SEATTLE – On a day that is so much about the future, University of Washington football coach Tyrone Willingham had to be thinking about the recent past.
How recent? Try last Friday, when the Huskies landed what may have been the two most important recruits of the 2005 class.
When Willingham formally announced UW’s latest recruiting class on Wednesday, Bellevue High School teammates and late commitments J.R. Hasty and E.J. Savannah stuck out above the other 11 players.
“You’re talking about young men who are winners,” Willingham said of a duo that helped Bellevue go 51-2 and win four state titles over the past four seasons. “You like having guys jump into your program with that kind of background.”
Based on recruiting analysts, the Huskies didn’t land much of a class this year. Rivals.com ranked UW 65th overall and dead last in the Pac-10. But without Hasty and Savannah, Willingham’s first class could have been even worse.
“Anytime you’re able to get outstanding players in your home (state), I think that says something very positive about you’re doing in this area,” he said of the Bellevue duo, whom he locked up last Friday. “We want this university, Seattle, the state of Washington, to be a place where people feel like is home.”
Hasty, Savannah and Oregon transfer Johnny DuRocher appear to be the cornerstones of a class that was hampered by an untimely coaching change, an unsightly string of bad headlines and – perhaps most important of all – an inconceivable 1-10 season. But don’t expect much immediate help from the incoming recruits.
DuRocher, a quarterback who redshirted as a freshman at Oregon last season, is one of four transfers in the 13-man class. A trio of Pasadena Community College players – wide receiver Marlon Wood and cornerbacks Qwenton Freeman and Chris Handy – could also compete for immediate playing time.
Willingham stopped short of saying that DuRocher would compete for the starting job, but he didn’t deny it either. Chances are that the former Bethel High School star will battle returning quarterbacks Casey Paus, Isaiah Stanback and Carl Bonnell to become the No. 1 signal caller.
While at Bethel, DuRocher threw for 6,781 yards – the ninth-highest total in state history – and posted an overall record of 34-5 as starting quarterback.
Hasty, the son of former NFL defensive back James Hasty, scored a state-record 50 touchdowns as a senior and was rated the No. 16 running back in the country by SuperPrep Magazine.
Savannah was SuperPrep’s No. 16 linebacker in the country and third overall in the state, two spots ahead of Hasty.
The rest of UW’s class included one receiver (Wood, who can also play cornerback), one offensive lineman (6-foot-6 Ben Ossai of Baskersfield, Calif.), a tight end (Tim Williams of W.F. West), two defensive linemen (Tyrone Davis of Olympia and Daniel Te-O-Nesheim of Kailua, Hawaii), another linebacker (Darrion Jones of Lynwood, Calif.), a kicker (Ryan Perkins of North Thurston High in Olympia), a running back/linebacker (Chris Stevens of Mojave, Calif.) and the two cornerbacks from Pasadena CC.
When evaluating his new players, Willingham used phrases like “growth potential” and “developing.” He didn’t make any promises about the new recruits playing right away.
While Willingham also talked about character, the class does include one player with past incidents with the law. Handy was arrested on a battery charge while at the University of Nevada. But Willingham does not believe Handy will be a problem at UW.
“We did our homework and research on the incident,” Willingham said, “and believe that the young man is a fine, upstanding young man who will do fine in our environment.”
Between his praise, Willingham was honest about the shortcomings of his class. He preferred not to blame the coaching change or the low number of scholarships for the class’s subpar reputation, but he did admit to lacking in some areas. He wishes he had a couple more offensive linemen and another speedy receiver like Wood, among other things.
But overall, Willingham said most of the right things about his first UW recruiting class.
“People always ask a coach to rank a class, and I can’t. I wish I were that good,” he said. “I think that in years to come, we will see how good it is. But there is no question there are some good football players in this group.”
Notes: Willingham said that he expects to hire an offensive coordinator “within a few days,” but he did not name any names. … The 2005 class marked the first time since 2002 that the Huskies did not sign a player from Snohomish County. The past two classes included Jackson’s Johnie Kirton and Craig Chambers, Mariner’s Trenton Tuiasosopo, and Edmonds-Woodway’s Kyle Trew and Casey Tyler.
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