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Inside The Huskies

Few Surprises as UW Welcomes New Players on Signing Day

Texas newcomers were the first to hand over national letters of intent.
Dan Raley|
Few Surprises as UW Welcomes New Players on Signing Day
Few Surprises as UW Welcomes New Players on Signing Day

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Washington Huskies

Omar Khan, a 6-foot-2, 270-pound defensive tackle from Cypress, Texas, north of Houston, was the first high school recruit on Wednesday to officially sign with the University of Washington football program, with his national letter of intent electronically in hand around 6 a.m. PT

From there, the names began dropping like dominoes, with fellow Texan, safety Joshua Lair from Missouri City, which is south of Houston, likewise making things official.

Yet a third Texan, safety Paul Mencke Jr. from Schertz, north of San Antonio, announced later in the morning he would become a Husky on social media, flipping from Duke. Mencke is the son of a former Washington State quarterback.

By 10:30 a.m., 15 names were made official by the UW, with only Ohio defensive lineman Dominic Kirks still unaccounted for.

Kirks remained a real question mark, especially after taking a late-season visit to Ohio State and having other schools continue to pursue him.

At 12:30 p.m., UW coach Kalen DeBoer was scheduled to meet with the media and discuss the new players his staff had signed.

The 15 signees hailed from four states — Arizona, California, Oregon and Texas.

Notably missing were any players from Washington state, with the Husky staff basically choosing to pass on the local talent rather than have someone snub the school in favor of some place such as Ohio State or USC as has happened in recent years.

UW 2024 HIGH SCHOOL SIGNEES

Davit Boyajyan, OT, 6-6, 305, Clovis North HS, Clovis, Calif.

Ratumana Bulabalavu, ER, 6-4, 260, Army and Navy Academy, Carlsbad, Calif.

Noah Carter, ER, 6-3, 235, Centennial HS, Peoria, Ariz.

Dermaricus Davis, QB, 6-4, 190, Etiwanda HS, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

Decker DeGraaf, TE, 6-4, 230, Glendora HS, Glendora, Calif.

Paki Finau, OT, 6-4, 265, Oak Hills HS, Hesperia, Calif.

Khmori House, LB, 6-1, 205, St. John Bosco HS, Bellflower, Calif.

Elias Johnson, CB, 6-3, 160, Jesuit HS, Portland, Ore.

Omar Khan, DT, 6-2, 270, Bridgeland HS, Cypress, Texas

Joshua Lair, S, 6-1, 185, Fort Bend Marshall HS, Missouri City, Texas

Paul Mencke Jr., S, 6-2, 185, Samuel Clemens HS, Schertz, Texas

Jason Robinson, WR, 5-10, 160, San Juan Hills HS, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

Peyton Waters, S, 6-2, 170, Birmingham HS, Van Nuys, Calif.

Keona Wilhite, DT, 6-5, 240, Salpointe Catholic HS, Tucson, Ariz.

Justice Williams, WR, 6-4, 195, Oaks Christian School, Westlake Village, Calif.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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