National Signing Day Thread

NEMBOT TO COLORADO — The last piece the Huskies could have potentially added was Stephan Nembot, but he picked Colorado instead.  That leaves this class at 23 guys.

NICE RECAP — This is a nice little round-up of every player that has signed so far, via gohuskies.com.

PAUL WULFF — Here’s a Paul Wulff chat with some Cougar fans earlier today.  I know it’s hard to reflect excitement through typing, but he sure doesn’t try.  This seems like the opposite of Sark.

SURPRISE! — While I was away, taking a test, the Huskies announced that they signed a JC player named Antavius Sims.  I know nothing about him other than he will either play quarterback or safety.  He will be a junior.  Here’s his bio.  As far as names go, this is about as good as it gets.  I’ve always wanted to cheer on a player named Antavius.

I’ll have more notes after I watch Sark’s press conference. (12:40)

SLOWING DOWN — The news has stopped for a while and so I’m going to slow down on the blog for a while.  Sark’s press conference is at noon, and I’ll be back with some thoughts from that this afternoon along with any news that comes out.  Go Dawgs!

NUMBERS BY POSITION UPDATE —

QB – 1
RB – 1
FB – 1
WR – 4
TE – 1
OL – 2
DL – 3
LB – 6
CB – 1
S – 2

Just a few observations on those numbers:  Obviously, the thing that jumps out at you is the number of linemen.  There’s only 5 linemen so far.  That’s a small number but this was considered a very weak class of lineman on the west coast.  Last year was far better, and the Dawgs signed 5 offensive linemen last year.  Next year is also supposed to be better.  Hopefully, Nembot commits but I wouldn’t worry too much about the numbers there.

The coaches did a good job of loading up at linebacker, where the Huskies lost the most last year.

The Huskies only lost one cornerback from last year, so only signing one there isn’t a problem.

Also, the running back position is pretty loaded, so only signing one isn’t a surprise at all.  Dezden Petty isn’t necessarily just a fullback either.  Some people envision him as a Lendale White type of guy (the USC version).

VAN ACKEREN GONE — Bellevue high senior, Kendrick Van Ackeren,  has signed with Hawaii.  I thought he’d be offered late by the Huskies with Jackson ending up at Cal but it might have been too late if that happened.

IS THIS IT? — The Huskies have received 21 LOI today (22 if you count Tutogi) and everyone who was expected to sign has.  Now, we’re waiting on Stephan Nembot and Pauley Asiata to officially announce.  The Dawgs seem to have a much better chance with Nembot than Asiata.  Anyone else who signs with the Huskies would be a surprise. (9:27)

ANNOUNCEMENT TIMES — Stephan Nembot, an offensive lineman, is set to announce whether he’s going to Colorado or UW at 2:00 today.  Because of the lack of lineman in this class, this is a pretty important player to pick up.  Jacoby Brisset, who is a long shot to pick UW, is set to pick his school on Friday.  (9:21)

BIO’S — I haven’t been linking many bio’s lately because I’m usually posting before they update.  They are on this page, just scroll down a little bit.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…. —- In baseball news, Chris Jakubauskas has signed with the Orioles.  Bummer.  (This is a joke)

WOODWARD ON KJR — Scott Woodward, UW’s athletic director, will be on KJR in just a couple of minutes.

5 TIMES’ BLUE CHIPPERS IN — All 5 of the Seattle Times’ Washington state blue chip recruits have now signed with Washington.  Condotta reported that this is the first time that’s ever happened.  Those 5 players are ASJ, Kasen Williams, Danny Shelton, Bishop Sankey, and Taniela Tupou. (9:09)

DANNY SHELTON IN — Another highly rated guy from Washington is in and that is Danny Shelton.  The Huskies won the battle for Shelton’s services with Oregon.  He’s a defensive lineman.  (9:05)

JAMES SAMPLE IN — S James Sample is in.  He’s a highly rated S out of California.  He’s expected to compete with Taz Stevenson and Sean Parker in future years at the SS position.  That area has really become a strength of the team.  (9:00)

UP TO TWENTY — I think that puts this class at 20.  Things will probably slow down now.  There haven’t been any surprises so far, aside from Jackson to California.  Condotta is doing an interview on KJR right now.  He has pretty good insight into some things.

