Inside The Huskies

Oklahoma's Top Player Commits to Fisch's UW Staff

A highly graded 2026 Husky recruiting class just picked up another headliner.
Dan Raley|
Mason James, middle, is shown on his UW visit with his family.
Mason James, middle, is shown on his UW visit with his family. | UW

Every picture, of course, tells a story.

If ever a recruiting image showed someone's next move, it was Mason James standing in Husky Stadium on his University of Washington official visit, surrounded by what appeared to be his parents, brothers and grandparents, if we got all those identities correct.

Who brings grandma and grandpa on his visit and doesn't sign with that school?

Not James, who on Thursday, committed to Jedd Fisch's coaching staff as this 4-star wide receiver out of Norman, Oklahoma, and that state's No. 1 player.

"It's all Dawgs," James said. "Let's go."

That's Norman, as in the home of the University of Oklahoma, where all of his neighbors couldn't convince this pass-catcher to stay home and play his college football.

He went with the team that has Michael Switzer on the coaching payroll rather than the one with Barry Switzer maintaining a legendary yet retired Sooners presence just down the street.

By winning this battle against the likes of Oklahoma, Alabama, Arizona State, Texas, Missouri, Notre Dame and many others, the Huskies will welcome someone coming off a 56-catch, 1,233-yard and 17-touchdown junior performance, making all of this stuff happen for a North High School team that struggled through a 4-8 season.

James has been a high priority all along for the Huskies, who saw an inroad and took it. He becomes the first true wide receiver -- two-way player Dre Pollard could be another -- among their 14 commits for their Class of 2026 and likely a top passing target for New Jersey quarterback commit Derek Zammit.

Before getting James locked in, the Huskies had a top 20 recruiting class as judged by the various recruiting websites and will likely elevate in their rankings with this guy.

Of their dozen scholarship commits, James is one of four considered a 4-star prospect or higher, joining offensive tackle Kodi Green, edge rusher Derek Colman-Brusa and safety Gavin Day.

"I felt ever since day 1 it was Washngton," he said.

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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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