Inside The Huskies

Colorado's No. 1 Recruit Picks UW, Adds to Its List of Elite Commits

TI Umu-Cais is a defensive lineman who was feverishly pursued by the Huskies.
Dan Raley|
TI Umu-Cais, Colorado's No. 1 player, has been a UW recruiting priority.
TI Umu-Cais, Colorado's No. 1 player, has been a UW recruiting priority. | Umu-Cais

As a high school visitor, Tufanua Ionatana "TI" Umu-Cais showed up for a University of Washington spring football practice one day in April, stood on the sideline and looked as old and as physically developed as most of the guys running around in uniforms that day.

From that sneak peek, he apparently liked what he saw because Colorado's No. 1 recruit for 2026 will wear a purple jersey next year.

On Saturday afternoon, the 6-foot-3, 307-pound Umu-Cais chose Washington as his college football destination over home state Colorado, North Carolina, Oklahoma and UCLA, making his decision known over the 247Sports YouTube channel.

He's comes from Cherry Hills High School in the Denver suburb of Englewood and a 13-1 5A state championship team.

Umu Cais gives the Huskies the top player in Colorado, the No. 1 player in Washington in edge rusher Derek Colman-Brusa, the No. 2 player in Oklahoma in wide receiver Mason James, the sixth-best running back nationally in California's Brian Bonner and the 22nd ranked player in the country in California offensive tackle and Northwest native in Kodi Greene, according to the recruiting websites.

As a sophomore in 2023, Umu-Cias become the pillar of the Cherry Creek defensive line and was named to the Denver Post's All-Colorado football team.

The Huskies have him pegged as a classic nose guard. In three Cherry Hills seasons beginning as a freshman, he piled up 23, 82 and 75 tackles, respectively.

Yet this 4-star player is athletic enough that he could be an edge rusher if the Huskies determine he's the right fit there.

With fall football camp ready to begin on Wednesday, the Huskies now have 21 committed players in this recruiting class.

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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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