UW Offers L.A. Back With Different Body Type Than It Usually Prefers
To be sincere means to be free from pretense and deceit. However, to be Cincere means to run free all over high school football fields that downtown Los Angeles.
Pretense and deceit might as well be hapless defensive players failing to wrap up and bring down Cincere Rhaney, a compact yet speedy 5-foot-10, 225-pound running back for Junipero Serra High in Gardena, California.
In another time, Rhaney would have been known as a bowling ball, which aptly described the great Earl Campbell of Texas before he became an NFL Hall of Fame selection and before that the University of Washington's unforgettable Donnie Moore.
This week, Rhaney is a Kalen DeBoer 2024 recruiting target who on Tuesday night received a scholarship offer from the Huskies, his fifth to stack alongside ones pitched to him from Arizona State, Georgia, San Jose State and Utah.
"I love contact," this player named Cincere wrote on social media, making it no secret how he prefers to play the game.
With his junior year recently completed with a playoff loss, Rhaney rushed 224 times for 1,666 and 15 touchdowns, adding two more scores on a reception and a kickoff return for a 7-5 Cavaliers team. He averaged 138.8 yards per game and 7.4 per carry.
Without question a punishing runner, Rhaney piled up a season-high 275 yards and scored on runs of 10, 50 and 68 in a 28-14 victory over Norco.
As a sophomore, he was equally effective for Serra by rushing 135 times for 1,054 yards and 12 touchdowns, and adding another score on a catch. His season best ground total was 224 yards against Long Beach Poly.
The Huskies, who currently go seven deep with scholarship running backs, don't have one quite like Cincere Rhaney.
Runners like Wayne Taulapapa and Cam Davis are leaner and shiftier, while this Southern California kid is all about quickness and power getting through the hole. The UW did have Texas running backs Caleb Berry and Emeka Megwa, who didn't have the build of this recruit, but had a similar power style. They transferred out to Incarnate Word and Oklahoma, with Megwa walking on with the Sooners this next season.
Since Rhaney likes to hit people, blocking wouldn't be a problem for him in Montlake, nor would receiving, which are offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb's tailback prerequisites at the UW now, besides simply carrying the ball. He has 20 career catches in his two Serra seasons so far.
The Huskies appear more than sincere about this scholarship offer — that they would gladly welcome this tough guy named Cincere to Seattle.
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