In a Week of QB Hunting, Huskies Offer SoCal Offensive Lineman
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Kahlee Tafai is a 6-foot-6, 307-pound offensive lineman from the Los Angeles area who transferred from Bishop Alemany High School, north of the city, to Leuzinger, deep in the heart of it.
Tafai will play for a football team that answers to the Olympians, so named because Leuzinger High opened shortly before the 1932 Olympic Games were held in L.A. and the school was used as a staging area in providing a shooting range and a bowling alley for the competition.
This big kid is not yet a gold-plated player, so far unrated by the recruiting analysts, but he's working on it
In recent weeks, Tafai has received scholarship offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Fresno State, San Jose State, UNLV, Utah, Utah State and, on Wednesday, from the University of Washington.
In a week of pursuing Southern California quarterbacks right and left, the Huskies finally chased after someone who could block for them.
Tafai, a member of the Class of 2023, is taking the recruiting process in stride as he develops his big frame, works on his footwork and begins to see his recruitment accelerate.
"I don't have anything to prove," he randomly posted on social media. "I am what I am with a room full of improvement to make."
Tafia primarily excelled as a defensive tackle for an 8-4 Bishop Alemany team in Mission Hills, but he's making a concentrated effort to focus on the offensive line at his new school.
Leuzinger, which has an inner-city Lawndale address, has always been a competitive place for high-level athletes. Baseball player George Foster, the 1977 National League Most Valuable Player, played there, as did Russell Westbrook, the 2017 NBA MVP, among others.
They were all Olympians, everyone of them.
Now comes Tafai, who wears a jersey that has "The Leu" emblazoned across the front and is working on making himself a big success in his sporting endeavor.
Should he want to extend this Olympics theme as more of a football calling card, he really should consider coming to the UW. He could anchor an O-line that would call itself "the Olympic Range."
After all you can see those so-named mountains from the top of Husky Stadium.
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