“In this day and age, something has to be said about your commitment and honoring your word. But it’s so hard in the age of social media and all the stuff that’s going on.”

Toki said he “stopped counting” after receiving 22 scholarship offers, including nine before he made his verbal commitment to WSU.

Scout.com rates the 6-foot-1, 307-pound Toki the 27th-best college defensive tackle prospect among high school seniors. Toki said eight Pac-12 Conference schools offered him a free ride.

“Everybody was just trying everything – tooth and nail – to get the kid over to their campus. I’m just glad it worked out,” Salave’a said.

Toki admits, “There were many times wanted to de-commit and go somewhere else, but I listened to my parents. I remember there were times up in Washington growing up where we struggled. I wanted to go back there and make a name for myself in a state that I struggled in.”