I decided to write a few lines today while pool side over here in Maui. Can't believe the timing we have had on this trip since it seems the entire Northern half of the country is getting pummeled by snow and low temps. A guy from Tillamook sat next to me yesterday and said it was under ten degrees at the coast...yikes!
So enough about the sun...lets talk a little about recruiting. Looks like our coaches have got to the point where they are being extremely picky in how they are going to fill up the rest of the class. They don't even have a recruiting weekend scheduled again until mid January.
Washington currently has 26 officially on the books at this time with room for probably no more than 3-4 more. OL Michael Criste is not one of these 26 according to Scout. That doesn't mean that he won't eventually be in the class it just means that UW is waiting on a couple of other kids before deciding on him. Same can be said for MLB Garret Gilliland.
The kids UW are waiting on right now are all highly rated playmakers, MLB Hayes Pullard, MLB VJ Fehoko, DE Josh Shirley, DT Kirifi Taula, CB Demetrious Wright are the major names who come to mind.
It doesn't really matter who is coaching at UW...whoever is signed by Christmas in a non transition year is who they usually end up with. January is usually a Plan B phase for Washington unless there is a five star in state that is waiting to sign. That isn't the case this season.
Currently the class is rated #1 in the Pac 10 and #8 in the nation which is incredible. It will be intersting to see how UW fills this class.
Do you remember Nathan Rhodes?
Nathan was a five star offensive line recruit out of Bakersfield who never played a single down for Washington because of congenital back problems. He declined surgery but still earned a medical scholarship at Washington. He was never very close to the program but had a part time job with the athletic department as a security job while as as a student at UW.
Our hearts go out to him tonight because his young child passed away after complications from a rare form of cancer. He was treated at St Jude's in Memphis which was started by a hero of mine named Danny Thomas.