SEATTLE — After extending his Southern California roots and raiding Hawaii to formulate his first full recruiting class last year, University of Washington football coach Steve Sarkisian didn’t have to go far to find the cornerstones of the Huskies’ Class of 2011.
UW’s
latest class, which became official when 23 student-athletes signed letters-of-intent Wednesday, is led by some of this state’s top players — which wasn’t by accident.
“That’s how we’re going to become great around here: keeping these (in-state players) he
re,” Sarkisian said. “… It was a real focus for us.”
Wide receiver Kasen Williams (Skyline High School in Sammamish), tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins (Gig Harbor High) and defensive tackle Danny Shelton (Auburn High) led a class that’s been ranked as high as 19th i
n the country by recruiting services.
Scout.com, which helps fund a pro-UW website called Dawgman.com, had the Huskies’ class ranked the highest, at No. 19. Rivals.com and ESPNU ranked UW No. 23 in the country.
All three sites had USC, Oregon and California ranked above the Huskies among Pac-10 teams.
It marked the second year in a row that Sarkisian has pulled together a class that ranked among the top 25 in most national rankings, which brought some sense of validation to UW’s head football coach.
“All in all, what we’re preaching, we’re actually doing as well,” Sarkisian said.
But the 36-year-old coach may have uttered the most appropriate phrase of the day when he responded to a question about potential additions to the class by saying: “Worst word in sports, right? Potential.”
The only way to truly grade UW’s latest class is to let time take its course. But there was plenty of optimism after a second consecutive group of signees filled with potential.
“We’re on course,” Sarkisian said. “We’re doing what we wanted to do.”
If the latest class says anything about UW football, it’s that the Huskies might be making some philosophical changes on defense. Four of the players are considered hybrid linebacker/defensive end types, and Sarkisian said the Huskies are toying with the idea of using more 3-4 looks on defense. UW also added size to the secondary, with four secondary players standing 6-foot or taller.
The gem of the class, on paper, is Williams. Parade magazine’s national player of the year was generally regarded as the top recruit in the state and one of the main targets of big-time schools across the country. Williams turned down offers from Florida, LSU, Nebraska and Oklahoma — among others — before deciding to stay home and play for the Huskies.
It’s a position of strength at UW — leading receiver Jermaine Kearse will be a senior in the fall, while Devin Aguilar, James Johnson, Cody Bruns and Kevin Smith are also due to return — and yet Williams might find his way onto the field this fall.
“He’s the type of guy that could have an immediate impact,” Sarkisian said.
Seferian-Jenkins was also a big-time recruit, eventually narrowing his list to Texas and UW before choosing the Huskies.
“At the end of the day, the pride of Washington held true,” Sarkisian said of Seferian-Jenkins’s decision to play for the Huskies.
Shelton could be in the rotation on the defensive line as a true freshman, and Sarkisian tabbed him as the eventual replacement for senior-to-be Alameda Ta’amu.
The Huskies also added in-state players Bishop Sankey (a running back from Spokane who had originally given a verbal commitment to Washington State), Jamaal Jones (a wiry receiver from Spanaway), Connor Cree (a defensive end who went to high school with Williams) and a pair of Snohomish County products: offensive lineman Dexter Charles of Stanwood and defensive tackle Tani Tupou of Archbishop Murphy.
Five UW recruits were among the top six in the state, according to the Rivals.com rankings: No. 1 Seferian-Jenkins, No. 2 Williams, No. 3 Shelton, No. 5 Sankey and No. 6 Tupou. The only top-six player not to sign with the Huskies was Stanford recruit Charlie Hopkins, a defensive end from Spokane’s Gonzaga Prep.
Williams (No. 70) and Seferian-Jenkins (No. 110) were on the ESPNU top 150 of national players.
Most of the rest of UW’s class was filled by California players, including two junior-college players.
Among that group, James Sample, a 6-2 safety from Sacramento, has the highest ranking by Rivals. He was being recruited by almost every Pac-10 school as well as Florida. Oakland cornerback Marcus Peters, who is listed at 6-1, was also a big target of Pac-10 schools, while Sarkisian compared Carson running back Dezden Petty to recent USC star Stanley Havili.
It wasn’t a perfect day for UW football, however. Three players who had reportedly given verbal commitments opted to sign elsewhere: defensive end Stephan Nembot (Colorado), offensive lineman Paulay Asiata (Colorado) and cornerback Kameron Jackson (California). Cal-signee Brendon Bigelow, a running back from Fresno, had also verbally committed to UW before changing his mind in December.
Of the de-commitments, Sarkisian said: “It’s the nature of the beast right now. This is the landscape of college football.”
The Huskies also missed out on cornerback De’Anthony Thomas, who visited UW but announced he will go to Oregon. Florida quarterback Jacoby Brissett was considering the Huskies as well but has since narrowed his list to Florida, Miami and Wisconsin. Brissett is scheduled to make an official announcement Friday.
Sarkisian was more concerned with the players who had signed with the Huskies than the ones that got away.
And when it came to players getting away, Sarkisian made certain that didn’t happen in his own state.
“That’s been our philosophy since Day One: that we had to take care of our own backyard first,” he said. “… If we’re going to get back to winning Pac-10 championships and competing for national championships, then we’ve got to keep these guys here.”
Notes
Sarkisian said Seferian-Jenkins was one of a handful of incoming freshmen who could enroll in the spring. Already in school is junior-college transfer Thomas Tutogi, an inside linebacker from Chula Vista, Calif., and Johnny Timu, a safety who was part of the 2010 recruiting class but did not qualify last fall. … UW’s class included just one quarterback, 6-3, 239-pound Derrick Brown. The Huskies also signed athlete Antavius Sims, who played quarterback at Ventura College, but Sarkisian plans to try him at cornerback. Sarkisian added that Sims would be given a look at quarterback in certain packages. … Two former Huskies were among the players signed by Eastern Washington on Wednesday. Defensive end Andru Pulu, who was kicked off the team following an arrest last winter, and running back Demitrius Bronson committed to continue their careers at EWU.
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