Inside The Huskies

UW Adds Late Defensive-Line Commit From SoCal

JD Hill is the second player from Mission Viejo High School to pledge to Huskies.
Dan Raley|
JD Hill and his dad took a recruiting visit to Utah.
JD Hill and his dad took a recruiting visit to Utah. | Utah

This past Friday night in a football stadium in the Los Angeles area, Jayden "JD" Hill's Mission Viejo High School football career came to an end in the CIF playoffs, in a unique setting.

Everywhere he turned, there were committed University of Washington recruits all around him.

OK, just two, but they were high-profile guys.

As a 6-foot-2, 275-pound defensive lineman, Hill found himself opposite 5-star Mater Dei offensive tackle Kodi Greene throughout the postseason game and he had 4-star cornerback and Mission Viejo teammate Jeron Jones watching his back.

So on Thursday, the 4-star Hill joined them, becoming the Huskies' 21st commit with the beginning of college football's signing period just 13 days away, choosing the UW over West Virginia.

As for that playoff game -- a CIF-SS Division 1 quarterfinal matchup won by Mater Dei 20-0 -- it was played in the rain at Santa Ana Stadium in Southern California, maybe another strong indicator that Montlake was a suitable place for him.

Hill will join the Huskies later than most of the 2026 class because he initially was pigeonholed as an FCS player when the season began and even committed to Northern Arizona, but he showed recruiters he deserved more.

Once his season began, and he piled up all sorts of wieldy tackle and sack numbers, scholarship offers began pouring in from the FBS level.

Hill really drew attention to himself with a 13-tackle. 5.5-sack showing in a 53-14 victory over Folsom and its touted quarterback Ryder Lyons, who is committed to BYU.

Miami, Utah, Arizona State, UCLA, Colorado and UNLV were among the others who caught on to him after the season began playing out.

The UW offered him on October 30.

Hill also had 15 tackles in a 34-24 win over Lincoln and 14 more in a 36-21 victory over Chapparal.

For a 9-2 Diablos team, he finished with 108 tackles, just under 10 per game, which included 25.5 tackles for loss and 13 sacks, plus 18 quarterback hurries.

He had six double-digit tackle outings.

Hill and the 20 other UW recruits will sign their scholarship paperwork beginning December 3.

The Huskies have commitments from four defensive tackles in 4-star Tufanua Ionatana Umu-Cais, a 6-foot-3, 307-pounder from Cherry Creek High in the Denver suburbs; 3-star Ah Deong Yang, a 6-foot-4, 343-pounder from Puyallup High in Puyallup;; 3-star Ta'a Malu, a 6-foot-3, 280-pounder from Annie Wright High in Tacoma, and Hill.

If all commitments hold up, the UW will welcome players from nine different states, with 12 of the 21 playing defense. Seven of them come from California high schools and four from Washington schools. Nine are considered 4- or 5-star recruits.

2026 Washington Football Commits

Kodi Greene, OT, 6-5, 320 pounds, 5 stars

Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)

Gavin Day, S, 6-3, 190, 4 stars

Faith Lutheran (Las Vegas)

Brian Bonner, RB, 6-0, 185, 4 stars

Valencia (Valenca, Cailf.)

Derek Colman-Brusa, ER, 6-5, 267, 4 stars

Kennedy Catholic (Burien, Wash.)

Rahsjon Duncan, CB, 6-1, 186, 4 stars

McClymonds (Oakland, Calif.)

Mason James, WR, 5-10, 175, 4 stars

Norman North (Norman, Okla.)

Tufanua Umu-Cais, DL, 6-3, 307, 4 stars

Cherry Creek (Cherry Creek, Colo.)

Jeron Jones, CB, 6-0, 165, 4 stars

Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo, Calif.)

JD Hill, DL, 6-2, 275, 4 stars

Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo, Calif.)

Dre Pollard, Ath, 6-0, 175, 3 stars

Clark (Las Vegas)

Derek Zammit, QB, 6-1, 190, 3 stars

DePaul Catholic (Wayne, N.J.)

Dominic Harris, OT, 6-8, 335, 3 stars

Clark (Las Vegas)

Elijah Durr, CB, 6-1, 170, 3 stars

Mount Tahoma (Tacoma, Wash.)

Ezaya Tokio, LB, 6-4, 220, 3 stars

Oceanside (Oceanside, Calif.)

Ansu Sanu, RB, 6-1, 210, 3 stars

Lakeridge (Lake Oswego, Ore.)

Sam Vyhlidal, TE, 6-4, 225, 3 stars

Lake Oswego (Lake Oswego, Ore.)

Ksani Jiles, CB, 6-0, 180, 3 stars

IMG (Bradenton, Fla.)

Blaise LaVista, WR, 6-2, 190, 3 stars

Lincoln Way East (Frankfort, Ill.)

Ah Deong Yang, DL, 6-4, 343, 3 stars

Puyallup (Puyallup, Wash.)

Ta'a Malu, DL, 6-3, 280, 3 stars

Annie Wright (Tacoma, Wash.)

CJ Wallace, PK, 5-11, 160, 3 stars

St. John Bosco (Bellweather, Calif.)

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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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