Washington has loved Utah prospects under the Petersen regime, and under the Lake regime that doesn’t appear to be changing any time soon.
The Huskies offered Pleasant Grove (UT) TE/DE, Isaac Vaha today, joining 13 other schools (Oregon State, Oregon, WSU, USC, Colorado, and Utah of the Pac-12).
“I’ve been talking to Coach Malloe for a couple months”, the 6-7, 225 lb. prospect told Realdawg.com, “Him and Coach Lake came by my school and watched me playing basketball, and then I called Coach Lake after that and he offered.”
While Vaha is a real strong hoops player, the majority of his offers are for football, “Some said I could play both”, he said.
Also, Vaha said that he could play offense or defense in college, but with Washington, he said “I’m guessing defensive end.”
So here’s the interesting thing about Vaha: He’s only played high school football one year. He did play in middle school, but didn’t play during his sophomore season because he was more focused on hoops.
And so after this one year of high school football, he’s already earned 14 offers.
We talk a lot about “upside” when we write about recruits. We say words like “athleticism” and a “high ceiling”; Vaha has all of that.
At 6-7 (and still growing), Vaha is going to fill out to be around at least 6-7 and 260 pounds with freaky athleticism. He’s already started to get the attention of schools all over the country such as Texas Tech and Virginia, and now that Washington has offered you can expect others to sit up and take even more notice.
Washington is known for their defenses, and guys they offer are usually pretty darn good.
Because of the basketball background, Vaha is good with his hands and also has excellent coordination. So yes, he is “all of that”, as we said before.
As for the Husky offer, Vaha said, “It’s Power 5…you can’t go wrong with that.”
And he also said that he will take his recruitment seriously and not get “blinded by the hype” of it all, “I am just trying to find the best fit for me.”
When asked about his strengths on the field, Vaha said it’s his “potential”, and added, “I have to get the right coaches to get me to the next step.”
Vaha talked about getting up to Seattle to check out UW, but he’s already been to the Emerald City twice before for basketball, “It’s very beautiful”, he said.
This spring Vaha said his concentration will be on the weight room (for football), and right now he’s actually a few pounds down simply because he’s playing basketball.
Definitely keep an eye on this guy — he’s a 4-star prospect waiting to happen.
