UW Huskies return to Midwest to earn commitment from four-star 2024 defensive lineman Dominic Kirks

SEATTLE – It’s become increasingly difficult to find dominant defensive linemen out West.

But the Midwest is open for business.

After UW signed Elinneus Davis out of Moorhead, Minnesota, in the 2023 cycle, Dominic Kirks — a Cleveland, Ohio, product — announced a verbal pledge to Washington on Friday.

Kirks would be Washington’s fifth letterman to hail from the state of Ohio — joining guard Fran Windust (1931-32, 1934), end Fritz Apking (1949-50), linebacker James Tabor (1972-73), center James Kirkpatrick (1982-84) and wide receiver Eddie Jackson (2002).

(Of course, UW coaching legend Don James is famously from Massillon, Ohio, as well.)

Meanwhile, of the top 50 defensive line/edge recruits across the last five classes, just four — Thousand Oaks, California’s Kayvon Thibodeaux in 2019; Sammamish’s JT Tuimoloau and Corona, California’s Korey Foreman in 2021; and Scottsdale, Arizona’s Anthony Lucas in 2022 — hailed from Pac-12 territory.

A standout at Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School, Kirks is ranked as a four-star recruit, the No. 39 defensive lineman in the nation and the No. 14 player in Ohio by the 247Sports composite. He chose the Huskies over offers from Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, West Virginia and more.

The versatile defensive lineman, who could conceivably play on the interior or as an edge in Seattle, is UW’s 12th verbal commitment (and the 11th in the last seven days). That group also includes defensive linemen Omar Khan and Ratumana Bulabalavu and edge Noah Carter. The Huskies’ ever expanding 2024 class is ranked fourth in the Pac-12 and 40th in the nation by 247Sports.

Another UW target and recent official visitor, three-star offensive tackle Ikinasio Tupou, is expected to announce his college destination in the days to come.

Kirks took official visits to Pittsburgh (June 2), Wisconsin (June 9) and Washington (June 16) on successive weekends, and named Nebraska and Kentucky as finalists as well, before delivering Friday’s Pac-12 pledge.

When discussing his final five with 247Sports on June 16, Kirks called UW a “great place up in Seattle, far from home, but I love the coaches. Relationship wise, when I sat down for lunch with the players when I came down for my unofficial (visit), it was like I was talking to my brothers. It was like home.”

For the next four years, it’ll be just that.