When you’re looking at football players, the name”Captain” is definitive of a guy that is respected by his peers. But also he’s a player that does extra things, and goes that extra mile beyond just what he does on the field.
Nathaniel Kalepo — a guy that has all the tools to become an All American, has unlimited potential. We all know that.
But if you’ve been on the internet the past 12 months, it’s also very apparent that he’s one of the top recruiters (who’s not a coach) for Washington.
And this is why he’s a guy who will likely wind up being a captain at Washington.
“I just try to lead by example”, Kalepo told Realdawg.com over the holiday weekend, noting that he doesn’t go seeking that place in the heirarchy, but “if it comes to that”, he’ll step up.
With the Rising Stars camp starting up this weekend at Washington, Kalepo is ready to do just that, however. The guy he has his sights on? Hawai’i offensive lineman, Julius Buelow.
“We’re cool”, Kalepo said, “We started talking about a month ago and he’s a cool dude”.
Another guy Kalepo wants to see jump on the Husky train is Florida receiver, Josh Delgado, “Our class would be solid if he commits”, he said.
Kalepo is so dedicated to helping the Huskies land their targets, in fact, that last year he came around during the biggest recruiting weekends just for unofficial visits — this year he’ll be back on campus in December again for his official visit. But between now and then he’s a regular over at Montlake.
If you ask him how many times he’s been on the campus the past year, he’ll laugh and say “I couldn’t even tell you”.
There’s always questions about Kalepo and whether or not he’ll stay solid; particularly since he’s earned so many offers since committing to Washington, and currently holds a total of 20.
He also just received an invite to The Opening this summer, and his stock continues to rise. His cousin, Jonah Tauanu’u hasn’t been high on Washington at all, and it’s not like Kalepo didn’t try to sell him on the merits of Washington either.
“He released his top 10 and Washington wasn’t in it”, Kalepo said, “At the end of the day, it’s about what’s best for him and what’s best for me.”
Perhaps USC thought they could sway Kalepo away from Washington; his cousin, afterall, is thought to be a Trojan lean. But Kalepo says he’s learning to just say “thank you” and let schools know he’s a Husky.
“I think most schools understand”, he said, adding that he is very solid to Washington and doesn’t see that changing any time soon — despite all the offers.
He’s also not making any changes to where he’ll play his senior season, “I’m staying at the Beach”, he said, “If I were to transfer to Eastside Catholic I wouldn’t be able to graduate early”.
And that’s a big deal to him, since he wants to enroll early and get his college career started.
At the rate he’s been growing, Kalepo could show up next January at Washington even bigger than he is now. A year ago he was 6-5, 280 — now he’s 6-7, 320. And he’s still just 16 years old (until August 5th). The fact is, he’s a beast of a lineman whose ceiling is super high.
Kalepo is so young and still so raw, that with his size and athletic ability, his potential is just off the charts.
So what’s next?
He’ll be at the Dirt Dawg camp on Friday. Then he starts his own team’s spring football while he continues to work out at Ford Sports Performance. After that he’ll be heading to The Opening — noting that it’s a “tremendous honor” to have been invited.
“I’ve dreamed about that since I was 12”, he said, “If you want to be the best, you have to go up against the best.”
One thing Kalepo doesn’t have is a fourth star on his ranking. And he’s more than deserving of one more, but as for everything else? He’s a total package — and Washington was in the enviable position to have gotten his verbal very early on.
Watch for him to grow and emerge once his career at Washington begins.
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