Washington true freshman Dezmen Roebuck continues to redefine what a model student-athlete is, namely the punction:  Model, Student, Athlete.  He’s listed as a starter for the 4th time this season as the Washington Huskies get ready to take on the Rutgers Knights Friday night under the lights.

When many other impactful freshmen were on campus in time for winter conditioning, the Husky true freshman stayed and completed in basketball and track and field.  He averaged 6 points a game on the hard court, as well finishing his high school career at the Arizona State Track and Field Championships last spring.  There he closed out his Marana career in the top 10 in the triple jump and top 15 in the long jump.

A tiny cost to is late enrollment is that instead he is sporting the jersey number of 81 instead of vying for some of the single digit jerseys afforded those more seasoned Huskies.  A mere 80 digits up the numerical food chain from his signature number 1 jersey at Marana, his double-digit jersey is actually easier to spot on the field–and other places.

But when Washington announced the jerseys for the 2025 Salute to Service game against Purdue on November 15th, the chose the freshmen to model the military-themed uniform combos.

Not bad for a kid who arrived at Washington in June.

But in between the high school and fall camp he linked up with an old friend to help him with Washington’s pro-styled offense–none other than Demond Williams, Jr., the current Husky starting QB.

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The town of Marana sits just 30 minutes northwest of the University of Arizona where Jedd Fisch was able to catch the youngster early in his high school career.  The population of Marana is 62,000 and would easily fit into Husky Stadium with plenty of enough room to spare.

It’s not an easy school to get to, making Roebucks scholarship offers of the two Power 4 Arizona schools, Northern Arizona, Arizona Christian, and Portland State.  He didn’t have his Washington offer until the summer of 2024 after new Husky receiver coach Kevin Cummings reoffered June 21st, after leaving the University of Arizona.

Other offers didn’t follow.  On signing day, 247Sports analyst Blair Angulo said that Roebuck could be a diamond in the rough and an early contributor.

“He catches everything–he’s really a dynamic pass catcher,” Angulo said, noting Roebucks fluid movements in various coverages.  “He’s reliable near the red zone.  He makes a ton of acrobatic catches.”

But Angulo also call the shot.

“I think that he could be an early contributor as early as this fall,” he said.

The only thing that he didn’t catch was the eyes of teams who couldn’t bring themselves to make it to his neck of the woods.

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But not only is he reliable on the field, but he’s trusted by his coaches to say the right things in interviews.  In a recent interview he sat next offensive tackle John Mills.  Roebuck got his first start against Washington State and hasn’t shown any desire to relinquish that role.

Given his and Mills’ standing on the team Fisch chose to break a long-standing unwritten Washington rule where freshmen aren’t put in front of the media.  But there they sat calmly answering questions.

“I think Fisch is purposefully putting so many of underclassmen out talking to the media as Fisch has repeatedly stated that he’s building the program through recruiting,” said RealDawg.com’s Trevor Mueller.  “By showcasing the youngsters on and off the field he’s letting future classes know that he’s going to put the best 11 players on the field and in the front of the camera, regardless of class designation.  That’s a well-received message about early playing time on the recruiting trail.”

Another benefit to Fisch’s philosophy is that it makes incoming freshmen more ready to complete and to push for playing time, but it also puts the onus on the older players to fend off the newcomers.

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For Roebuck, who didn’t enroll until the summer quarter, he needed to get up to speed with Washington’s professionally-styled offense, so he dialed up an old friend: Washington’s starting quarterback, Demond Williams, Jr.

“Not a lot of people know this, but growing up, we actually played on the same team,” Roebuck noted earlier this season. “I think it was fifth, sixth grade. We played on the same team for a couple tournaments, and I’ve always known him.”

That’s probably one of the reasons that Williams’ 34-yard touchdown throw looked like a couple of buddies working out.

Roebuck went on to say that “we played against each other in 7-on-7 and everything, and once I got up here, we already had a good connection, even though we hadn’t played on the same team in a couple of years”

They made it look simple.

“I promise you; that’s not an easy throw.  Sure, Roebuck had beaten the defensive back but not by a mile, Mueller explained.  “Williams couldn’t just throw him open deep because the ball was on the Husky 34.  Plus, there wasn’t a ton of time for the ball to be lofted over the DBs because they had rolled Williams out to his right.”

Because of the field position, the second-year signal-caller only had time to quickly roll out, set his feet and throw to Roebuck who was on a go route.  Williams released the ball at the Washington 41 and threw a dart to his old friend who caught it in stride 9 yards deep in the end zone in stride.

“The opportunities are going to be there for him,” Mueller noted.  “He was targeted 5 times against the Buckeyes and 7 times at Maryland.”

In those two conference games he caught 4 passes in each of those contests for 58 and 61 yards respectively.  Additionally, he’s caught 4 passes three times, due in part to the absence of Rashid Williams and Omari Evans who have been sidelined with injuries.  On Monday’s depth chart he’s listed as the starter “OR Omari Evans”.

He been able to prove to opponents he’s not just a safety outlet for Williams, Jr. and that they need to game plan for him in all areas.

“He’s a savvy route-runner and understands the route trees or setting up plays and especially setting up defenders with nuances in his movements within routes,” Mueller informed.

Going off of his 2 most recent games, Roebuck is on a pace to finish up with 46 catches 703 yards.

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His offers didn’t look like someone who caught a 34-yard strike against Maryland.  Portland State, the two Power 4 Arizona schools, and UNLV.  247Sports rated him and a 3-star.

And his offered didn’t resemble that of record setting play-maker in the Grand Canyon State.  He finished with a state record of 352 catches and finished second in Arizona history with 4,239 receiving yards, also finishing with nearly 1,100 yards on kickoff returns and punt returns.  He also had 200 yards on interception and fumble returns at Marana for a total of 5,587 yards or 3.17 miles.  His total contributions looked like this:

• Receiving yards: 4,239
• Rushing yards: 51
• Kickoff return yards:  539
• Punt return yards:  558
• Interception return yards:  153
• Fumble return yards: 47

Officially listed at 5-11 and 180 pounds, he won’t be seeing anything near those types of touches, making it easier to push his weight into the 200-pound range in short order.

Underdog or not, Fisch said that while Rashid Williams’ injury preceded Roebuck starting that the true freshman had also earned his way past several other more seasoned receivers.

“Dezmen Roebuck has certainly earned the right to start.  He’s practiced every single day, never missed a day of practice,” Fisch stated. “Never missed an opportunity to meet with his coaches. Never missed an opportunity to dive deep into the playbook and meet with the quarterback. When he got here, he hasn’t flinched”

He has met every challenge head on.

And he never missed an opportunity to get better.