Inside The Huskies

CFB Signing Day: Huskies' Haul, Ioane to Penn State, Live National Blog

The UW class will be small, not highly ranked, because of the coaching change.
Dan Raley|
CFB Signing Day: Huskies' Haul, Ioane to Penn State, Live National Blog
CFB Signing Day: Huskies' Haul, Ioane to Penn State, Live National Blog

University of Washington football coach Kalen DeBoer, after looking over the recruiting mess he inherited in December, predicted he would add just 15 new players in a small class.

Entering Wednesday, the beginning of the second signing period, he has 14.

That might be it, considering that two-time, All-Pac-12 offensive tackle Jaxson Kirkland wants to come back and improve his NFL draft stock once more after having ankle surgery.

You don't often get to substitute someone as highly decorated at Kirkland for a high school senior. 

Either way, the UW enters the day ranked at No. 108 in 247Sports national recruiting rankings, which won't make the siren go off at Husky Stadium.

This is a patchwork job that comes with a late-season coaching change, with Jimmy Lake getting fired in November and ending any momentum that was built up.

Which, according to the analysts, wasn't much.

DeBoer, on the job for just short of two months, will meet with the media at noon to discuss what he has.

In effect, he'll size up four new recruits from the high school ranks: safety Tristan Dunn from Sumner, Washington; twin defensive tackles Armon and Jayvon Parker from Dearborn, Michigan, and safety Jaivion Green from Houston.

All of their signed national letters of intent have bee delivered to the UW.

While Dunn was flipped from Arizona State and carried a 3-star rating, the Parker brothers and Green received almost no other Division I offers.

It will be interesting to see what the Husky coach and his staff saw in the latter three, gaining their commitments with almost no outside competition, to offer them scholarships.

DeBoer was not able to convince Vega Ioane, Graham-Kapowsin High offensive tackle, to re-up with the UW. The 6-foot-4, 320-pounder signed with Penn State. Ioane had committed to the Huskies, rescinded his pledge after the coaching change and met with DeBoer and his coaches to hear them out once more last week.

A player who could significantly boost the UW class is 5-star offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. from Seattle's Rainier Beach High School. His signing could change the whole outlook for this Husky recruiting effort.

Yet the 6-foot-5, 280-pound Conerly won't be signing today, indicating that he's putting off any decision until March as he takes his time in deciding his college future. He will choose from among Miami, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, USC and the Huskies. 

John Garcia, recruiting director for Sports Illustrated All-American, is live blogging about the national scene, which you can access here.

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Husky Maven stories as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

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

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

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/Recruiting