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Inside The Huskies

Huskies Nail Down Recruiting Visit for Elite SoCal Running Back

Brian Bonner from Valencia, California, will tour Montlake with his first visit on March 8.
Dan Raley|
UW running-backs coach Scottie Graham visits with Brian Bonner, a running back from SoCal.
UW running-backs coach Scottie Graham visits with Brian Bonner, a running back from SoCal. | Bonner

He already wears a purple jersey and gold pants as a high schooler on game day, but it's going to take some work for the University of Washington football team to get Brian Bonner to continue this fashion trend.

Twenty-six schools have offered scholarships to the 6-foot, 180-speedster from Valencia, California, north of Los Angeles, who is considered one of the nation's elite running backs as a 4-star recruit for the Class of 2026.

At least the Huskies have a fighting chance with Bonner, who on Tuesday revealed on social media to 247Sporst he will take his first early visit to Montlake on March 8, followed by tours of Michigan on March 27 and Penn State on April 1.

The attraction here is to a player who doubles as a trackman and possesses 10.65-second speed in the 100-yard dash, but considers football his first language.

Bonner visited with UW running-backs coach Scottie Graham at his school on January 24 before the real rush began. Five days later, he met with Nebraska, Stanford and UCLA, all in the same day at Valencia High.

Three days ago, Notre Dame offered him. Three weeks ago, Michigan made its move by extending a scholarship package.

For a 6-5 Valencia team, he comes off a junior season in which he rushed 197 times for 1,493 yards and 25 touchdowns. He also caught 40 passes for 498 yards and 4 scores and returned kicks for another 415 yards, giving him 2,406 all-purpose yards.

Bonner scored 5 touchdowns in a 56-28 win over Golden Valley and 5 more in a 62-21 decision over Saugus.

All of thee football heroics led to him being named Foothills League Most Valuable Player once the season ended.

A look at his X social media account shows the Huskies have been made a bid for Bonner as concentrated as anyone, by sending him nonstop well wishes and graphic designs as he wades through an recruiting process.

The Huskies appear to have the makings for a deep collection of running backs for this coming season and beyond.

It starts with senior 1,000-yard rusher Jonah Coleman back for his senior season and supported by Adam Mohammed and Jordan Washington, who drew carries as as true freshman. Add to them incoming freshman Julian McMahan and Quiad Carr.

Of those five players, four are from California and Mohammed hails from Arizona.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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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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