Huskies ink 18 new players in drama-free letter-of-intent day

SEATTLE — It was a day of no surprises, which seemed to suit University of Washington football coach Chris Petersen just fine.

Of course, his team had just finished bringing in 18 promising new players and Petersen really seemed to like that part, too.

Wednesday was NCAA letter-of-intent day for college football and the Huskies collected the signatures of 17 high school seniors who had previously made verbal commitments to Washington, plus one player who was a carryover from the high school class of 2015. They represent the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and Texas, with eight offensive players, nine defensive players and one punter.

In all, Petersen said, “I think (signing day) really turned out like we were hoping it would.”

But if signing day itself was uneventful, the days leading up to it included some uncertainty. Verbal commitments are non-binding, and rival recruiters sometimes continue pursuing prospects until the ink is actually on the page.

“There’s a lot of good players here that were recruited by a lot of people,” Petersen said, scanning the list of UW recruits. “And just (for the players) to keep the drama out of it and stay true to what they’d decided to do, we’re really proud of those guys.”

In particular, the Huskies held on to two players who opted for Washington over schools much closer to their homes — defensive back Byron Murphy from Scottsdale, Ariz., and defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike from Allen, Texas. Both made their commitments to Washington two weeks ago and both, no doubt, had folks back home urging them to reconsider.

Without mentioning Murphy and Onwuzurike by name, Petersen said there are “some relentless people that don’t let up and it can be very hard on these kids and their families. I think there were some kids that had choices that might have been easier for them to make, but not necessarily better. And at the end of the day, they made the right choice in terms of what was in their heart. But it wasn’t the easy choice.”

The 5-foot-11 Murphy, who also wants to play basketball at Washington, is an exceptional athlete who also played wide receiver in high school.

“On tape,” Petersen said, “he’s a guy who has as good of ball skills as I’ve seen. … This guy can catch the ball and he can track the ball. He’s really exciting. He’s going to do some special things.”

Petersen got a smile when asked why Onwuzurike would leave the Dallas area to attend school in Seattle.

“I can’t wait to get him here and really ask him that,” Petersen said with a chuckle. “But I think he felt a connection here. … There were so many (other schools) that came after him. So what were the things that really triggered for him to say ‘Hey, that’s where I feel most comfortable.’ I don’t really know all those answers right now, but I can tell you how excited we are because this guy can play.”

Petersen also lit up when talking about 6-1 cornerback Kentrell Love from Corona, Calif. “When you watch his tape you think ‘OK, he’s kind of long and lean and a (good coverage) guy.’ But he hits like a linebacker. He’s very, very aggressive.” Likewise linebacker Camilo Eifler from Oakland, Calif., who is “really, really explosive.” And linebacker Brandon Wellington from Kent and Eastside Catholic High School, who “is phenomenal.”

Defensive lineman Myles Rice from Houston committed to Washington a year ago, but delayed his enrollment until this year. He is already in school and will take part in spring practices, as will two other players who signed on Wednesday but had previously enrolled — quarterback Daniel Bridge-Gadd from Phoenix and safety Taylor Rapp from Bellingham’s Sehome High School.

The Huskies were apparently in the running for some elite 11th-hour additions to their class, but came up short. Tight end Devin Asiasi and defensive lineman Boss Tagaloa, teammates at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., opted for Michigan and UCLA, respectively. Wide receiver N’Keal Harry from Chandler, Ariz., maintained his commitment to Arizona State, and junior-college defensive lineman Jonathan Kongbo from Vancouver, B.C., reaffirmed an earlier commitment to Tennessee.