Inside The Huskies

Huard Receives Washington Gatorade Player of the Year Honors

The lefthanded quarterback earns a final high school honor after becoming a collegian.
Dan Raley|
Huard Receives Washington Gatorade Player of the Year Honors
Huard Receives Washington Gatorade Player of the Year Honors

Sam Huard enrolled early at the University of Washington and beginning in early April took part in 15 spring practices, but the talented quarterback wasn't quite finished with the high school level just yet.

On Thursday, the true freshman capped off the spring by being named Gatorade Player of the Year for Washington state for a short but sensational senior season at Seattle's Kennedy Catholic High School. 

This was part of an unforgettable spring in which Huard was able to successfully mix schoolboy football with the collegiate scene.

John Garcia, director of recruiting for Sports Illustrated All-American, wrote about Huard and every state recipient nationwide. Here's what Garcia had to say about the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Huard:

"The NFL legacy throws one of America's best deep balls and it was on display during an undefeated spring season run. Huard led Burien (Wash.) Catholic with 1,481 yards and 21 touchdowns while completing better than 73 percent of his passes in the process. Staying in state to play for the Washington Huskies, the SI99 QB could complete for playing time right away." 

Huard ran with the Huskies' third unit for much of spring practice, learning the offensive system on the fly. He took snaps under center for the first time in his football career. 

In a month's time, the lefthander showed off his fluid athleticism and strong arm that someday likely will make him the UW's starting quarterback. 

Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven

Find Husky Maven on Facebook by searching: HuskyMaven/Sports Illustrated

Published
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.

Home/Football