A Recruiting Explosion!

I hope everyone enjoyed your holiday, ate lots of food and shot off some fireworks.  Speaking of fireworks, the Dawgs have had an explosion in the football recruiting world.  Since last Friday, the Huskies have picked up 8 verbal commitments.

Seven of those commits came last Friday during Washington’s Rising Stars camp.  Many recruiting experts expected the Huskies to pick up at least a few commits but no one thought the Dawgs would pick up 7.  Since the news broke, there hasn’t been a ton of information written about these new commits so I’ll review each of the guys with as much information as I can find (it won’t be a ton).  I used Scout for their rankings, although those rankings may be updated sometime soon as they enter the football season.

RB Lavon Coleman (Lompoc, CA) – 5-11, 210

Coleman is a 4-star recruit and ranked number 26 in the country at the position.  As a junior, Coleman ran for 2,038 yards and 28 touchdowns.  I don’t know if you put any stock in this but his team went undefeated and won the state championship.  Coleman is obviously well thought of, being ranked that high.  He had offers from almost all of the Pac-12 as well as Boise State.  From his video, he doesn’t seem to be afraid of contact and bounces off tacklers.

WR Demorea Stringfellow (Moreno Valley, CA) – 6-3, 195

Stringfellow is also a 4-star recruit and ranked number 11 overall at his position.  With this commit, the Huskies have wrapped up two of the biggest wide receivers on the west coast (the other being Darrell Daniels).  Demorea pulled in some offers from big name schools like Florida, Nebraska, USC, Michigan and most of the rest of the Pac-12.  He’s another tall receiver that is the kind we expect Sark to go after.

OG Andrew Kirkland (Portland, OR) – 6-5, 290

Kirkland didn’t commit with the rest of these guys but he did give his verbal 4 days later.  He’s rated as a 3-star recruit and number 43 overall at the offensive guard position.  He plays tackle in high school but the recruiting services see him moving inside because he moves well for his size.  Kirkland had a few offers out there and it was nice to take him away from the Oregon schools.

OT Poasi Moala (Moreno Valley, CA) – 6-5, 265

Moala is from the same school as Stringfellow.  He’s a 3-star commit and ranked 50th overall as an offensive tackle.  He has received an offer from about half of the Pac-12.  Moala doesn’t have the weight some of these guys do but he moves well and held his own against some big defensive linemen during the camp.

DT Andrew Basham (Lynnwood, WA) – 6-4, 305

Basham is listed as both an offensive and defensive tackle but it sounds like he was recruited on the defensive side.  He’s a big guy and is rated as a 3-star recruit and number 72 overall at his position.  Basham had received offers from Oregon State and Arizona State and I wouldn’t be surprised if more were to come.

DT Elijah Qualls (Petaluma, CA) – 6-2, 279

Qualls was a guy many had hoped would commit last week and, sure enough, he did!  He’s rated as a 4-star recruit and 16th overall at the defensive tackle position.  He seems to be a little raw but has all the physical gifts you could want.  He plays running back in high school so that lets you know how athletic he is.  Qualls seems like he could go play just about anywhere he wants, as his offer list is quite impressive.

DE Daeshon Hall (Lancaster, TX) – 6-6, 220

Hall was committed to Texas before deciding to look around.  Anytime you pull a guy away from Texas, you’re doing something right.  Hall did go to school in Seattle until a few years ago and may be moving back here for his senior year of high school.  He’s a 4-star recruit and ranked 18th overall at the defensive end position.  Hall is extremely athletic and profiles to be in the ‘rush end’ position (like Josh Shirley now.

OLB Caleb Tucker (Monroe, LA) – 6-2, 225

Tucker was the biggest surprise out of this group and is still kind of unheard of.  We don’t know much about him, as he comes from Louisiana.  I’d like to see how many Husky players have come from Louisiana.  Anyway, he’s a 2-star recruit (for now) and ranked 137th at the outside linebacker position.

Previously, the Huskies have received commitments from 8 other guys, including a 4-star quarterback and a 4-star wide receiver.  The team has 16 known verbal commits.  They will probably not keep all of those players committed, which is just the way it goes in this day and age.  They are off to a good start though and are in on some big names.  They’ll probably take about 25 guys in this recruiting class.

Thanks for reading,

Andrew