CB Curley Reed is a Dawg

Washington has added one of their most important recruits of the 2023 class when 4-star cornerback Curly Reed officially signed his letter of intent and will join the Huskies next year.

For much of the cycle the 6’1, 180 lb Reed was Washington’s highest rated recruit. At the moment he is the #239 overall player in the 247 Sports Composite coming out of Lake Charles, Louisiana. That’s a region of the country that the Huskies very rarely recruit in but Reed’s high school coach has deep connections with Husky CB coach Julius Brown which helped to build trust with the UW coaching staff and secure the commitment.

Back in June, Reed took an official visit to Washington as part of the Huskies’ big recruiting weekend. He also visited TCU and they were the primary competition despite offers from Miami, Oregon, Auburn, and LSU among others. After taking a few weeks to consider his options though Reed committed to Washington on July 14th.

It was natural for some Husky fans to be worried about Reed serving as a potential flip target for other schools. Washington’s corners performed poorly this year which can be a positive or negative for recruits depending on their point of view (easier path to playing time without established production but doesn’t reflect well on the coaching). He’s also from deep in the heart of SEC country and if a home-state LSU for instance decided to make him a priority it would’ve been tough to blame Reed for taking that opportunity.

Reed however never seemed to waver from his pledge to the Huskies, shut down his commitment and participated in a signing ceremony at his school yesterday although his NLI couldn’t officially be submitted until today.

As a sophomore, Reed broke onto the national scene helping to guide his team to a 9-1 finish but a torn ACL cost him his entire junior year. He returned this fall and put up 54 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 15 pass break-ups as a senior. For more in-depth commentary on Reed’s game (although based primarily on his sophomore year tape) check out our own Coach B’s breakdown of Reed from this past Summer.

Washington is clearly in need of impact players at the corner position and the hope is that Reed has a chance to be that even as a true freshman. There is an open starting spot available opposite Mishael Powell and it should be a fierce competition to see who can win it. Expect Reed to be among those fighting for playing time right away.