The Washington Huskies signed 28 players in the period between the end of the regular season and the start of Spring Football–43-percent of whom have been rated as 4-stars. That number combines the 2023 high school recruiting class and the 2022-23 Winter Transfer Portal class. This influx of high-level talent breaks down to 12 of those 28 signees being 4-stars. That figure breaks down to 8 of the 21 high school signees being 4-stars with the balance of four of 7 Transfer Portal signees being 4-star.
For the next go-round, the Huskies will likely have a class with more 4-star players than not. Here’s how each current Husky coach fared in their first go-round at Washington.
In his first season coaching Washington’s receivers, JaMarcus Shephard transformed what was a pretty good receiving corps and turned them into a group that led the nation in passing yards. He backed up those on-the-field exploits with the late flipping of Taeshaun Lyons who appeared to be South Bend, Indiana-bound to play for the Fighting Irish. He also got Germie Bernard to transfer back from Michigan State and signed Rashid Williams—all 4-star receivers. He also reeled in speedster Keith Reynolds who ran 10.97 seconds in the 100 meters which was the 26th fastest time in California as a junior.
Already for 2024, he has the pledge of 3-star Landon Bell. I expect him to become a 4-star receiver before signing day. The Huskies are in a very good spot to land some other highly-touted receivers in this cycle.
Defensive back coach Julius Brown did a flipping of his own with Caleb Presley signing with UW instead of Oregon. Presley became the highest-rated player to sign from the recruiting class until QB Austin Mack signed and reclassified to the 2023 class instead of this class. Coach Juice, as he’s known to his players, also landed Curley Reed, Vincent Homes, Thaddeus Dixon, Leroy Bryant, and Diesel Gordon. With the exception of Bryant and Gordon who are 3-stars, all were 4-star DBs.
But 2023 may have just been his warmup act because it looks like he could sign its best defensive back recruiting class of all time in 2024.
QB coach Grubb was able to pull top 20 EJ Caminong from Seattle’s Garfield High. While he’s listed as a 3-star signal-caller he’s a hair away from being a 4-star as the QB above him, Josh Flowers, is the final 4-star QB rated by 247Sports.
Offensive line coach Scott Huff has had great success bringing in several 4-star linemen Owen Prentice, Miles Murao, Roger Rosengarten, and Geirean Hatchett. He has had a couple is notable whiffs with in-state linemen like Josh Conerly, Dave Iuli, Malik Agbo, Mark Nabu, Vega Ioane, and Micah Banuelos. Most of those misses were in a 2-year span of Jimmy Lake’s reign.
However, he rediscovered his groove in 2023 signing 4-stars Elisha Jackett and Landen Hatchett. He signed 3 other three-star linemen, as well last go-round. In 2024 I expect that Huff signs 3 highly-rated offensive linemen, all of whom I expect to be 4-stars.
Cal Poly and Washington swapped players as QB Sam Huard left Washington and tight end Josh Cuevas. The latter is the only TE signed for 2023. In the 2024 recruiting cycle, Washington is in a very good spot for several 4-star tight ends. I expect that the Huskies will sign 2 tight ends and with one of the two being a 4-star prospect.
On the other side of the ball, Washington’s edge defenders under the new, aggressive defense have feasted on QBs. In the 2023 class, Washington signed two 3-star rush ends in Jacob Lane and Zach Durfee. This position is being targeted by the coaches for bringing in some high-level players. If the Huskies can sign one of the 4 visitors this Spring it could push the class into the top 10. 4-star one-time Washington commit Jaxson Jones has since committed to Oregon for the 2024 class. Even so, there are positive signs for this position as the Huskies have 10 offers out for this position. In fact, Jones departure may have cleared the way for one of the best overall players in the nation.
The Huskies have sent out 12 offers for inside linebackers, two fewer than in 2023. Last cycle LB coach William Inge inked a pair of 3-star, high-ceiling, ball hawks in Deven Bryant and Jordan Whitney. There are some very good linebackers with the Huskies high on their lists.
In part two of this story, RealDawg.com will break down the list of Washington targets for the class of 2024 and its path to a Top 10 recruiting class.
