Inside The Huskies

UW Once Tried to Beat Akili Smith, Now Wants to Sign Him

The Huskies offer son of an old Oregon nemesis.
Dan Raley|
UW Once Tried to Beat Akili Smith, Now Wants to Sign Him
UW Once Tried to Beat Akili Smith, Now Wants to Sign Him

In this story:

Washington Huskies

Akili Smith was a name University of Washington football teams grew to fear.

As the series between the schools began to shift in a big way down South, the NFL-bound quarterback led Oregon to 31-28 and 27-22 victories over the Huskies in 1997 and 1998, respectively.

Smith threw three touchdown passes in each outing, winning the first game in Husky Stadium with a late 29-yard scoring toss, and he piled up 442 yards passing in the second matchup in Eugene.

If the Huskies ever saw him again, it would be too soon.

How about 25 years later?

On Tuesday, Kalen DeBoer's UW recruiters offered a football scholarship to one Akili Smith Jr., a Class of 2025 quarterback who, after transferring, will play for the same Lincoln High School in San Diego that his dad did.

While the elder Smith was a second-team All-America pick, Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year and the third overall selection in the 1999 NFL draft, he had to spend two years at the junior-college level before joining Oregon.

Now holding 11 offers, the son is a 4-star recruit who can expect to go straight to a Power 5 school. At 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds, he's two inches taller and 15 pounds lighter than his dad was in his four seasons in the NFL. 

This past season as a sophomore, Smith Jr. played for Vista Murietta High in Murietta, which is halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego.

For a 5-6 team, he completed 211 of 314 passes for 2,432 yards and 29 touchdowns, with 4 interceptions.

Besides the UW, he currently holds offers from Michigan, Miami, Florida, Boston College, Arizona, California, San Diego State, Grambling State, Fresno State and, of course, Oregon.

Considering the past history, signing Akili Smith Jr. might be a much better option for the UW than playing against him, especially if he ends up at Oregon.

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12

Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 or @UWFanNation or @DanRaley3

Have a question, direct message me on Facebook or Twitter.

Published
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.

Home/Recruiting