Inside The Huskies

Huskies Receive Commitment From Younger Uiagalelei

This one is an edge rusher from Mater Dei High School who had more than a dozen offers.
Dan Raley|
Current UW coaches Jordan Paopao and Jason Kaufusi have been recruiting Matamatagi Uiagalelei since 2023.
Current UW coaches Jordan Paopao and Jason Kaufusi have been recruiting Matamatagi Uiagalelei since 2023. | Arizona

In the photo, which had an old tint to it, everyone looks a little younger, if not alternately lighter and heavier.

That's because University of Washington assistant coaches Jordan Paopao and Jason Kaufusi have been recruiting edge rusher Matamatagi Uiagalelei since 2023 when they were part of Jedd Fisch's Arizona staff.

On Sunday, their persistence and previous connections paid off for them as the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Uiagalelei from Southern California's Mater Dei high school football powerhouse revealed he had committed to the Huskies.

The 3-star prospect had just agreed to take an official visit to the UW on May 29-31, a trip that now will bring a different recruiting approach -- one of re-emphasizing his pledge rather than trying to land it.

Obviously, he came to the conclusion why wait?

Uiagalelei, of course, is the younger sibling for Ta'ita'i Uiagalelei, who started all 13 games at defensive tackle this past season and used up his college eligibility for the Huskies, this after starting at edge rusher at Arizona during three years in Tucson, all with Fisch's staff.

Honestly, media types had welcomed the graduation of the older Uiagalelei, only because it was so easy to misspell his name.

Now comes his little brother with a full name just as challenging if not more so to get it right.

Yet this is not a proof-reading issue confined to Montlake.

Uiagalelei actually is a name well known across college football.

The latest Husky commit is the younger cousin for Oregon edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei and for quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, who has played for Clemson, Oregon State and Florida State.

This Uiagalelei holds 13 scholarship offers, which also have come from the likes of Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Miami, Michigan and UCLA.

For an 8-3 Mater Dei team this past fall, where he was teammates with UW freshman offensive tackle Kodi Greene, he appeared in nine games and finished with 28 tackles, which included 6.5 tackles for loss and 3 sacks.

The year before, while playing with current Husky QB Dash Beierly, former UW wideout Marcus Harris and Greene again, he appeared in 11 games for a13-0 team and finished with 18 tackles, which included 5 TFLs and 3 more sacks.

He is considered the No. 80 recruit in California and the No. 83 defensive lineman by 247Sports, and is the seventh 2027 commit for the Huskies.

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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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