Recruiting Roundup: Rashard Lawrence Names Final 2

• Daniel Bridge-Gadd made his way up to Seattle this week as he prepares to move into his dorm room today and start classes at UW on Monday. The 3-star QB spoke with Scott Eklund and recapped his recruitment and also said he is recruiting a fellow Arizonan to join him up at Montlake.

• Eklund also caught up with the newest Husky commit, Keith Taylor, about his decision to become a Dawg. Taylor says he loved the tough and physical nature of Washington's defense.

• Brandon Huffman previews the upcoming high school all-star games. Husky fans will be particularly interested in the section that lists notable players who were snubbed by all 3 games. For some reason UW commit Brandon Wellington and DT target Boss Tagaloa were not deemed worthy enough for a roster spot. Not mentioned, but equally mind boggling, was the omission of the California Gatorade Player of the Year, Sean McGrew.

• Wellington will start his Husky career with a big chip on his shoulder:

To all of the All American games that past up on my I thank you. That cold shoulder you guys gave made me hungrier for the next level.

— Brandon Wellington (@B_Maney7) December 28, 2015

• 2017 DL Marlon Tuipulotu has begun to see his recruitment take off. Along with UW, he has offers from BYU, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington State, and Boise State. Marlon loved the staff when he took an unofficial to Montlake. He says he has not talked to new DL coach Ikaika Malloe, but Jordan Paopao and Pete Kwiatkowski have been his main recruiters. Malloe will have a full year to introduce himself to the Independence, OR prospect.

• Sean McGrew continues to rack up superlatives. This week he was named the Long Beach Press-Telegram's player of the year. McGrew finished the season with over 1,800 yards and 30 touchdowns with an average of 9.3 yards per carry.

• Not to be out-done, Mique Juarez was also named player of the year for his league after a senior campaign in which he scored 60 touchdowns on offense and totaled 146 tackles on defense.

• Daniel Bridge-Gadd edged out fellow Pac-12 commit Mason Moran (Oregon State) for 1st team All-State honors.

• UW will have quite a few new faces this spring with Daniel-Bridge Gadd, Taylor Rapp, Amandre Williams, Van Soderberg, and Myles Rice all enrolling in the next couple months. Soderberg spoke with Scott Eklund recently about his senior season and his decision to become a Husky.

• Well, it was fun while it lasted, but Rashard Lawrence will not be playing his college ball in the Pacific Northwest. Yesterday he named LSU and Ohio State his final 2 schools with Alabama an outside contender. That leaves Boss Tagaloa atop UW's DT wishlist. Scout also lists Washington as having interest in 3-star Pocatello DT Wayne Kirby, who currently holds offers from BYU, WSU, and Utah. Kirby was originally committed to BYU, but backed off over a disagreement with the religious school's honor code. Kirby visited UW in April and came away very impressed. If the Huskies miss out on Tagaloa they could also choose to save that scholarship for 2017, which is expected to be another small class.

• It's all hands on deck in the recruitment of Javon McKinley as we approach his commitment date next Saturday. Shaq Thompson recently added his two cents to the mix:

@stillstrill @mcjavon @GregBiggins @LarsHanson@UWAthletics @ArmyAllAmerican go head and choose that UW one time #Ain'tForEverybody

— Shaq Thompson (@ShaqThompson_7) January 2, 2016