Huskies Reportedly Pick Up "Large-Sized" Center

6'3 299lb Siosifa Tufunga, Center from Jordan High School has reportedly committed to the UW yesterday. More information can be found at Max Preps.

Dawgs Pick Up Commit From Middle Linebacker Aaron Davis?

Los Alamitos standout football linebacker Aaron Davis (6-0, 198lb), has committed to the University of Washington, Griffins assistant football coach Barry Sher said in a text message Wednesday. Davis is an emerging talent who has excellent pursuit skills.

Aaron Davis is a smart kid with good football instincts but who's recruiting has been a bit under the radar of most D1 schools so far this year.

The Griffins are expecting big things from the senior this fall.

DAN ALBANO, ocvarsity.com and Teamstrannon

My Guess on Where Austin Seferian-Jenkins Will Commit to Tonight

Austin Seferian-Jenkins, the 5-star, nationally #1 ranked Tight End is scheduled to announce his decision on where he will attend college tonight at his school in Gig Harbor, and I expect that decision to be the UW.

After seeing him at practice three times last week, the week before he is to decide, logic just says that he would not commit to Texas after leaving there two weeks ago and not committing then.

ASJ lists at 6'7 and 250lbs, looks more like he's 25 than 18 and is a kid in a man's body.

He is being recruited by almost every college in the country holding offers from the likes of Texas, USC, LSU, Alabama and Florida.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins (Gig Harbor, Wash.), TE - Narrows List to Two

Required get for the Huskies, ASJ, has narrowed his list to his final two between Texas and the UW. ASJ is a player the UW needs to land because with the dismissal of Middleton last week, the Dawgs are young and inexperienced at that position. ASJ would make an immediate impact both from a recruiting standpoint and play time impact in a year.

Per Greg Biggins with ESPN

The last time we spoke with Seferian-Jenkins, he mentioned being concerned that the Longhorns staff viewed him more as a future offensive lineman and that was something he definitely wasn't too fired up about.

"It was actually a big misunderstanding on my part," Seferian-Jenkins said. "I've talked to the coaches and we're on the same page. They said they like me as a tight end but if my weight ever got up to around 280 pounds or so, I would be moved to tackle.

"I'm comfortable playing around 260 pounds, that's where I see myself, so I don't think it will be an issue. Texas is a great program and I'm excited to visit them. With Washington, I love the coaching staff and they have been recruiting me forever, since I'm a local player.

UW Likely to Pick Up Two Commits This Week - Updated

Updating this story post from 10 days ago, I was one for two in my predictions with Josh Shirley committing to the UW when offered by coach Sark. Shirley almost chose the UW deciding at the last minute on signing day last year that UCLA was a better place to him. With his release from UCLA a month or so ago, he became eligible to sign with any team and came back to the UW.

Most of the local recruiting sites and contacts I have continue to say Arizona QB and the top non-committed QB available right now has chosen the UW but has not made an announcement. I'll update more as I hear but as of now I stand by my previous comment.
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From the rumors flying around expect QB Brett Hundley and ex-UCLA and close commit Josh Shirley to make pledges to the UW this week. More news about a wide receiver from Skyline could also bubble to the surface this week.

LA Area Kicker / Punter, Jake Van Ginkel, Strongly Considering Washington

Times reporters blog about high school

sports across the Southland

June 17, 2010 |  8:09 am

When it comes to discussion of most valuable players, Upland kicker-punter Jake Van Ginkel deserves a place at the table.

He can influence a game like few others, and he's returning for his senior season.

Last year, he made 16 of 20 field goals while averaging 40.7 yards per punt. He was so effective sending punts inside the 20-yard line that it forced opponents to put together drives from deep in their own territory.
Upland won the Central Division title, and Van Ginkel should be better than ever. As for college possibilities, Washington could be a factor if USC doesn't offer, and the Trojans would be foolish not to sign him. But they are facing some scholarship limitations.

Upland competes on Saturday at the Beverly Hills tournament. Too bad there's not a kicking competition, because Van Ginkel would put on a show.

-- Eric Sondheimer

2011 QB Prospect Cody Kessler to USC

Expected decision at press conference today in California. Hope he likes to ride the pine down there.

Strong Armed, Four Star QB Cody Kessler to Decide Mid-Week

QB Cody Kessler out of California announced he plans to make his college decision known this Wednesday. At 6'3 and 228', Kessler is a very strong and semi-mobile QB and a top prospect on most west coast college boards.

For the UW fans, Kessler is considered a lean toward the UW but it appears to be a two horse race with UW and USC at the top of his list.

Many consider him to have a stronger arm than Nick Montana although perhaps not as "smart" in terms of football sense.

Jamaal Jones, Receiver from Graham, WA, Joins 2011 Recruiting Class at the UW

Multiple reports tonight that UW has gained its 11th commit for the Class of 2011 from receiver Jamaal Jones of Graham-Kapowsin High in Graham, Wash.

The 6-2, 180-pound Jones had been considered to be heavily leaning toward UW and made the call tonight to commit to the Huskies.

