It is crunch time for college coaches all over the country this weekend. This is the last weekend before signing day that players can visit campuses and there is still a lot of undecided talent out there. Washington which currently has 29 commits could add up to four more four star commits by Wednesday.
The Huskies could also end up standing pat but the word on the street today is that Washington is going to finish strong and this could end up being the best late finish for a Husky class in this decade.
Heading into the weekend Washington has three players visiting officially. DE Kona Schwenke is doing the rare double dip of taking in both UW and Notre Dame over the same weekend. BYU has dropped him for wavering and he will now choose between the Huskies and the Irish.
The Schwenke deal is interesting because he has two friends currently attending Notre Dame and he will visit with S Jeremy Ioane who will likely commit this weekend. Not exactly sure what UW's chances are but the weather is better in Seattle not to mention the proximity to Oahu. He is also a teammate of Haouli Jamora who is a firm UW commit.
DT Ricky Heimuli will also be visiting. Those in the know say he is down to Washington and UCLA. The Bruins may have an edge because he has the impression he will play earlier for them. He will decide on signing day unless his Washington visit knocks him off his feet.
OT James Atoe is a surprise visitor. He was at the UW Rising Stars Camp this past summer and the coaches will be taking a close look at him this weekend. Not sure if UW will offer him or not but the guy has size and quick feet. The only knock on him is lower body strength which could be corrected in a BCS program.
Chris Young is taking an unofficial because his SAT scores have not come back yet. An unofficial means they can't wine and dine him and he he visiting on his own dime. Young has a lot of ground to make up between now August. Most feel he is a good candidate to sit out till winter 2011.
The coaches did an in home with Kerifi Taula last night and the feeling is he is most likely headed to Washington. His mother wants him to go to UW while his father is thinking Arizona...mom's usually win that argument. Taula has family in the Seattle area and that could be what seals the deal.
DT Lawrence Lagufuina is visiting Hawaii this weekend but his coach says he is going to sign with Washington according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times.
LB Josh Shirley has reportedly cancelled his visit to Miami and he won't be visiting UCLA this weekend. The word is he isn't in love with Lane Kiffin and USC either. So what exactly does that mean? We won't find out til Wednesday. Josh is underground right now but UW might have emerged as the leader if we are reading the cards of a 17 year old correctly. Coach Holt may have visited him this week and sealed the deal. By the way Shirley loves Nick Holt so perhaps this one has spun our way.
It could also simply mean that Josh knows enough about UCLA to make a decision without visiting since he is a local kid. Anyway the fact that he is staying hime rather than taking another visit after a Washington in home could be a good sign.
Narbonne HS S Sean Parker is still in the mix for UW from what we have heard. It is still down to UW, Michigan and USC. Some interesting things going on behind the scenes in this one. Washington still has a good shot at signing him.
RB Melvin Davis who is also from Narbonne HS may not end up signing with anyone on Wednesday. Like Young he is behind the eight ball academically which would mean he could be headed to a JC. That would be too bad because Davis has a lot of talent and one thing the current stable of UW RB's don't have and that is size.
So we are realistically down to S Parker, DT Heimuli, DT Taula, DE Schwenke, and LB Shirley. What does UW do if they all want to come? That would be a nice problem to have. In the end though I think UW adds Taula and maybe one or two more to round out the class.