Inside The Huskies

Purple Carpet Rolled Out for Huskies' Big Show of Weekend Recruits

Brady Smigiel and Landen Miree, two of the biggest names, found each other for a photo.

Dan Raley

Recruits Brady Smigiel and Landen Miree share a moment at UW's Junior Day.
Recruits Brady Smigiel and Landen Miree share a moment at UW's Junior Day. / Miree

It was a lot like the Academy Awards, with headliners repeatedly getting out of vehicles and walking into Husky Stadium on Saturday afternoon as if they were on the red carpet, or maybe a purple one, posing for photos and acknowledging their well-wishers.

This was the University of Washington's Junior Day, where 40 high school players, all with glossy recruiting reputations, showed up in Montlake to mingle with others considering Jedd Fisch's program and maybe compare notes.

One of the more star-studded images, one that went up on social media just after 7 p.m. was that of quarterback Brady Smigiel from Southern California standing with tight end Landen Miree of Ohio -- both among the nation's highest-rated players at their position -- looking serious in Dempsey Indoor.

That was a lot of firepower all in one frame, with the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Smigiel from Newbury Park High School in the Los Angeles suburbs and the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Miree from Cincinnati's Princeton High collectively responsible for more than 4,000 yards passing and 59 touchdowns this past season through the air.

Here they were, both 4-star recruits pursued by a lot of schools, meeting at the most northwestern corner of the country and maybe daydreaming a little.

Somebody certainly had to remind Smigiel and Miree that they easily could be high-powered teammates and an unbeatble passing combo in Seattle should they somehow could get on the same page with a college program. Yet both have plenty of suitors to keep them in a shopping mode for now.

Smigiel seemed comfortable enough in these festive football surroundings by posing for a lot of photos with different people.

An 11,222-yard career passer for Newbury Park, he was originally committed to Florida State and now he's going through a second major gauntlet of visits, frank discussions and nonstop sales pitches.

Smigiel to Miree, whether in Seattle or elsewhere, most definitely is a passing connection these two need to consider putting to use somewhere to maximize each other's college experiences.

They'll be in town throughout the weekend, possibly attending Sunday's Washington-Oregon basketball game, one that is little more than a meaningless season-ender for the home team, but another opportunity for these two prominent players to talk and consider their football futures.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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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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