Inside The Huskies

Like Old Days, Huskies Resume Hunt for Chicago Football Talent

The UW this week offered David Folorunsho, a two-way tackle from the Windy City.
Dan Raley|
David Folorunsho and Curt Cignetti share an Indiana recruiting moment.
David Folorunsho and Curt Cignetti share an Indiana recruiting moment. | Indiana

University of Washington football once had a direct pipeline to Chicago talent, done on doctor's orders.

A former Husky running back himself, Dr. Alfred Strauss became a prominent surgeon in the Windy City and used his influence to direct prospects from the Midwest to the UW.

Strauss did this with more than 150 football players, including five who became first-team All-Americans in Ray Frankowski, Jay MacDowell, Vic Markov, Rudy Mucha and Max Starcevich, all linemen.

Pulling players out of ethnic immigrant neighborhoods such as Polish, Slavic and Italian, Strauss would put them on a train headed West, often giving them the price of a rail ticket, tuition or pocket money, or all of it. The benevolent doctor was 90 when he died in 1971 in Palm Springs, California.

In recent years, Jedd Fisch's football recruiters have returned to Illinois on their own in search of football talent, working the area last year for now redshirt freshman linebacker Donovan Robinson from Chicago and this winter welcoming freshman wide receiver Blaise LaVista from Frankfort, which is 35 miles south of the city.

This past week, the Huskies kept the momentum going by making a scholarship offer to two-way tackle David Folorunsho from St. Patrick's High School, which is located halfway between O'Hare Airport and downtown. The 6-foot-4, 280-pounder currently holds 21 offers.

Folorunsho recently visited national champion Indiana and posed for recruiting photos with Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti, so he's no secret find.

A 3-star recruit, he's also being pursued by Florida, Iowa, LSU, Miami, Michigan State, Missouri, Nebraska and Tennessee.

He won't be riding the train to Seattle, but he might hop on a jet and come see what it looks like.

David Folorunsho of Chicago has a UW offer.
David Folorunsho of Chicago has a UW offer. | Folorunsho

Folorunsho recently shared with Dawgman.com how UW cornerbacks coach John Richardson stopped by his high school for a recent visit and told the big kid how the Huskies see him as a defensive lineman. The teenager intends to speak with D-line coach Jason Kaufusi soon.

"We had a great conversation," Folorunsho said. "We talked about the program and how he sees me in the defense."

He was nimble enough to play defensive tackle, offensive tackle and tight end as a junior for a 6-5 Shamrocks team, impressing scouts with his versatility and quickness coming out of a stance.

Folorunsho likely would have warmed right away to Dr. Strauss, who in some cases arranged for Midwest players to deliver new automobiles from Detroit to Seattle dealerships and get paid a stipend for this.

Strauss employed two Chicago high school coaches to scout prospects throughout Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana for him.

Some of his later finds were running back Harvey Blanks and cornerback Bob Burmeister, who were UW standouts in the 1960s and '70s, though the now deceased Blanks ran into trouble with the coaching staff during a period of racial strife and was dropped from the team.

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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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