It’s always much more fun to cover recruiting when the team is , undefeated, nationally ranked, and it’s edging closer to signing day.
Realdawg.com spoke to several prospects over the weekend, most of which had watched the game Saturday night and had some good things to say about it.
“It was a huge win”, Cali 2021 DB commit, Dyson McCutcheon said “It shows what type of teammates are in the locker room — how they didn’t give up and bounced back and a way to get that W.”
McCutcheon will likely sign in December, but he has yet to play a regular season game for Bishop Amat High School.
Fellow commit, Texas tailback, Caleb Berry was also keeping an eye on his Dawgs over the weekend, while still recovering from a broken fibula suffered earlier in the season, “It was a great game”, he said, “The Dawgs don’t give up.”
Incidentally, Berry said he’s walking now and feeling better. He still wears a boot, however, “I have like two to three weeks left in a boot”.
He will sign in December.
2023 local tight end, Jaden Wayne has been talking to Derham Cato on a weekly basis, and he also offered his thoughts on the game, “UW started slow but the second half was exciting — I liked the way UW finished…I really like UW and what Coach Lake is doing.”
Recently offered DE/TE, Anthony Jones of Vegas said “I actually enjoyed the game a lot — it showed me that UW doesn’t fold under pressure and they know how to play against adversity. They didn’t know who they were going to play and they were trying to prepare for several different teams…they came back from a 21-0 point deficit an that is crazy — I love how they didn’t give up and they had a great team and with great effort.”
2022 local offensive lineman, Vega Loane said he missed the game, “I didn’t really get a chance to watch it because we had our own high school game around the same time — but I was excited for my UW boys and hyped after seeing them win.”
Loane said the game he played wasn’t a regular high school game, “It’s just a travel team like an AAU basketball team but for football”, he explained.
2021 Cali OL commit, Robert Wyrsch liked what he saw, “They showed a awesome mentality on how to keep working”, he said, noting that he will be signing in December, ” I know I can’t wait to get coached up by (Coach Huff)”.
But the most boisterous report came from 2021 Hawai’i DL, Kuao Peihopa, “I thought that game was a great showing of what Husky football is all about, and exactly what attracted me to be a Dawg. Never too high never too low. Fighters mentality. Capitalizing on the opponents mistakes and correcting our own. I loved the grit and toughness that the team showed and then you mix that mindset that Coach Lake has engrained into the minds of the team with the talent that is out there and it is great to see.
“I cant wait to be a part of the Lake era on Montlake because it’s going to be special.”
Seeing fellow Islander, Zion Tupuala-Fetui put on such a great performance also meant a lot to Peihopa, “I think my favorite part of watching this game is seeing ZTF not only ball out but be unselfish. Obviously he wrecked the game out there but what people didn’t really see unless they know football well is that he had a few more opportunities to go notch a couple more sacks. But in order to do so he would have to sacrifice his assignment, be selfish, and take the inside in order to do so. Seeing play with this kind of unselfishness really exited me.”
These are only a few recruits we had time to talk to on Sunday afternoon, but now is a good time to get back on the recruiting train and keep watch on what happens between now and December 16th.
Logan Fano is off the board, of course, after committing to BYU, but Emeka Egbuka is still undecided and you just know the Huskies under Jimmy Lake have to be looking promising to him right now.
The same can be said for JT Tuimoloau.
Neither of these two has committed to any school yet, and they cannot take any official trips before the December signing period. They can’t even take trips during the February/spring signing period because the NCAA has extended the Dead Period until April 15th. So this is where it gets interesting and we will have some updates on this throughout the week.
But for now, Washington is doing exactly what they need to do to convince these guys to stay home — and you might say “Well they’ve only played three game”, but is the future not looking bright for this program under Jimmy Lake?
That game against Utah wasn’t a game that any Husky team would have won in the past couple of decades. And remember, this team was playing without starters like Ryan Bowman and they continue to win even without Laiatu Latu.
At any rate, the Lake Era is off to a promising start and this was exactly what these holdout guys were waiting to see.
Happy Monday Husky Fans!
