Technically, the Huskies never lost four-star recruit Asa Turner.
Until late Thursday night, however, they also didn’t have 100 percent of the Carlsbad High School (Carlsbad, California) seniors heart. After pledging his future with a verbal commitment last July, Turner stuck to his original decision and made it clear he will sign with Washington on National Signing Day next Wednesday.
UW held off a strong push from Notre Dame over the last 7-8 months, which included the four-star athlete attending the Fight Irish’s game against Navy on Oct. 27 in San Diego.
With his recruitment concluded, the addition of Turner gives the Huskies an even dozen four-star prospects for the 2019 class, which ranks No. 20 in Rivals team rankings. The class is current second-best in the Pac-12 Conference behind Oregon (No. 7) and USC (No. 17), remaining slightly ahead of Stanford (No. 22).
Of the 12 four-stars headed to – some of whom enrolled in January and are already on campus – Montlake this fall seven are signed to play on defense. Turner, who can play either safety, linebacker or wide receiver, will be a defensive back where he’s stated he is more comfortable.
The Irish recruited him at linebacker, the position Turner played in the All-American Bowl on Jan. 5. Roughly two weeks later in the Polynesian Bowl he performed better playing at safety.
Turner is the third four-star DB for the 2019 class, joining Trent McDuffie (Bellflower, Calif./St. John Bosco) and Kamren Fabiculanan (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake). Cameron Williams, a three-star safety out of Bakersfield HS (Bakersfield, Calif.), is one of the early enrollees.
Five UW assistant coaches; Keith Bhonapha (RB coach), Jimmy Lake (defensive coordinator), Jordan Paopao (TE coach), Will Harris (DB coach) and Ikaika Malloe (DL coach), visited Turner at Carlsbad Thursday afternoon before he made his announcement on Instagram.
"Next stop..... University of Washington!!! #GoDawgs #GlorifyGod," Turner wrote in his post, which included a picture with the assistants listed above.
