Freshman Cornerback Gets the Green Light for Husky Playing Time
Jaivion Green wasn't heavily recruited, at least by Power 5 football schools. In fact, the University of Washington was the only one to offer him.
Yet Kalen DeBoer's new Husky coaches saw something they liked in the 6-foot-2, 202-pound cornerback from Houston, enough that they handed him a scholarship and brought him in and put him to work right away.
Five games into the season, Green has played more than any other UW true freshman, taking regular turns in a depleted secondary.
Green has had his successes, such as putting a loud hit on Stanford running back Casey Filkins on a pass play, and his trying moments, notably running into UW edge rusher Bralen Trice and knocking him down while UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson calmly stepped around them and scored.
"I'm just grateful to be here," Green said of his scholarship offers. "Recruiting is kind of behind me at this point. Just moving forward, I've just got to prove to everyone that I could say they missed [on me], but maybe it was just a blessing."
Coming out of Lamar High School, he was deemed a 3-star recruit and his list of suitors included some impressive universities, at least from an academic standpoint. He entertained football scholarship offers from Bucknell, Connecticut, Holy Cross, Howard, Illinois State, Missouri State, Pennsylvania and Yale.
Considering his recruitment, Green thinks a late position change for him in the secondary at Lamar High School might have had an effect on who pursued him and who didn't.
"Certain schools didn't want to take a chance from the move from safety to cornerback my senior year," he said.
KEEP WASHINGTON GREEN
Once in Seattle, Green made his move and passed over some scholarship cornerbacks during fall camp. Injuries suffered by veterans Jordan Perryman, Mishael Powell and Elijah Jackson required him to step on the field right away, mix it up and presumably give up his redshirt status.
He's played in four of the five UW games so far and another appearance will make him expend his first season of eligibility.
While other schools might have felt he was too big to be a cornerback, the Huskies like his combination of size and speed.
"It was cool to see him get out there and a make a big hit," DeBoer said following the Stanford game. "I think that's something he'll bring. He's a physical player."
Green had no trouble packing up and moving to the Montlake, which is 2,300 miles from his southeastern Texas home. He told defensive-backs coach Juice Brown he would commit as soon as he was offered, and he did.
He came in and let things play out, and so far he's ahead of everyone else in his class, and again even some who are older than him. When the UCLA game ended, he and redshirt freshman Davon Banks were the Husky cornerbacks leaving the field.
"I didn't really have any expectations coming to college," Green said. "I know how hard it is to play at the Division I level, especially as a freshman. I just put my trust in the coaches and they put me in a position to where they think I'm successful, and that's how it is."
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