Inside The Huskies

Huskies Rekindle Recruiting Relationship, Re-Offer SoCal DL

Champ Sanders previously received a UW offer on the weekend Jimmy Lake got fired.
Dan Raley|
Huskies Rekindle Recruiting Relationship, Re-Offer SoCal DL
Huskies Rekindle Recruiting Relationship, Re-Offer SoCal DL

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Washington Huskies

Ashton "Champ" Sanders  began sharing his ongoing recruiting correspondence with the University of Washington on social media last September. 

A graphic here, a video there, always something in purple. 

The 6-foot-3, 295-pound defensive lineman from Cathedral High School in Los Angeles seemed smitten with the idea of becoming a Husky football player, of coming to Seattle to both attend classes and tackle people.

He shared images of the Seahawks, of DK Metcalf and Pete Carroll.

On Nov. 14, Sanders, a 3-star recruit, posted how he had received a UW scholarship offer. 

One problem, Husky coach Jimmy Lake got fired that day.

Sanders and the UW appeared to go separate ways, even though he retweeted in December an announcement of Kalen DeBoer becoming the new coach..

Ah, but things have been rekindled. 

On Monday, this 2023 recruit, almost without fanfare and certainly without any fancy purple graphics this time, Sanders posted how DeBoer's staff had re-offered him on behalf of the Huskies. 

Whether it's too late to win over this Southern California prospect is unclear. Sanders recently narrowed his 14 choices to two — California and Wisconsin. He'll take official visits to those places in June. He also had an offer from Notre Dame on the table. 

He's a versatile guy, developed in a lot of ways, in particular possessing great quickness. He's lined up as an edge rusher, at defensive tackle and at the nose. He might have been rated higher had his team not struggled and gone 1-8.

Playing eight games, Sanders finished with 36 tackles, including 14 for lost yardage and 4 sacks, and he logged 16 quarterback hits, so he did his job. 

The Huskies signed a pair of edge rushers in December in twins Armon and Jayvon Parker from Detroit, who carry similar dimensions to Sanders. Apparently, they're in the market for more defensive-front help in the Class of 2023. 

Besides offering plenty of football ability, Sanders also shows considerable personality. He'll likely be a big fan favorite wherever he goes.

He offered the following as a driving force behind his football pursuits to NCAAsports.com. 

"My goals are to get into college under a scholarship so my mother won't have to pay," he wrote. "If athletics don't pan out, I'd like to forward my attention to law."

There you have it: Sanders is either going to sack or sue you.

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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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