Huskies Receive Surprising Commitment from High-End 2025 Receiver
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Talk about the Sultan of Swing. The Huskies appear to have hit a recruiting home run.
On Monday night, wide receiver LaMason Waller III from the Sultana High Sultans in the High Desert of Southern California, maybe even surprising himself, committed to the University of Washington football program.
Waller just completed his freshman year.
He's from the Class of 2025, which means if his scholarship pledge holds up his first three Husky games that year will be against Colorado State, UC Davis and Ohio State, the latter in Columbus.
For now, Waller gives the UW recruiting efforts under Kalen DeBoer a huge boost and the opportunity to build considerable momentum for the future because he's considered one of the top players of his faraway class.
The 6-foot-1, 165-pound pass-catcher also holds football scholarship offers from national champion Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Florida State and Oregon, among 27 proposals.
“I know Washington is the best place for me,” Waller told Greg Biggins of 247Sports. “I really didn’t see a need to wait when I know this is what I want to do."
Waller comes off a 9th-grade year in which he caught 35 passes for 485 yards and 4 touchdowns, and ran a kickoff back for another score.
He took an unofficial visit to the UW and was sold, and has stayed in close contact with wide-receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard.
“I had the best vibes at UW, like I said, it felt great out there,” Waller told 247Sports. “It’s funny when I told the UW coaches I wanted to commit, they were even a little surprised but me and my family felt like it was a good time."
His high school is in Hesperia, which is 35 miles north of San Bernardino and in the Mojave Desert. At this point, it represents an oasis to the UW.
Wide receiver Marcel Reece, another desert wonder, came from rival Hesperia High by way of two-year El Camino College to the UW for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. He caught a 98-yard touchdown pass from Jake Locker that still stands as the Huskies' longest scoring play from scrimmage. He spent nine seasons in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks.
Waller received a UW offer on the same March weekend that the Huskies proposed a scholarship to wide receiver Keith Reynolds from another high-desert town, Adelanto, 16 miles from Hesperia. Reynolds from the Class of 2023 likewise is committed to the Huskies, but will arrive two years sooner.
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