Here's Why Washington Recruiting Wasn't So Bad After All
The recruiting analysts, the writers, the fans, just about everyone on the periphery suggested the University of Washington football staff had flubbed the latest talent grab.
The insinuation was maybe that some of the magic had worn off for Kalen DeBoer and his guys after their instant success in 2022. Perhaps they simply had waited too long to entertain their big-name targets. No doubt they would reassess how they did things in the future.
Memorable was the so-called Oregon journalist who mocked the situation with his social-media post showing 17 or so commits for the Ducks and just one for the UW. That's a fan thing, not for someone advertising himself as a media guy, or maybe he thinks he's both.
Either way, if you were anywhere near Montlake recently and heard roaring laughter echoing through the neighborhood, it might have been coming from the coaching offices after those guys took a moment to read some of their negative reviews.
If anyone has learned anything about the current Husky coaches it's this: everything they do is calculated, probably down to how many publicity photos should be taken of a recruit seated on a golden throne.
The reason the UW went from 4-8 to 11-2 overnight is because DeBoer and his coaches rely on rapt attention to detail. Jimmy Lake didn't have that. A lot of coaches don't have that. It's how the good ones win a lot.
DeBoer doesn't talk competitive smack like some coaches, choosing to low key it at all times. Yet every so often the competitiveness in this second-year Husky coach rears its head in an ever so subtle fashion, such as when Ohio State flipped quarterback Lincoln Kienholz out from under him last December.
"If you follow recruiting over the course of the year, I think a lot of other people trust our evaluations," DeBoer said, referring to their immediate assessment of Kienholz that wasn't shared by the Buckeyes.
The current recruiting situation supposedly was extra gloomy for the Huskies the previous week when they had a solitary commitment from offensive lineman Paki Finau and were dealing with the recent de-commitments of quarterback EJ Caminong and wide receiver Landon Bell.
One of Caminong's relatives on social media seemed to intimate that the scholarship proposal was pulled from the Seattle quarterback, and that might have been the case for Bell from Henderson, Nevada, too.
The reason?
The Huskies might have changed their minds on those offers because they began making inroads with better talent. It's possible that Caminong's continued visits elsewhere likely also sealed his fate.
Everyone always thinks the players are calling all of the shots, especially when they post all of those colorful graphics on Twitter that spell out untold choices and are actually produced by various recruiting websites in exchange for insider knowledge, a cozy quid pro quo arrangement.
Sometimes you have to wonder how honest the recruiting information is when agreements such as these are firmly in place. No one writes about any negatives for fear of losing recruit access. Everyone is great.
As of Monday night, the UW counted nine recruiting commits — eight more than it had entering the weekend. Seven are from California and one each from Texas and Arizona.
UW COMMITMENTS (9)
Ratumana Bulabalavu, ER, 6-4, 260, Army and Navy Academy, Carlsbad, California, 3 stars
Noah Carter, ER, 6-4, 220, Centennial HS, Peoria, Arizona, 4 stars
Dermaricus Davis, QB, 6-4, 190, Etiwanda HS, Rancho Cucamonga, California, 3 stars
Decker DeGraaf, TE, 6-4, 230, Glendora HS, Glendora, California, 3 stars
Paki Finau, OT, 6-4, 265, Oak Hills HS, Hesperia, California, 4 stars
Khmori House, LB, 6-2, 210, St. John Bosco HS, Bellflower, California, 4 stars
Omar Khan, DL, 6-4, 280, Bridgeland HS, Cypress, Texas, 3 stars
Jason Robinson, WR, 5-10, 160, Long Beach Poly, Long Beach, California, 4 stars
Justice Williiams, WR, Oaks Christian School, Westlake Village, California, 3 stars
Where are all of the local commits, you might ask?
The snide would conclude this UW staff can't recruit the state. DeBoer's coaches likely would say, privately of course, there aren't that many high-level players currently inside the borders who can make the Huskies a championship team and they can find better elsewhere.
The whole idea of recruiting the local player is losing its luster anyway because the college game has turned so transient, especially with the advent of the transfer portal.
With nine commits now in hand and maybe another half-dozen coming, the Huskies initially have leaned to what will always be their strength — finding elite offensive skill players.
They have another quarterback in Dermaricus Davis from Etiwanda High in Rancho Cucamonga, California, presumably replacing Caminong in the order of business.
Of the nine commits, four rate 4 stars so far, and others may elevate to that, with linebacker Khmori House from vaunted St. John Bosco High in Bellflower, California, quite possibly the biggest catch.
The message in all of this: things aren't always quite what they seem, with outsiders putting up artificial deadlines when really there are none until letters of intent need to be signed, and, more importantly, beware of underestimating DeBoer and his people.
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