Inside The Huskies

UW Turns Attention From One No. 1 Oklahoma Player to Another

After gaining Mason James' commitment, the Huskies offer Semaj Stanford across the state.

Dan Raley

Semaj Stanford has a UW offer.
Semaj Stanford has a UW offer. / Stanford

No sooner than wide receiver Mason James did a mic drop in Norman, Oklahoma, safety Semaj Stanford on Thursday was holding up a University of Washington football offer on the other side of the Sooners state.

In just hours, the Huskies moved from the No. 1 player in Oklahoma for 2026 -- to pursuing the purported top guy in the state in 2027.

Jedd Fisch's guys clearly are working the state hard, filing their own land-rush claims.

Stanford is a 5-foot-11, 185-pound defensive back with sprinter speed and a 4-star rating who is just revving up his football recruitment. His UW offer makes an even 30.

As a sophomore, Stanford played for an 8-4 Jenks High team in the Tulsa suburbs and has since transferred 25 miles away to Broken Arrow, which is coming off a 4-8 season. Usually it's the other way around.

He finished up his time at Jenks with a 6A state track championship. He runs 100 meters in 10.64 seconds.

Stanford naturally has all of the leading Oklahoma and Texas football teams offering him, plus the likes of Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska Miami and Oregon.

Everyone on the outside is trying to take advantage of the slight dip in the Sooners' usually high-powered program, which comes off a 6-7 record.

Stanford seems worldly enough. After all, he's making the break from Jenks to Broken Arrow, which are 25 miles apart.

It wouldn't be a surprise if James and Stanford struck up a conversation and compared college football notes.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

feed

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