Huskies Offer Scholarship to Huge Apple Valley Lineman
University of Washington recruiters have been to the Big Apple and back.
They've been in touch with the oversized Raymond Pulido, a 6-foot-7, 340-pound junior offensive tackle for the Apple Valley High School Sun Devils, who on Wednesday received a Husky scholarship offer, his fifth overall.
To say the least, Pulido is a growing kid.
He was 6-foot-5 and just beginning to tip the scales north of 300 in 2019 when he arrived on the Apple Valley campus as a freshman in the town of the same name, which is located roughly 90 miles east of Los Angeles on the edge of the Mojave Desert.
New Husky football coach Kalen DeBoer and his old staff already were privy to Pulido because they made a scholarship proposal to him while they were still at Fresno State.
Maryland offered the oversized teen before he became a full-time Apple Valley High starter. Miami and Arizona have extended scholarship bids to him, as well.
Pulido was allowed to play football for the first in the seventh grade by his father, Robert, who himself was a 6-foot-3, 305-pound Apple Valley senior offensive lineman with a 2010 recruiting profile and now coaches.
Holdover UW offensive-line coach Scott Huff came through town on Wednesday to facilitate the offer to the big prospect, who helped the Sun Devils finish 11-4 this past season.
Apple Valley originally earned its name because it was once full of fruit orchards until the Great Depression hit and the region could no longer afford to pay for water to keep things going.
Washington state actually would corner the West Coast market on apples thereafter because it had river systems that enabled irrigation and transportation of product.
Apple Valley simply kept its name and moved on ... and grew things such as Raymond Pulido.
This California town has became a bedroom community filled with ranches and businesses. Movies and TV episodes have been filmed there.
It became the longtime home for popular Western TV stars Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, who are buried in the local cemetery. The roadway leading to town is called the "Happy Trails Highway."
Meantime, Apple Valley supplies football players, and more than offensive linemen.
In December, the University of Michigan signed Sun Devils quarterback Jayden Denegal to a national letter of intent. At 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, he's a big player for sure, but not quite as filled out as his offensive lineman, who might not be done growing.
“I really just want to get stronger and faster,” said Pulido. “I want to work on my explosion more. I think that’s what I’m lacking in right now. If I can one day compete at a really high level, I’ll do whatever it takes, anything really.”
In other words, enhance his core strength. Apple core strength.
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