Huskies Offer JC Linebacker, Who Was Ale High School Teammate
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Sekai Asoau-Afoa and Ulumoo "M.J." Ale played high school football together in Fife, Washington, north of Tacoma, before they went off on decidedly different tangents in pursuit of the college game.
Ale, then a mammoth 6-foot-6, 360-pound two-way lineman, signed on with the University of Washington, where he's been for four seasons.
A year younger, Asoau-Afoa embarked on a transient path not unlike a bus route, with the outside linebacker making repeated stops at lower-level Central Washington, Dixie State and the College of San Mateo.
Now, there's a real chance these two could be reunited.
On Monday, the 6-foot-5, 255-pound Asoau-Afoa received a scholarship offer from the UW, his 17th in a hodgepodge of football options.
Asoau-Afoa's other choices include a who's who of lower-level schools in Alabama A&M, Buffalo, Campbell, Idaho State, Jacksonville State, Lamar, Lynchburg, Nevada, North Texas, Northern Arizona, Robert Morris, Southern Utah, Tarleton, UTEP, Weber State and Western Illinois.
Under new coach Kalen DeBoer, the Huskies previously signed another junior-college player in inside linebacker Demario King from Cerritos College in Southern California. King enrolled and took part in spring practice.
Asoau-Afoa played for Central Washington during the 2019 season and left when the pandemic broke out and canceled all but one game of the following season, which was delayed to the spring.
He transferred to Dixie State but didn't stay long enough to play a season at the WAC school in George, Utah. Last fall, he got back on the field for six games for two-year College of San Mateo, which is located 20 miles south of San Francisco.
Recruiters pursuing Asoau-Afoa see a tough, hard-hitting and older player, now 21.
He collected 20 tackles this past season for CSM. His most memorable one came on a blitz for the Bulldogs in which he separated a running back from the football with a crushing hit, picked up the fumble and raced 26 yards for a touchdown.
If Asoau-Afoa ends up with the Huskies, he'll play on a defense that now includes Ale, his old Fife teammate, rotating in at defensive tackle.
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