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Inside The Huskies

Huskies Seeking Third IMG Player in 3 Years

Cornerback Censere Gaylord has narrowed his choices to four schools, including the UW.
Dan Raley|
Defensive back Censere Gaylord is shown at a 2024 media day at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
Defensive back Censere Gaylord is shown at a 2024 media day at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. | Mike Lang / Sarasota Herald-Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK

Censere Gaylord did what Ksani Jiles did.

He left Southern California, same as Jiles before him, to play his high school football at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

In fact, they were teammates and fellow cornerbacks for the past two seasons on the East Coast.

The question now is this: will Gaylord, a 4-star recruit, match Jiles once more and join him on the University of Washington football team?

From first glance, the competition for his services will be stiff.

On Monday, this 6-foot, 170-pound Gaylor from the Class of 2027 disclosed he is down to four schools in Auburn, Georgia, Georgia Tech and Washington, according to Rivals.

Gaylord currently holds 32 offers, with Jedd Fisch's Husky staff extending a scholarship proposal to him nearly two years ago on May 13, 2024.

He recently posted on social media that he was coming through UW spring football on an unofficial visit this past weekend and the recruiting websites list him as setting up his official visit in Montlake on June 5.

Jiles, who joined the Huskies this spring as a freshman, left Inglewood, Calfornia, to play four seasons for IMG.

Gaylord, who grew up 25 miles away, played his freshman season at Bishop Alemany High School before transferring to IMG.

He comes off a 2025 IMG season in which he had 22 tackles, a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, 5 pass break-ups and 4 interceptions, including one in which he returned for a touchdown.

As a sophomore, he finished with 12 tackles, a TFL, 5 PBUs and 3 interceptions, returning one for a score.

Ksani Jiles is shown during the UW spring football.
Ksani Jiles is shown during the UW spring football. | Dave Sizer photo

Gaylord, in fact, has come up with a pick-six in each of his three high school seasons, including his first year at Bishop Alemany.

The Huskies currently have 11 commitments for the Class of 2027, including another cornerback in 3-star prospect Maurice Williams from Graham-Kapowsin High School in Graham, Washington.

In all, the UW has gone heavy on defense with seven commits from that side of the ball so far. They include four linebackers, a defensive tackle, an edge rusher and Williams at corner.

If Gaylord chooses the Huskies, he would be the third IMG alum in three seasons to head for Seattle, following wide receiver Raiden Vines-Bright and Jiles.

Vines-Bright became a seven-game starter last season as a freshman, but returned home to the Phoenix area and transferred to Arizona State this winter.

While Gaylord will be tough to pry away from Georgia, but the fact he's from the West Coast could make a UW possibility.

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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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