UW aims for quality, not quantity

SEATTLE – On Wednesday, the University of Washington football program reeled in 22 top high school prospects.

And, to borrow another fishing metaphor, there were some other good ones that got away.

But if UW coach Steve Sarkisian was grieving about the near-misses, it sure didn’t show when he sat down for an afternoon news conference.

“This class is about quality,” he said. “This (class) isn’t necessarily about quantity. … I believe this class is right up there with the best ones in our conference, which is exactly where we should be.”

The UW class includes 12 defensive players, nine offensive players and a kicker. Fifteen recruits are from California, four from Washington, one from Oregon, one from Arizona and one from Texas.

The Huskies recruited well at several positions, but nowhere better than at wide receiver. With the highly rated trio of Darrell Daniels of Pittsburg, Calif. (Freedom High School), John Ross of Long Beach, Calif. (Jordan) and Damore’ea Stringfellow of Perris, Calif. (Rancho Verde), “you could argue it’s the best corps of wide receivers in any class in the country,” Sarkisian said.

Washington signed only two offensive backfield players, but both are gems, Sarkisian said. Quarterback Troy Williams was the Los Angeles player of the year for two seasons and a player Sarkisian started recruiting three years ago. Williams graduated from high school in December, is already enrolled at Washington and will participate in spring practices.