High School

California high school football recruiting notebook: University of Washington goes Golden

Huskies nab seven California recruits in little more than a week, headed by four-star standouts Jason Robinson, of Santa Margarita, and Birmingham athlete Peyton Waters

Mitch Stephens, SBLive Sports

The Evergreen State went golden over the last week. 

The University of Washington gobbled up seven California high school football players who committed to the Huskies, according to 247Sports. 

A pair of four-star standouts headed the field: Birmingham-Van Nuys athlete Peyton Waters, who committed on June 29 and Santa Margarita wide receiver Jason Robinson on June 24. 

Peyton Waters, of Birmingham-Van Nuys, is one of eight Californians already committed to the University of Washington. Photo: Joe Bergman

The other California recruits — all given rated of 3 stars — to commit to Washington between those two dates were Oaks Christian wide receiver Justice Williams, Glendora tight end Decker DeGraaf, St. John Bosco linebacker Khmori House, Army-Navy Academy defensive lineman Ratumana Bulabalavu and Etiwanda quarterback Dermaricus Davis. 

Of Washington's 12  verbal commitments, eight are from California, including 6-foot-4, 265-pound interior offensive lineman Paki Finau, of Oak Hills-Hesperia. 

Waters, a 6-2, 171-pound burner, rushed 59 times for 491 yards and 11 touchdowns as a junior while hauling in 60 passes for 1,077 yards and 11 more scores. He has 11 more college offers, including UCLA, Stanford, Northwestern and Utah. He's ranked the No. 32 overall prospect in California for the Class of 2024. 

"I fit in really well there both on and off the field," Waters told 247Sports recruiting reporter Greg Biggins about his visit and ultimate commitment to Washington. "My parents and two younger sisters were with me and they all love it too." 

Robinson, the No. 34 overall California recruit, just transferred to Santa Margarita from Long Beach Poly. Robinson will be joined at Santa Margarita by his brothers Jadyn Robinson, a junior wide receiver, and Skylar, an incoming freshman. 

Robinson has 23 offers overall, including from USC, Utah, Syracuse, Georgia, Florida State, Miami and Notre Dame. He had 46 catches as a junior for 671 yards and five touchdowns. 

Those passes were thrown from Poly incoming senior quarterback Darius Curry, who committed to Colorado. 

Jones to UCLA: Big, fleet and rugged Cameron Jones, of St. John Bosco, committed on Sunday to UCLA. The 6-foot-1, 215-pounder picked the Bruins over Arizona State, California, Texas A&M, Colorado and Michigan State among his 10 other offers. He led the defending state Division I champions in rushing with 1,046 yards in just 121 carries and 18 touchdowns. 

Cameron Jones rushed for more than 100 yards and a touchdown in a 17-7 loss to Mater Dei on Oct. 7 at the Santa Ana Bowl. Jones and the Braves turned around the score en rote to a Southern Section Division 1 title in December. Photo: Heston Quan.  / Photo by Heston Quan

Jones was the ninth Class of 24 recruit to commit to UCLA, joining fellow Californians Mark Schroller, a tackler from Mission Viejo, Tustin cornerback Kristian Dunbar-Hawkins, Eastlake-Chula Vista and tackle Joshua Glanz. 

Interestingly, two top Washington high school recruits have committed to UCLA: Mount Tahoma tackle Marquise Thorpe-Taylor (6-5, 315) and Yelm linebacker Isaiah Patterson (6-3, 235). They were ranked Washington's No. 10 and 12 recruits, respectively. 

More California recruits: Who committed after June 24: 

OT David Abajian (Chaminade) to Oregon State

LB Marley Alapati (Serra-San Mateo) to Army

ATH Dayton Aupiu (Pacifica) to Cal

ATH Jeremiah Bernard (Modesto Christian) to Cal Poly

CB Chauncy Davis (Etiwanda) to Colorado State)

S Dajon Doss (Antelope Valley) to Washington State

LB Luke Ferrelli (Carlsbad) to Stanford

QB Brody Fortunati (Vacaville) to Air Force

S Marquis Gallegos (Sierra Canyon) to USC SEE FULL STORY

ATH Devin Green (Grant) to UNLV

OG Brent Helton (Centennial) to Iowa State

OT Wade Helton (Centennial) to Iowa State

S Martell Hughes (Madison) to Arizona State

QB Ryland Jessee (Helix) to Utah State

RB Josh Joyner (Pacifica) to Washington State

ATH Matt Long (Vista del Lago) to Air Force

WR Ryan Pellum (Millikan) to USC

S Brilan Reynolds (St. Mary's-Stockton) to Idaho

WR Jordan Ross (Warren) to Colorado State

ATH John Stowers (Overfelt) to San Jose State

LB LeVar Talley (Santa Margarita) to Nevada

RB Carter Vargas (St. Joseph) to Nevada

S Turran Williams (Muir-Pasadena) to Arizona

ATH Justus Woods (Carlsbad) to Cal Poly

  

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Mitch Stephens, SBLive Sports
MITCH STEPHENS, SBLIVE SPORTS

Mitch Stephens is a senior editor at SBLive Sports for California, a state he's covered high school sports since 1984. He won multiple CNPA and CPSWA writing awards with the Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle and MaxPreps.com before joining the SBLive staff in 2022. He's covered the beat nationally since 2007, profiling such athletes as Derrick Henry, Paige Bueckers, Patrick Mahomes, Sabrina Ionescu, Jayson Tatum, Chiney Ogwumike, Jeremy Lin and Najee Harris as preps. You can reach him at mitch@scorebooklive.com.

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