It's been a while since I've posted some DawgBites and with the next couple days bringing in over a dozen recruits for unofficial visits, it seemed like a good time.
I've added a few more names to the running unofficial visitor thread pinned on the board, but there's a lot more going on that meets the eye...
Offensive Line Recruiting -
Washington went from zero OL commits a month ago to potentially having two, if not all three filled up potentially before the month ends. Three-star Tucson (Ariz.) Salpointe OT
Matteo Mele committed to the Huskies shortly after his unofficial visit on June 26. Mele picked UW over Oklahoma and Colorado, a huge first recruiting victory for new OL coach Scott Huff.
Mele will be in town over the next couple days for the Rising Stars Camp / Dirt Dawg Camp on Friday and Saturday. This evening four-star Temecula (Calif.) Chaparral OT
Steven Jones confirmed with me he will make the trip up to Seattle tomorrow (Thursday) and I would presume stay through Saturday for the camp.
Jones, a 6-5, 335-pound tackle and rated the No. 182 overall prospect in the class per Rivals' rankings, will now have visited Washington three times already after this week.
He was one of the first recruits to hear from Huff after he was hired this spring, and the two have a very strong relationship already. Getting him on campus, when all nine verbal commits will be there as well, is a huge chance for the Huskies to make some separation from the rest of the schools recruiting him.
UW will also have two in-state prospects without offers at the Saturday camp in three-star Woodinville (Wash.) OT
Cade Beresford and three-star Sammamish (Wash.) Skyline OT
Matthew Cindric. Both prospects have been in communication with Huff throughout the spring and, it goes without saying, if UW were to offer either prospect it would be a game changer.
The only in-state OL prospect to hold an offer from UW is three-star Fife (Wash.) OT
M.J. Ale, who will also visit this weekend. Ale has
Oregon and
Washington as the two schools standing out the most, but he told me this week he's planning on taking his officials before any decision. I'll have more on Ale in a full story this afternoon, but he's one that has UW high on his list.
However, the next OL to commit to Washington I believe will be three-star Houston (Tex.) Second Baptist OT
Victor Curne who visited this week. I will post my conversation with him following his visit this afternoon after giving him a couple days to rest on it, and having already reported he still intends to visit
Missouri before committing. But that aside, the visit couldn't have gone better for UW and Curne, and Huff the Lone Star prospect at the top of his board with Mele in the fold.
The Huskies are taking three OL prospects in this years class, and Jones very well could decide to be that third to commit with Curne. Regardless, the Huskies have several guys in play along the OL that could be adding their name to the commit list.
Running Back -
We've been clear on the front that UW has offered
Christopher Brown Jr. and
Richard Newton, and it will come down to who commits first. Brown Jr., who received his offer after Newton this spring, is visiting Washington this weekend and there could be some news to come on that front that would put an end to the RB search.
Newton wants to visit but won't be up this weekend, leaving the door open for Brown Jr. to take the spot if he chooses. I believed originally that Newton would be the RB for the 2018 class, but since it hasn't worked out for him to visit it's hard to see him as the guy now.
Other Recruiting Notes to Watch -
*** Back in early June, I
mentioned a chance for Washington to add a surprise player to a position already maxed out. This weekend provides the player, who has yet to receive an offer from UW, the chance to earn his offer and from what I'm told, it would be a very quick decision.
*** 2018 three-star Waiakea (Hi.) linebacker
Kana'i Mauga, a current
USC verbal commit who received an offer from Washington recently, confirmed with me he will be visiting this weekend. The feeling on Mauga is the Huskies could be in a good position to flip the Trojans commit, provided they get him on campus, and doing so right after offering could help the Huskies chances.
