UW Fluff Piece from ESPN

At Sunday’s Under Armour Camp series stop in Southern California, the Huskies were one of the topics of conversation among many of the state of California’s top prospects, as expected after their meteoric rise.

“You don’t want to go to a school that is not winning,” said Long Beach Poly junior tight end/receiver Camren McDonald. “… the way Coach Chris Petersen is changing the program around is kind of hard to wrap your mind around. They really were the fourth best team in the nation, so that plays a big part in all the recruits' decision because you want to go to college and play for a winning program. The fact that they are a winning program, and their players do well in the NFL is why they are at the top of my list right now.”

ESPN Junior 300 cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart, a San Diego product, has Washington among his top-10 schools.

“… [Washington’s season] definitely caught my eyes and has my attention,” Taylor-Stuart said. “It definitely makes me want to take a visit there, and learn more about Washington.”

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Offensive guard Steven Jones has been a priority for the Huskies for over a year, and has watched Petersen’s vision for the program unfold.

“When they first offered me I was watching them the previous season [2015] and saw that they were pretty good. Watching them this season, you could tell they are building a great program.”

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“A lot of recruits say they are seriously considering Washington now,” said McDonald, No. 131 in the ESPN Jr. 300.

Another Washington target, ESPN Jr. 300 No. 89 Chase Williams, is hearing similar chatter among talented Southern California prospects.

“I feel like they are on the radar more,” Williams said. “More people talk about Washington, what they did and who they are. I have seen a lot more recruits show an interest in Washington now.”

According to Williams, who has Washington in his lead group along with USC, Georgia, Arizon and UCLA, how quickly Petersen has been able to flip the program sticks out to prospects.


“I think a lot of kids are going to be interested more because of how quick Coach Petersen got Washington to jump up, and how he changed the team around.”

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When the class of 2018 and 2019 were between the ages of 8-12, it was USC and Oregon that ruled the day in the Pac-12, and were the “cool” schools that kids gravitated towards. According to McDonald, that has changed in just a few months.

“It’s SC and Washington basically. Colorado made it to the Pac-12 championship, but it's SC and Washington right now.”