The Servite High School (CA) pipeline has been good to the Huskies recently; players such as defensive backs Keith Taylor and Julius Irvin, and long-snapper AJ Carty are three guys on scholarship right now. The Huskies are looking again to Servite, and this time it’s for a tight end.
“It’s big time for me”, Servite High School tight end, Jake Overman told Realdawg.com this week following his offer from the Huskies, “I was waiting a long time for that one.”
The Huskies began reaching out to Overman over a year ago, and he’s been on the radar for months — but it was a numbers game because Mark Redmond committed early, and then Mason West committed. But it became a big necessity for Washington to take three tight ends in this class due to shrinking numbers on the depth chart.
Overman was a guy that stayed patient, knowing that his name was bound to get called at some point.
With 14 offers prior to the Washington offer, Overman said “Washington was always in the back of my head — I waited it out.”
This is a young man who doesn’t shy away from competition, and he fully understands why Washington needs three tight end in this class, but he also knows how Washington uses their tight ends and that he would definitely have every chance to see the field if he were to land at Washington.
“I knew going in that Washington was a special place”, he said, referring to last spring when he and his father checked out the school and also Seattle, adding that the offer came down yesterday when he called in to talk to Chris Petersen and Jordan Paopao, “It was a real nice talk with both the coaches. It wasn’t just about football.”
Overman explained that the convo lasted quite awhile and that he and Petersen and Paopao talked a lot about life, school, and very little about football.
Already, Overman said he knows Redmond and West quite well, “They’re great kids”, he said, and he also knows the Servite alums already on the Husky roster, “I’m actually really close with Julius. We’ve been texting a lot back and forth.”
On the field Overman, who’s 6-4, 231, is an imposing presence who is very quick and athletic for his size. Aside from football, he also plays rugby and runs track — but his biggest strength is blocking. Having spent seven of his football years playing just about any where on the offensive line, those skills were honed and solidified.
Now he’s a full-time tight end who plays tough, but also has a “mindset” that has changed both how he plays, and how he approaches life in general.
“There are two aspects to that”, he explained, “One is that…I used to just play but now I want to understand everything on the field and yet still play with a chip on my shoulder. The other aspect is that I want to also be the smartest guy on the field.”
And it shows in his style of play; Overman has good vision, reads defenses well and has good balance. He’s just a big, athletic guy who can catch, block, and do exactly what a tight end needs to do in the Pac-12 to get to the next level.
While the Crystal Ball guys had him 100% to Oregon State, Overman, himself, said he has no idea yet where he’s going, “I think it’s because my mom posted a picture of me wearing an Oregon State hat”, he laughed, “I mean, I have a lot of hats. But they are high on my list, and I have a lot of respect for them.”
But now that Washington has offered, all bets are off.
Overman is sitting down with his parents and will talk to Paopao again about setting up an official trip, and as far as a decision goes, Overman has put it in higher Hands, “When God tells me I’m ready”, he said.
Stay tuned…
