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For recruiting junkies, Wednesday is like Christmas - we get to wake up and see what the Signing Day Santa Claus has left for us good boys and girls. It'll be an especially crazy day for local Husky fans with the Seahawks Super Bowl Parade running from 11:30 to 3:00, but hey - there's no such thing as too much football fun, right?
The recruiting news has come fast and furious the last few weeks as Petersen's staff has worked like crazy to fill out the commit list, and almost every day it seems like the Huskies get good news, the latest being Kaleb McGary committing to Washington.
With Signing Day nearly upon us, here's who is known to still be on Washington's recruiting radar, and our best guesses at where they'll sign:
- Brayden Lenius, 3-star WR/TE - He visited this weekend with his teammate (and Husky commit) Jojo McIntosh, and it sounds like he had a great time. I thought he might commit right after, but it sounds like he's waiting to announce between Washington, Utah and Minnesota. I think Washington will get him, due in part to proximity (he's originally from B.C.).
- Devin Burleson, 2-star OL - He's a commit to San Diego State but visited Washington this past weekend, and you have to figure that if he indeed has a Husky offer, he's likely to flip. He's a basketball guy originally and figures to be a bit of a project, but one with really high upside. Unless Petersen feels like there just isn't enough room to take him, I think he'll be a Dawg.
- Dejuan Butler, a 2-star JC CB - He visited this weekend as well, though it's unclear if he left with an offer or not. He might have been insurance in case the Huskies weren't able to land Naijiel Hale. Given that his other reported offers are New Mexico and Texas State, you have to figure that if has an offer, he'll take it. With him being a JC transfer, he might also be under some strict conditions about his academic status before the coaches accept his commitment.
- Tre Watson, a 3-star RB - He's a Cal commit, but according to Lars Hansen, he's still giving strong consideration to Washington after visiting two weekends ago. I suspect that Cal keeps him though.
- Kalen Ballage, a 4-star RB/LB - He's an Arizona State commit and an impressive physical specimen. The Sun Devils are trying to fight off late attempts by Washington and UCLA to flip him. I think it will be a battle between the Bruins and ASU.
- Jamire Jordan, a 2-star WR - Jordan appears to be a plan-B type of guy that probably doesn't have an offer right now. With the way the numbers are working out, I would guess he won't get one and will be looking to San Diego State, San Jose State or Colorado State.
- Fred Warner, a 4-star LB - Warner is a BYU commit and LDS, so you'd think he'd be solid to the Cougars, but he's giving serious consideration to USC and Washington. He took his official visit to Provo this weekend, and I suspect that probably sealed the deal.
- Khalil Oliver, a 3-star S - Oliver had been a long-time Boise State commit, but opened things up when Petersen left. He's visited Washington and Oregon and is down to those two plus the Broncos. Normally you'd figure a Pac-12 school would win this battle, but he's from Meridian, ID, a suburb of Boise. Still, I think Oregon probably gets him due to their track program.
- Budda Baker, a 4-star S - Saving the biggest recruit for last, Baker is the top prospect in the PNW and a dynamic recruit that was one of the stars of The Opening this past Summer. Since de-committing from Oregon a little over 2 weeks ago it's been a two-horse race between UCLA and Washington. Bruin fans were feeling mighty confident for a stretch, but in the last few days there have been a lot of signs that suggest that he's going to pick Washington. I think he will, giving Petersen his marquee recruit to cap off an impressive first recruiting class as coach of the Dawgs.
Washington has 20 known commits, plus greyshirt Jaimie Bryant. If my predictions are correct, they'll sign 3 more to give them very nearly a full class, and by average star rating, one that would rank just outside the top-25 nationally and right around 6th in the conference, behind USC, UCLA, Stanford, Oregon and ASU.
