Inside The Huskies

Demond's Basha Running Back Becomes Big Recruiting Deal

The Huskies are in on the pursuit of 4-star rusher Noah Roberts from the Class of 2027.
Dan Raley|
Noah Roberts hails from Demond Williams Jr.'s high school and has the UW among his college choices.
Noah Roberts hails from Demond Williams Jr.'s high school and has the UW among his college choices. | Roberts

Running back Noah Roberts once took handoffs from Demond Williams Jr. at Basha High School in the Phoenix suburbs.

The University of Washington is working on making that happen again.

The recruiting buzz is beginning to pick up momentum for the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Roberts, class of 2027 prospect, likely that state's No. 1 player for that year, a top 50 player and a Williams backfield mate in 2023 when the quarterback was a senior and Roberts was a freshman.

The young back, according to Rivals, will tour the campuses of Arizona State, Ohio State, Oregon and Washington over the next few months to get everything started.

As a sophomore last year, Roberts showed off his considerable talents by rushing 152 times for 1,067 yards and 19 touchdowns and catching 32 passes for 358 yards and 5 scores for an11-2 Basha team in the suburb of Chandler. His 24 TDs were a school record.

Two years ago, when Williams was in the throes of a 3,250-yard, 34-touchdown passing season, Roberts, just a ninth-grader, drew 53 carries for 340 yards and 2 scores and caught 17 passes for 276 yards and 2 more TDs.

Together, they shared in a 10-2 Basha team that advanced to the state semifinals.

While Williams signed with Arizona and then pivoted to the UW when Jedd Fisch changed coaching jobs, Roberts already is a 4-star recruit with at least 32 scholarship offers.

He's received recruiting pitches such as "Your Time Is Now" from Florida State and "Come Make History" from Utah.

The Huskies most certainly can customize their own approach, with something on the order of Williams offering, "Remember me?" or "Let's Do It Again."

If Roberts were to choose the UW, he likely would have just one season to play alongside Williams again, with their reunion coming in 2027, as a senior and a freshman once more.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Published | Modified
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