SEATTLE — After being committed to USC for more than nine months, four-star prospect Tuli Letuligasenoa will be coming to Washington instead.
Letuligasenoa announced Monday he would back off his pledge from the Trojans to join UW and be part of the Huskies’ 2018 recruiting class.
Huskies coach Chris Petersen and his staff have added on to an already highly regarded recruting class.
It’s a group that now features 11 composite four-star prospects. Both 247 Sports and Rivals deemed UW’s class as the No. 1 group in the Pac-12 prior to Letuligasenoa’s commitment.
Letuligasenoa is rated by Rivals as the No. 10 defensive tackle in America. 247 has him 13th.
The longtime former Trojan commit took an official visit to Montlake in the final weekend leading up to National Signing Day.
He’s the fifth Californian in the class. The Huskies received a commitment Jan. 31 from four-star Anaheim Servite (Calif.) defensive back Julius Irvin.
UW wrestled Irvin away from USC and did the same with Letuligasenoa, who raised eyebrows after he didn’t sign with USC during the early period.
Adding Letuligasenoa gives the Huskies their first true defensive tackle commit for this class.
Three-star offensive lineman Sam Taimani is listed as a defensive lineman on the team’s official website. It’s also possible the Huskies could toy with the idea of moving Emerald Ridge’s Mosiah Nasili-Liu, who played defensive end in high school, to the inside.
UW will have 11 defensive linemen going into next season.
Washington returns nine starters on defense including senior linemen Greg Gaines and Jaylen Johnson. UW lost star redshirt junior and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Vita Vea, who declared for the NFL Draft.
Letuligasenoa, who is listed at 6-foot-2 and 305 pounds, played for national power Concord De La Salle to an 11-2 season as a senior.
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