Skip to main content
Inside The Huskies

Husky Commit Turns Up On Top 10 Running Back List

Jeremy Adeyanju runs with the best nationally, according to Rivals.
Dan Raley|
Jeremy Adeyanju is shown during a 7-on-7 football passing tournament in 2025.
Jeremy Adeyanju is shown during a 7-on-7 football passing tournament in 2025. | Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The high-end commitments keep coming for the University of Washington football team, lately the No. 1 player from Washington state, the top offensive lineman from Colorado, the much-heralded quarterback from Arizona and the heavily pursued safety from Los Angeles.

All of them carry impressive credentials, creating plenty of chatter around the Huskies' 2027 recruiting class.

Yet of the 15 players who have pledged to play for Jedd Fisch and his coaching staff, running back Jeremy Adeyanju from the Phoenix suburbs might be the most underrated if not underestimated player headed for Montlake among this group.

A few people have labeled him a 4-star rusher, while more of the image-makers lean more to calling him a 3-star prospect.

Maybe it's the fact his O'Connor High School team -- the same one that former UW and current NFL edge rusher Bralen Trice played for -- finished just 3-8 last fall.

Scottie Graham visits with RB commit Jeremy Adeyanju.
Scottie Graham visits with RB commit Jeremy Adeyanju. | Adeyanju

Isn't a team's overall performance supposed to be reflective of a headliner such as the 6-foot, 215-pound Adeyanju, who rushed 147 times for 1,167 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2025?

Well, this week the experts finally pushed aside the trivial matters and put this Phoenix flash where he rightfully belonged -- Rivals selected Adeyanju as the ninth-best running back in his class, leaving him in very heady company.

He joined four Texans who made the list because that's where the best high school football is played on a large scale. Two runners from Georgia are among the Top 10. Add to that, one guy each from Pennsylvania, Illinois and Mississippi.

Everyone on the list except Adeyanju and Oregon-bound Cadarius McMiller played for winning teams.

Note that Adeyanju, who picked the Huskies over Michigan, UCLA and USC, is the only rusher from the West to earn a spot on this list, that there are no Californians anywhere to be found.

Kemon Spell, a 5-foot-9, 205-pound runner from McKeesport, Pennsylvania, and committed to Georgia, has been deemed the No. 1 running back in America for 2027. He comes off a 1,755-yard, 28-touchdown junior season for a 9-4 team.

Spell is a 5-star recruit, while the nine others are each 4-star recipients.

The second-best back, according to Rivals, is 6-foot-2, 235-pound Myson Johnson-Cook from East St. Louis, Illinois, and bound for Auburn. He rushed for 1,341 yards and 20 TDs last fall for a 9-4 team. He is by far the biggest back of these 10.

No. 3 is Keldrid Ben, a 5-foot-10, 208-pound runner from Montgomery, Texas, and bound for Oklahoma. He rushed for 1,560 yards and 15 touchdowns as a junior for an 8-3 team.

Next up is 6-foot, 200-pound Gary Walker from Fairburn, Georgia, and headed for Clemson. He picked up 1,669 yards and 20 scores rushing last fall for a perfect 16-0 powerhouse team.

The fifth back on this list is 6-foot-1, 190-pound Ty Keys, who hails from Poplarville, Missississippi, and will play for Clemson. For a run-oriented 8-5 team, he piled up an astounding 3,285 yards and 45 touchdowns last season.

Anointed as the sixth-best back by Rivals is 5-foot-9, 196-pound Sarod Baker from DeSoto, Texas, and committed to Texas Tech. Similar to Keys, he finished with 3,206 yards and 43 TDs in 2025 for a 13-3 team.

No. 7 is 5-foot-11, 194-pound Lathan Whisenton from Waco, Texas, and Notre Dame bound. He had 1,502 yards and 24 scores last season for a 9-2 team.

The eighth-best back is the 6-foot-1, 196-pound McMiller from Tyler, Texas and committed to Oregon. His junior totals: 939 yards and 17 touchdowns. Same as Adeyanju, he played for a losing team, with his finishing 4-7.

Right behind UW-bound Adeyanju as the No. 10 running back is 5-foot-10, 197-pound Andrew Beard from Bogart, Georgia, and pledged to Florida. He gained 1,260 yards and scored 12 times last season for an 8-4 team.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
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.

Home/Recruiting