When Jimmy Lake makes a very early offer to a defensive back, you just know that this has to be a special player.
La Habra, CA. 2020 corner, Clark Phillips III made a lot of noise all season for La Habra High School. He earned First Team All County and First Team All State. He also earned a spot on the Max Preps All American team.
And he’s still a sophomore.
The Huskies first saw what Phillips could do at the Redlands camp last summer, and this past season Phillips showed what he was capable of on the playing field by recording seven picks for the season and 26 tackles.
Watching him on film, he looks a little like USC corner, Chris Hawkins looked in high school. Phillips is 5-11, 170 and has speed and some serious hops. He plays with attitude and his ceiling at the next level is absolutely huge because he’s still just a sophomore.
His first Pac-12 offer came from his mother’s alma mater — UCLA. But this was when Demetrice Martin was still on Jim Mora’s staff. Then came the offer from Washington back in September.
“I’m very high on UW”, Clark told Realdawg.com, “Me and my family are working on a trip for the spring when things slow down.”
The draw to Washington is not surprising, considering the fact that it’s become the “DB-U” of the West Coast. And Phillips had a chance to get acquinted with Jimmy Lake last summer at Redlands.
So, when asked what it is about Washington that has his interest the most, however, Phillips says “It’s the coaching staff. Love that they offered early. They seem to believe in my ability and upside.
“I love they way they play defense”, he continued, “Fast physical and it fits my style of play. I am an aggressive atracking DB. The Coaches have also done well getting guys prepared for the next level — the academics are solid too.”
Washington did well at getting in the door early; Phillips now has additional offers from Utah and BYU, and schools like Oregon are beginning to take notice as well. There’s no question that his stock will continue to rise as he gets ready for his junior year.
It’s still very early — but the Huskies are in a good place going forward with this exciting young athlete.
