So whom do we put this on? Rivals.com? Tom Lemming? Sleepy-eyed recruiters who saw trees but no forest?

"To this day," said Mike Hass, "I still don't understand it."

There has been a lot of time for understanding, and a lot of catches. Entering a Saturday date with Washington State, Hass, an Oregon State receiver, has 170 career receptions for 3,062 yards. He leads the nation in receiving yardage — by 205. He seems to delight equally in defensive headaches and embarrassing recruiters.

Somehow, a guy who is 10th on the Pac-10 career list for receiving yards didn't get a scholarship offer. The Northwest schools all looked and turned thumbs down. That includes Division I-AA Montana. Anybody could have had him. But no one came by the Hass home in Portland, including the school he picked.

"Obviously, we looked at him out of high school," the OSU coach at the time, Dennis Erickson, said last week. "We didn't offer him a scholarship. That's how good an evaluator I was."

Join the crowd, coach. Every week Hass gets his pound of flesh, and not just against Sacramento State and Portland State. In the last two years, he has at least five catches against everybody he has played, except Cal in 2004, when he had two for 26 yards.

"They just dropped a lot of people back in coverage and rushed three guys," Hass said. "They got pressure that way. It's hard to get open when there's eight guys running around out there."

Hass is an equal-opportunity conspirator. While USC won national titles the last two years, Hass had 16 catches for 327 yards against the Trojans.

He also probably wishes he could see Boise State every week. In the last two games against the Broncos, Hass has 23 catches for 471 yards, including a Pac-10-record 293 last year.

"Even when you do double-cover him, he goes and gets it," BSU coach Dan Hawkins said earlier this week.

It galls Hawkins a little that the Broncos didn't see Hass coming five years ago, because they've specialized in turning over the right rocks.

Except Hass wasn't exactly unknown at Jesuit High. As a junior, he started in the defensive backfield and had 19 interceptions.

As a 180-pound senior, Hass had 79 catches for 1,746 yards and 21 touchdowns. But it was in the state playoffs, when you'd think people were really watching, that he went completely video game.

"Against Central Catholic, when we were both undefeated and co-ranked No. 1," longtime Jesuit coach Ken Potter said, "he scored seven touchdowns — five touchdown catches, an interception return and a fumble recovery."

In the semifinals against Tualatin, he had 12 catches for 225 yards. In the final against North Medford, he went seven for 116 and had a 52-yard touchdown interception to clinch the victory, winning state player-of-the-year by The Oregonian.

That year, the Beavers signed three receivers to scholarships — Jayson Boyd (transferred to UTEP), Andre Cyrus (never made it) and Josh Hawkins (30 career catches to date).

On the West Coast that year, most of the rage on receivers was about Reggie Williams, who went to Washington. Outside Williams, SuperPrep's top three Coast wideouts were William Buchanon (middling career at USC, much of it at defensive back), Demetrius Williams (productive at Oregon) and Earvin Johnson (who knows?).

Potter kept trying to tell coaches Hass could play, and it wasn't as though Potter was a 24-year-old prep coach. He has been at Jesuit 19 years and, by his count, has sent 22 players to Division I-A schools.

"I would say, 'Here's the best receiver I've ever coached,' " Potter said.

Coaches stifled yawns and fretted over Hass' speed, although he said he hasn't been timed in the 40 in high school or college. Potter estimates Hass to be a 4.6 or 4.7 guy, which isn't a burner.

Hass chose to walk on at Oregon State, partly because of Erickson's offense.

"As time went on through the first and second years (2001-02), you could see him making plays all the time," Erickson said.

Then Hass had to prove himself all over again. Erickson made his ill-fated move to the 49ers, Mike Riley arrived in 2003 and Hass was buried on the depth chart once more.

One day, fishing for spring chinook on the Willamette with his dad Rick, Hass thought about leaving football behind.

"Thank God I didn't," he said.

Pretty soon Hass was showing good hands — strong hands that fought off press coverage and wrestled jump balls away from defenders. By then, he had built himself to 205 pounds and won a scholarship.

"He's sneaky-fast," Erickson said. "He runs by guys. That's because he's so strong.

"Sometimes you don't see the intangibles."

A third-team AP All-American in 2004, Hass has become very tangible. With another 500 yards — for him, three games' worth — he'll be rubbing elbows with Reggie Williams and James Newson, Nos. 2-3 on the Pac-10 list.

Erickson thinks Hass can play in the NFL. No doubt they won't like his speed, but they can't say they couldn't find video of him.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com