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Inside The Huskies

Huskies Try To Pry Linebacker Recruit Away From Wisconsin

Nathan Jones plays for Desert Edge High School, which has two other players committed to the UW.
Dan Raley|
Nathan Jones has a UW offer, his 16th from FBS schools.
Nathan Jones has a UW offer, his 16th from FBS schools. | Polynesian Bowl

The way the University of Washington football team sees it, you just can't recruit too many players from Desert Edge High School outside of Phoenix.

On Monday, the Huskies made a late scholarship offer to Scorpions linebacker Nathan Jones, a 3-star 2027 recruit who's been committed to Wisconsin since late May.

Can anyone say flip the recruit?

The Huskies made a late move on this 6-foot-3, 230-pound defender in an effort to add him to a recruiting class that counts two of his current Desert Edge teammates, 4-star quarterback Blake Roskopf and 4-star receiver Zerek Sidney, as long-term Montlake commits.

Three weeks ago, the UW lost out on Desert Edge 5-star edge rusher Jalanie George, who chose Wisconsin over Auburn, Miami and Washington.

For his senior year, Jones transferred to Desert Edge, which is located west of Phoenix, from Notre Dame Preparatory High School in Scottsdale.

For his former team in 2025, the linebacker piled up 90 tackles, which included 25 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks. He forced 4 fumbles, recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass on the way to being named region player of the year.

He also rushed the football and provided an escort on offense, getting credited with 17 pancake blocks.

For a 7-2 Desert Edge team this season, Jones was required to sit out the first five games as a transfer.

In his four outings at his new school, he's naturally had to share the limelight. His top performance has come in a 56-0 victory over Tolleson, when he came up with 7 tackles, 2 sacks and a 2-yard fumble runback for a touchdown.

While preparing to chage high schools, Jones received a big recruiting push from Wisconsin back in May. He took a campus visit and came home committed to the Badgers.

His other options include Arizona, Baylor, Florida State, Kansas State and North Carolina among others.

The Huskies have provided him with his 16th offer so maybe his football recruitment isn't quite over just yet.

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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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