What One Reputable National Source Has to Say About UW Recruiting

SIAA's John Garcia Jr. offers his take on the what the Huskies have done.

When Kalen DeBoer introduces himself around in Los Angeles, the new University of Washington football coach can make small talk with his peers, those coming and going, about realignment, reloading or rebuilding.

However, someone really should compliment him about his recruiting. Things have gone very well for DeBoer and his staff over the past eight weeks, with the Huskies setting a dizzying pace by picking up 15 of their 19 commitments in that short amount of time.

People are starting to notice, well beyond the Seattle city limits and Washington state lines. Observers other than those who typically drool over each and every Husky commit, and who still haven't seen a UW recruit they couldn't hype to no end.

Someone such as John Garcia Jr., the Sports Illustrated All-American recruiting director, is an excellent source. He does his job with no allegiances, no biases, just straight-up analysis.

In summing up national recruiting, Garcia makes a point to salute the Class of 2023 recruiting efforts wrought by these DeBoer-led Huskies, seemingly at the expense of the other leading characters in the ever-changing conference, such as short-timer USC and reluctant ally Oregon. 

While sizing up each conference, which can be accessed here, Garcia's assessment of the Pac-12 and the UW  goes as follows:

USC is picking up nice momentum over the last few weeks and Oregon has the best individual get in SI Elite 11 MVP Dante Moore, but it is Washington that has rolled like no other out west since June began. Under new head coach Kalen DeBoer, 15 new Huskies have gone public with verbal commitments, including the newest on Thursday evening in California offensive lineman Kahlee Tafai. The state DeBoer came from has been ideal for UW thus far in the cycle, serving as the home of 11 of the program's 19 pledges to date.

And then there was this from Garcia, as he got even more detailed in describing what he's seen:

Among the marquee summer wins for Washington include quarterback Lincoln Kienholz, one of the most productive in America as a junior in 2021, in a battle UW's rookie staff won over stable opposition in Wisconsin and North Dakota State. Louisiana defensive back Curley Reed is among the most recent commitments in a relatively surprising decision to leave SEC country for a program producing NFL defensive backs at a similar rate.

While no one yet exactly how realignment will shake out, and whether others will bolt from the Pac-12 and ultimately force the UW's hand in making a move, DeBoer's Huskies, wherever they land, should be competitive in whatever landscape it chooses.

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