It’s no secret that Washington has struggled with in-state recruiting over the past few seasons. Between the 2021 and 2022 classes, just six of the top 20 players committed to the Huskies out of high school. Now, most of that happened under head coach Jimmy Lake, and Kalen DeBoer and his staff have shown that they’re willing to do everything they can to build and mend relationships with some of the best players in the state for the classes of 2023 and beyond.

It’s taking some time, and Realdawg.com got a chance to catch up with one of those top prospects, Lincoln (Tacoma) defensive end Jayden Wayne. Wayne is currently rated as a consensus five-star prospect, and recently cut his list to six schools.

“It was hard not putting UW in my top list,” Wayne said. “But right now my family and I have better relationships with the other schools and coaches. I had a great relationship with coach Lake.”

With Wayne making his decision to exclude Washington from his top six, that will mark the third straight top prospect in the state to go elsewhere, with J.T. Tuimoloau committing to Ohio State in 2021, and Josh Conerly committing to Oregon in 2022. His exit will also mark the fourth five-star from the state in the last three recruiting cycles to leave the state, with Emeka Egbuka also at Ohio State.

“UW will always be home,” he said. “I always put where I’m from on my back.”