Historically no matter who the coach is Washington is usually finished with recruiting for all intents and purposes by New Years. There are always a few top recruits we are in on that wait around till signing day to decide where they are going but the general rule is we end up going Plan B in January if we still have spots to fill. Last year was a good example of that.
Steve Sarkisian is trying to end that trend and plans to have his final two recruiting weekends of the year in January. With 26 players currently in the fold Washington already has a full class but UW will take close to thirty players this year if they can find the right kids. That means no scrambling around for Plan B players this January.
Since we are in the dead period there really isn't anything new to report as far as recruiting goes. However it has been awhile since we did a summary of what is left out there so here goes.
Currently scheduled to visit in January are CB Gregory Ducre from Crenshaw HS in LA, DT Rick Heimuli from Salt Lake City, DE Hauoli Jamora from Hawaii, and DE Kirifi Taula from Anaheim. Expect a few more names to be added to those lists over the next couple of weeks.
Ducre fulfils UW's need for a true CB in this class. Chances are pretty good he will pick UW over ASU and Colorado since Washington is his last visit. He plays on the same team as star LB Hayes Pullard who will choose between UW, USC, and UCLA. Word on the street is that it will be USC or UCLA.
Heimuli is one of the top prospects in the country and he plans to go on a two year mission after his first year of school. He will pick between Utah, BYU, Oregon, Oregon State, and UW. The Utah schools still figure prominently but Heimuli says he is still wide open.
Jamora is one of the best DE's in the region and he was a lock to go to BYU earlier this year. Something happened that changed his mind and now it looks like he will pick between UW and Oregon State. Insiders believe that Washington has the edge in this battle.
Kirifi Taula is officially a soft verbal to Arizona and we are hearing he will be hard to pry away from th Wildcats. Mike Tuiasosopo is recruiting for Arizona and he has a pretty good record of nailing down the kids he is recruiting. Taula still has a visit scheduled to UW and he is impressionable enough that if he does visit UW could end up swaying him.
Oakland DT Fred Thompson visited UW in December but for some reason doesn't have UW in his top four which includes WSU. Not sure if Washington has backed off or if he simply likes the other schools better.
Hawaii LB VJ Fehoko also visited UW in December and declared the Huskies his favorites. His family advised him to also visit Utah and Texas Tech. Currently TT is in the lead for his services and Washington which didn't push him to commit on his visit seems to be waiting more on others.
LB/DE Josh Shirley is a player the Husky coaches covet. Josh is one of the top recruits on the West coast and it looks like it is down to UCLA and Washington even though national players such as Miami are still in the picture. UW has a very good shot at getting this kid since he is very fond of Coach Holt.
OT Michael Criste and LB Garret Gilliland are a couple of players who declared for Washington in December the coaches seem to be holding off on at this point. We are hearing that chances are they could end up joining the class depending on how things finish up in January. It just depends on how much room Washington ends up with.