Q&A With 3 Star Defensive Line Commit Ratumana Bulabalavu

Hello Husky fans. I got the pleasure of chatting with 3 star defensive line commit Ratumana Bulabalavu from Army & Navy Academy this last week about his recruitment and commitment to UW. Rated as the 79th best defensive lineman and 55th best player in the state of California, the Huskies were on Ratumana for a while and were able to land his commitment after he officially visited in June. So far this season Ratumana has accounted for 95 tackles, 19 tackles for loss and 19 sacks (after accumulating 23.5 sacks last year).

UWDP: You flew under the radar for a lot of schools and fans following recruiting despite being productive. Why do you think that was?

The biggest reason to this is due to my school size. Lots of people don’t know but I’m actually from Stockton. The high school I’m at is actually and all boys boarding school. We just revived program my self and some others are really bringing them back into relevance but that’s the biggest reason I’d say I’m just from a much smaller school.

UWDP: Besides UW what other schools were you looking at?

Oregon, Oregon State, Cal, and USC.

UWDP: What made you decide that UW was the right home for you?

Finally making it out to UW and also just the nature of recruiting playing out. Part of being recruited showed me so much and taught me so much and there was good everywhere I went it’s just the good at UW was what fit me the best. The environment and coaches felt a lot more

UWDP: How would you describe yourself as a player (strengths of your game).

The biggest strength of my game I’d say is just constant effort. A large amount of my stats come in the third and forth quarters and also later in drives and I’d say this is all just because of effort just every snap wearing the offense down more and more and being able to put more out then the opposing teams. It has been a big strength of my game which eventually always leads me to making big plays. As a player I’d like to think of my self as a tempo setter on both sides of the ball. I am getting lots of snaps at offensive tackle as well which has allowed me to contribute on both sides and get my teammates going.

UWDP: Are you back up to UW for any other games, if so which ones?

I’ve faithfully been watching every game on television but sadly as of now I don’t have any official plans to make it to any but verbally can say I really want to make it to Utah or Washington state but as of now no official plans just yet.

It sounds like Ratumana is being recruited to potentially move inside when he ends up on Montlake and after a year or 2 in the weight room and learning the techniques of defensive line he could be a beast for the Husky defense. That is all for now and as always follow me @asieverkropp.