Washington Huskies sign highest-rated class in program’s modern history

Washington Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch before a college football game against Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (Nick Wagner / The Seattle Times)

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By Andy Yamashita Seattle Times staff reporter

On Feb. 7, 2024, Jedd Fisch stated his goal was to sign the best recruiting class in Washington’s history during the 2025 recruiting cycle. 

At the time, Fisch’s proclamation seemed like a stretch. Washington’s highest-rated class during the modern era of recruiting were the 2019 and 2001 classes. Chris Petersen didn’t consistently sign classes considered top 20 by the 247Sports composite rankings until the final three seasons of his six-year tenure. Kalen DeBoer, who’d just led Washington to a College Football Playoff championship game, never had a recruiting class ranked higher than No. 26. UW’s 2025 class finished the cycle ranked No. 23. 

Fisch’s declaration, however, wasn’t wrong. He was just a year early. 

“We feel that when people get to know us and be around us,” Fisch said Wednesday, “we can get guys to come play for us. It takes a little bit of time.”

Washington officially added 24 players — 11 on offense, 12 on defense and one specialist — on the first day of the early signing period Wednesday. The Huskies’ 2026 class, which included 11 blue-chip prospects, finished the day ranked No. 13, the highest of any UW class since 1999, when recruiting websites began tracking the information. The Huskies also landed five local prospects and signed players from 11 different states. 

Only USC, Oregon, Ohio State and Michigan assembled higher-ranked classes in the Big Ten. Fisch said he expects around 20 of his newly signed players to enroll at UW in January in time for winter quarter. 

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“It’s what we’ve strived for since we arrived here,” Fisch said. “It’s our second recruiting class and we’re extremely proud of being able to have landed this group.” 

UW’s path to building its touted 2026 class certainly wasn’t straightforward. The Huskies had only a handful of pledges entering March, and lost their first composite four-star prospect, Corner Canyon High offensive lineman Esun Tafa from Utah, to USC in February.

But the Huskies started gaining momentum in late April, thanks to two key commitments, Fisch said. Composite five-star offensive lineman Kodi Greene, a Renton native and Mater Dei High standout, flipped from Oregon to UW on April 24. Then, on May 4 — two days after UW’s spring game — the Huskies got a pledge from Kennedy Catholic High edge rusher Derek Colman-Brusa, the state’s consensus top prospect. 

Both Greene and Colman-Brusa have brothers currently on the Husky roster. Kayden Greene is a walk-on redshirt freshman safety, while Lowen Colman-Brusa is a true freshman offensive lineman who signed as part of UW’s 2025 class. Kodi Greene is the sixth-highest-rated player to ever sign with Washington since 247Sports began tracking recruiting information in 1999 and the first composite five-star prospect since Kennedy Catholic quarterback Sam Huard in 2021. 

“When we got (Derek Colman-Brusa) on board after the spring game, that enabled him to have another six months of recruiting others to join,” Fisch said. “With him and Kodi on board, it really helped the overall group want to come together and play together and be a part of this.” 

Commitments began rolling in for Washington during the summer. Wide receiver Mason James from Norman North High in Oklahoma, safety Gavin Day out of Faith Lutheran High in Las Vegas and cornerback Jeron Jones from Mission Viejo High in Southern California — all composite four-star recruits — pledged to join the Huskies in June. They were joined in July by Valencia High running back Brian Bonner Jr., the highest-rated tailback to commit to the Huskies since 1999. 

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Other players Washington invested in early began to gain extra recognition, too. Rahsjon Duncan, a cornerback from McClymonds High in Oakland, Calif., earned his fourth composite star during his senior season and ascended to become UW’s fourth-highest rated recruit. 

Fisch said UW had to navigate unique circumstances during the 2026 cycle, too. The House v. NCAA settlement was approved June 6, allowing programs to share revenue directly with players in the middle of the recruiting process. Fisch noted some programs provided front-loaded NIL contracts to high school prospects under the old NIL system before the House settlement’s $20.5 million revenue sharing cap was enforced, something Fisch said UW did not have the facilities to pursue. 

USC, which finished the 2026 cycle with the top class, landed 21 commitments between February and May. ESPN’s Eli Lederman reported Tuesday that the Trojans’ 2026 class is going to cost around $9 million. 

“We see and we’re hearing a lot of different numbers being thrown out there,” Fisch said. “For us, we had to recruit the old fashioned way. Relationships and commitments. And know that we compensate guys for how well they play.” 

Washington’s 2026 class continued to gain momentum as signing day approached. The Huskies picked up a commitment from composite four-star defensive lineman JD Hill, a late-blooming teammate of Jones at Mission Viejo, in late November. They added Ramzak Fruean, a Bethel High standout who was considered the state’s top linebacker, on Monday. 

Fruean’s commitment, however, was just the beginning of a chaotic lead up to Wednesday. Washington flipped Jordan Clay, a composite four-star wide receiver from Madison High of San Antonio, from Baylor on Tuesday evening. Then, UW landed another blue-chip wideout in Trez Davis, a former Tulane pledge from West Monroe, La., Wednesday morning. 

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Fisch said landing Clay and Davis was the result of months of work by his recruiting staff to get them back on campus shortly before signing day. With Clay, Davis, James and composite three-star wideout Blaise LaVista, UW has now taken nine wide receivers in its past two classes. 

“We felt four receivers was the right number for this year’s class,” Fisch said. “We didn’t want to only have two. And we wanted some guys with different body types that could play different spots.” 

UW did suffer one loss, though. Composite four-star athlete Dre Pollard, a two-way standout at Las Vegas’ Clark High, flipped to Stanford on Wednesday afternoon. He’d been committed to Washington since June. But Fisch said he was generally very happy with how UW wrapped up its 2026 class.

“We are excited about the group,” Fisch said. “We have every position on offense and defense filled in. We have the ability to go out and play.”

UW’s 2026 recruiting class

*: local recruit
(): signed with UW
(☒): signed with another team

Andy Yamashita: ayamashita@seattletimes .com. Andy Yamashita is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times, primarily covering Washington Huskies football.