Jones also reportedly had offers from Idaho and Washington State and was getting interest from other schools, such as Oregon and Oregon State. But Jones had been thought wanting to stay close to home and he made the decision tonight to do just that.

Per Bob C. with the Times.

UW Football Early 2011 Recruiting Class Assessment

Here's an excellent assessment of the current seven verbal commits the UW has so far for the class of 2011.


Washington football hauling in commitments for 2011

Washington's seven commits are the most of any Pac-10 school other than Stanford, which has nine.

By Bob Condotta

Seattle Times staff reporter

There was no reason to rush into a decision when Taniela Tupou, a junior defensive lineman at Archbishop Murphy High, attended Washington's football practice on an unofficial recruiting visit Thursday. Signing day for the Class of 2011 isn't until February.

But Tupou also decided there was no reason to wait, so after the practice, he gave the word to UW coaches he was committing to become a Husky.

"I already knew where I wanted to be," the 6-foot-3, 270-pounder said on Friday.

He isn't alone in making that assessment, as UW is getting an historically quick jump on filling its class.

Tupou is the seventh known commit for the Class of 2011, the most the Huskies have ever had by this date (or at least since dates of commits began to be recorded publicly about a decade ago). The Huskies had four by this date last year.

Washington's seven commits are the most of any Pac-10 school other than Stanford, which has nine.

The commits have come so early that not all of the players have received grades or star rankings from all of the major recruiting sites. But Allen Wallace, the national recruiting editor for Scout.com, says there's little questioning the quality of the players UW has gotten so far.

"I think this is a real impressive haul," he said. "I think (UW coach Steve) Sarkisian and his staff have really put down a nice footprint to get this ball rolling for 2011."

Last year, all four commits to this date were local. This year, five are from California, with Tupou the only one currently playing at a local high school.

Tupou is generally considered among the top handful of recruits in the state of Washington for 2011. Wallace said that most of the California commits also figure to loom as top recruits in that state when all the rankings are done.

The five California recruits UW has commitments from are running back Brendon Bigelow of Fresno; fullback Elijhaa Penny of Norwalk; lineman Maataua Brown of Paramount; defensive end Aubrey Coleman of Walnut; and cornerback Kameron Jackson of Long Beach.

Washington also has a commitment from safety Evan Zeger, a former Skyline High student now attending high school in Las Vegas.

Wallace has scouted four of the five California players and says, "All these guys are strong Pac-10 players."

He hasn't seen much of Brown, but noted that Brown was the No. 2 offensive lineman at the USC Rising Stars Camp last summer and said that alone gives evidence of Brown's ability.

Bigelow, according to Wallace, is the most impressive, having garnered offers from USC and California since committing to UW in January. Wallace said Jackson and Coleman are also players whose stock figures to rise, though none of the others has yet to get other offers — largely because many other schools are still waiting to decide whom to go after.

Sarkisian, however, has said from the start his staff will be aggressive in everything it does, and the way it is offering scholarships this early, and getting commitments, appears proof.

Aside from UW and Stanford, no one else in the Pac-10 has more than three commitments for 2011.

Wallace cautioned that the commitments tend not to mean as much as before, with players more prone to changing their mind than in years past. That means UW's coaches will undoubtedly have to continue to work to keep the players in the fold for the 10 months remaining until signing day.

He said a lot of other coaches "find a kid who has committed, (and) that's just a target for them. They think, 'We're going to change his mind.' "

But he also said there is significance in UW's early haul in what it indicates about the direction of the program in the second year under Sarkisian.

"It shows a hard-working staff that is comfortable with their evaluation of players," Wallace said.

Tupou said one of his major reasons for wanting to become a Husky was to stay close to a large extended family.

"I knew I would be the first local guy to commit to them (for 2011), and I just felt it was a great place and that the coaches were going to take care of me," said Tupou.

Washington Picks Up Third Football Commitment for 2011 Class

6'2 249 LBS Defensive End Elijhaa Penny out of Norwalk, CA.
Runs a 4.6 X 40

Coach Sark Recruiting California Aggressively!

You really can't say enough about Steve Sarkisian, and the job he's done lately recruiting local football talent offering Long Beach Poly's Waller, Jackson.

Read more about his recruiting for the 2011 class...

2010/2011 UW Early Recruiting News

35 Scholarship offers for football have already been sent out for the 2011 recruiting class, which signs the first Wednesday of February 2011.

When looking at whether or not to recruit a kid to the UW, the first rule Sark and his staff like to follow is the Lambright rule. "Is he good enough for all Pac-10 Schools?"

The second rule in evaluating a student-athlete is to look at the family and determine what kind of "character" he has.

Star rankings often used by media sites to determine ability have no meaning to the UW staff. "No recruiting system has ever coached a game".

UW Pulls in First Commit For Class of 2011

Brendon Bigelow, RB/ATH, 5-10" 180 lbs, 4.41 X 40, 10.61 100 M track speed.
Great balance and good size as a junior. One of the earliest commits ever for the UW and continues their success off the field.

Was being recruited by Texas AM, Colorado, UCLA but committed to coach Sark over the phone when he received his offer.

#5 in the video