"African King Kong" Puts Washington In His Top 5
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When four-star offensive tackle Manasse Itete released his top 10 list on February 15th, Washington had not yet offered the self-proclaimed "African King Kong." In fact, the Huskies didn't offer Itete until April 18th.
Then when the product of Central Catholic High School in Modesto, California released his top five on May 21st, the Huskies had found themselves back in the race. The nation's eighth-ranked offensive tackle by 247 Sports listed Washington alongside Utah, Oregon State, USC, and Florida State.
While it appears Florida State is the team to beat for Itete's services at the moment, he still hasn't set up official visits with all the schools in his top five. He's scheduled to visit Oregon State on June 9th, Utah on June 16th, and Florida State on June 23rd.
Offensive line coach Scott Huff has already secured the services of one four-star lineman from California in Paki Finau and now he's pushing to do it again. The Huskies have three official visits scheduled from offensive linemen including Finau, with the other two being a pair of three-stars, Palo Alto offensive tackle Ikinasio Tupou, and Clackmas guard Devin Brooks.
"Washington is a great program," Itete said in an interview with 247 Sports' Brandon Huffman. "Just seeing the things they did last year was pretty good for the first year of the coaching staff and I do believe they will keep growing and doing good things. They also had a plan for me for the next couple years and also the culture they have is just different."
The coaching staff is certainly going to push very hard to get Itete back on campus. His only other visit to Washington was for a Junior Day the school hosted in January, so getting him to take an official visit could go a long way in his recruitment.
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