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Inside The Huskies

Huskies Hosting Yet Another Mississippi Player

The UW has brought in three players from that state over the past four seasons.
Dan Raley|
Sam LeJeune, left, is visiting Washington from his home state Mississippi.
Sam LeJeune, left, is visiting Washington from his home state Mississippi. | Lejeun

Sam LeJeune, according to recruiting website logs everywhere, is touring the University of Washington football facilities on Monday (today) in an official capacity.

He is a 6-foot-3, 280-pound defensive tackle and end from Mississippi, specifically a 4-star prospect from Poplarville, which is 45 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and 74 from New Orleans.

LeJeune, according to his various recruiting profiles, is down to four schools: Auburn, California, Florida State and Washington.

FSU is believed to be the favorite because it has had this kid on campus nearly a dozen times since they first crossed paths at the Seminoles' 2024 Big Man Camp -- and will host him last among his final suitors this coming Friday.

A note to Huskies recruiters about to give him a Montlake sales pitch, offering a few salient points to consider:

Introduce LeJeune to sophomore linebacker Zayrdium Rainey-Sale, who two years ago chose between the Seminoles and the UW among a few others, and settled into Montlake instead of Tallahassee.

Also introduce him to sophomore defensive tackle Kai McClendon, who's from Mississippi, specifically Gulfport, which is about 48 miles from Poplarville.

McClendon was persuaded to leave the Deep South and come north, with the promise of significant playing time once he is fully recovered from a knee injury suffered nearly a year ago.

The UW recruiters should remind this visitor, too, that the program has had a homegrown Mississippi player in three of the past four seasons, counting quarterback Will Rogers, running back Dillon Johnson and McClendon, all of whom transferred out of Mississippi State.

For an 8-5 Hornets team last fall, LeJeune piled up 58 tackles, including 22 tackles for loss and 7 sacks, plus 5 pass break-ups, 5 blocked field-goal attempts, a forced fumble and a 36-yard interception return for a touchdown. He gets around on the football field.

Noting his mobility, which includes a 4.8-second 40-yard dash, Rivals has ranked him as the nation's No. 10 defensive line prospect and No. 105 player overall.

Should the Huskies be able to coax him into playing in Seattle, LeJeune would become the fourth commit among their 2027 defensive-line prospects.

Others are defensive tackles in 6-foot-3, 295-pound Jon Ioane from Tustin California, and 6-foot-4, 270-pound Tevita Nonu from Seattle, plus 6-foot-3, 240-pound edge rusher Matamatagi Uiagalelei from Santa Ana, California.

Ioane and Nonu likewise are 4-star recruits.

The Huskies offered LeJeune on May 14 and have increased their recruitment of him in corresponding fashion over the past 25 days.

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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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