MARCUS PETERS IN — The first cornerback of the class has now signed, Marcus Peters.  He’s also from California.  (8:55)

FEENEY AND TUFUNGA IN — Travis Feeney who is either a safety or linebacker has just signed.  Also, Siosifa Tufunga, an OL from California, is now in.  He’s just the second offensive lineman to sign as of right now.  (8:52)

LINKS — Here’s a link to the live chat they have going on at gohuskies.com.  Here’s another link to Bob Condotta’s Husky blog.  Everyone’s reporting pretty much the same thing, but they’re probably doing a little bit better job of it than me.

LYON’S IN — Matthew Lyon’s, a linebacker out of California, has now signed with Washington.  ROAR!  (8:47)

SANKEY IN — G00d news, as Bishop Sankey has signed his LOI now.  He’s the only, true running back in this class and is one of the highest rated backs on the west coast. (8:39) Here’s his bio

JONES’ BIO — Here’s Jamal Jones’ bio.

JAMAL JONES IN — A wide receiver out of Pierce County, Jamal Jones, has just signed his LOI.  He’s the third receiver to sign, and if I’m not mistaken, probably the last one.  (8:35)

NOTES ON PLAYERS — If you want some more notes on players, CoachSark.com is putting up a few things about each of them.  Here’s the link.  (8:30)

RECAP — At this point the Huskies have received 13 LOI’s (although Totogi signed his in January, and doesn’t count towards this year’s class).  Here’s the numbers by position, so far.
QB – 1
FB – 1
WR -2
TE – 1
OL – 1
DL – 2
LB – 4
S – 1
(8:27)

TWO MORE IN — FB Dezden Petty and LB Scott Lawyer are both in now.  I’d consider both of these guys to be the sleepers in this class.  Here’s Petty’s bio and Lawyer’s bio. (8:22)

A BIO— Here’s Kasen Williams’ bio.

SOME BAD NEWS — While the Huskies have received 10 LOI’s so far, there could be some bad news on the horizon.  It appears Pauley Asiata is set to commit to Colorado.  He was a lineman out of Hawaii and was considered one of UW’s better verbal commits.  He hasn’t signed anything yet, but everyone appears to have him going to Colorado.  Also, it looks like De’Anthony Thomas will sign with the Ducks.  He’s one of the top recruits in the nation, and that’s bad news because, well, it’s the Ducks… (8:17)

THE OTHER 5-STAR SIGNS — Kasen Williams has now signed his LOI.  He’s generally seen as the highest rated player in this class.  He’s a receiver out of Skyline.  His bio will be up shortly.

TWO MORE IN — DE Conner Cree and QB Derrick Brown are now signed.  Cree is from Skyline.  Brown was a Utah commit until about a week ago when he became the only quarterback in this year’s class (barring any surprises).  Here’s Brown’s bio.  (8:10)

ASJ IN — One of the 5-star recruits in this class has now signed.  That is tight end Austin Sefarian-Jenkins.  Here’s his bio. (8:07)

DAWGS LOSE ONE — It’s being reported that Kameron Jackson, who was a UW verbal, has signed with Cal.  Jackson is a cornerback from California.  The Dawgs were pretty small on their numbers at cornerback for this class, but only lost one from last years team.  It’s a loss, but not a huge one as far as how this class looks overall. (8:03)

COREY WALLER IN — The 6th member of this class is Corey Waller.  He’s a linebacker out of California.  Here’s his profile, via gohuskies.com. (8:00)

5 IN, SO FAR — By my count, the Dawgs have received 5 letters of intent so far.  Those have come from:

• Jarett Finau – LB/TE – WA
• Taniela Tupou – DL – WA
• Josh Perkins – WR – CA
• Dexter Charles – OL – WA
• Evan Zeger – S – NV (but also played in WA at Skyline)
  (7:55)

HAPPY NATIONAL SIGNING DAY! —  Good morning, everyone.  We are kicking this off now and the Huskies have already had about 5 letters come in.  Here we go! (7:40)