Skip to main content
Inside The Huskies

Huskies Await Looming Decision of NorCal DB

Jeovanni Henley of Junipero Serra High will pick his school on June 6.
Dan Raley|
Jeovanni Henley has the UW among his five finalists.
Jeovanni Henley has the UW among his five finalists. | Henle

After University of Washington football recruiters couldn't convince one Junipero Serra High School defensive back to come to Montlake, they'll turn to another from that reputable Northern California program and see if they can entice him to head north.

Jeovanni Henley, a 3-star safety from Tom Brady's alma mater, announced earlier this week he will choose from among five schools on Saturday, June 6 -- BYU, California, Penn State, Texas and Washington.

The Huskies weren't able to land his Serra teammate Malakai Taufoou, a 4-star safety who recently committed to Oregon.

As his final choices indicate, the 6-foot, 165-pound Henley comes fairly well regarded after turning in a productive junior year, this after missing much of the 2024 season with a broken ankle.

For an 8-6 Padres team, he finished with 65 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, and 2 interceptions, scoring twice on defensive turnovers.

Henley went the distance on a 35-yard interception return off BYU-bound quarterback Ryder Lions in a 56-42 loss to Folsom High.

Against Archbishop Mitty, he picked up a fumble and ran 16 yards with it to score in a 28-13 victory.

It's unclear to which school he's leading, though On3 predicts he will end up at California.

According to Rivals, Henley is visiting the UW this week and will tour Penn State (June 5), Cal (June 11) and Texas (June 19), with the last two trips falling outside of his decision.

This weekend is an important one for the Huskies, who will host multiple players on campus as they try to have most of their commitments in hand by the end of June.

Jedd Fisch's staff currently holds 15 pledges for the Class of 2027, with nine of them coming on the defensive side of the ball as the Huskies try to appease defensive coordinator Ryan Walters by emphasizing that side of the ball.

The Huskies already have a safety commitment from 4-star Isala Wily-Ava from St. John Bosco High School in the Los Angeles area.

Defensively, they also have pledges from four linebackers in Ethan Coach, Justin Coach, Isaiah Leilua and Titus Osterman, with all but Osterman from California; a pair of defensive tackles in Jon Ioane and Tevita Nonu; edge rusher Matamatagi Uiagalelei, and cornerback Maurice Williams.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

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