Inside The Huskies

UW Pursuing Another of St. John Bosco's Best And Brightest

The Huskies appear to be among the finalists for standout safety Isala Wiley-Ava.
Dan Raley|
Isala Wiley-Ava has the UW among his final choices.
Isala Wiley-Ava has the UW among his final choices. | Wiley-Ava

Like everyone else, University of Washington recruiters take one look at Isala Wily-Ava and they see unlimited possibilities.

For Huskies safeties coach Taylor Mays, he might feel that he's looking in the mirror at himself from two decades ago whenever he eyeballs this 6-foot-3, 200-pound safety from the St. John Bosco High School football powerhouse in the Los Angeles area.

"The special thing about you is you can play any position," Mays told him in a FaceTime call from practice last season. "You can play corner, you can play safety, you can play linebacker. I'm excited. Take care of your body, man."

Mays, of course, had that similar size and versatility and turned himself into a three-time All-America safety for USC and then into an NFL player.

As Class of 2027 recruiting ramps up and gets serious, Wily-Ava reportedly has Arizona State, Michigan and Washington emerging from 30-plus scholarship offers as the favorites to land his services, according to Rivals.

The week before last, a Husky contingent led by head coach Jedd Fisch showed up at St. John Bosco to meet with Wily-Ava, with a road appearance by the head coach during the recruiting process signaling to the player involved that he in indeed a UW priority.

Fisch's staff has been pursuing Wily-Ava in a stepped-up manner for 16 months since the UW first offered him. Those coaches made sure he was in Montlake for last fall's Husky-Ohio State game to see the spectacle of a full house.

No doubt he has to be impressed that he's getting the full treatment from Mays, who's a legendary figure in Los Angeles.

The downside is the UW has taken some of St. John Bosco's defensive best over the past three years and not been able to hang onto them.

Linebackers Khmori House and Deven Bryant each came to Montlake, started at times and left. House recently signed with Arkansas after exiting the UW for North Carolna. Bryant went home to USC.

Wily-Ava comes off a junior season in which he had 40 tackles, an interception and 7 pass break-ups for a 9-2 team.

He still has people talking about his breakout sophomore year in which piled up 72 tackles, 7 interceptions and 4 PBUs for an 11-2 Bosco team.

If Rivals has his choices pegged right, Wily-Ava will choose from among three teams coming off similar successes, with the UW and Michigan each going 9-4 in 2025 and Arizona State clocking in at 8-5.

The Wolverines have gone through a coaching change, which leaves a little bit of uncertainty, though new leader Kyle Whittingham from Utah brings a solid defensive reputation.

The Huskies will tell Wily-Ava they have no such program wrinkles and will gladly bring him to Montlake if he's willing.

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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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