Four-Star OL Geirean Hatchett Commits to Washington
Scott Huff has continued his dominance on the recruiting trail Friday, securing one of the top 15 interior offensive line recruits for Washington and the third four-star pledge for the 2020 class.
Geirean Hatchett, a four-star guard out of Ferndale High School (Ferndale, Wash.), announced his commitment to the Huskies picking the in-state program over Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Stanford among others.
Hatchett, a 6-foot-4 and 275-pound lineman is the fifth four-star OL recruit for Huff since joining the staff prior to the 2017 season. Hatchett joins four-star Mater Dei HS (Santa Ana, California) center Myles Murao and four-star Valor Christian HS (Highland Ranch, Colorado) tackle Roger Rosengarten as the third four-star alone in this years’ cycle.
Huff has made recruiting and securing the elite in-state linemen an emphasis since he came to UW in spring 2017. He landed four-star Rainier Beach offensive tackle Nate Kalepo, the top Evergreen State OL prospect in 2018, and also signed four-star tackle Julius Buelow from Hawaii.
When Chris Strausser was the position coach, the Huskies signed just three four-star OL recruits total over the first four recruiting classes under head coach Chris Petersen; Kaleb McGary in 2014, Luke Wattenberg in 2016 and Henry Bainivalu in 2017.
“Yeah I think you have to do your homework in your backyard,” Huff told TheDawgReport.com in September 2018 when asked about his approach to recruiting.
“I mean Washington, if you look to me, I haven’t done all the research. But every year there is really high quality linemen coming out. To have them here in-state gives you a real advantage. We certainly want to, if there is a kid here that we feel will help this program take the next step, we are all about it. And there has been some really good players here locally.”
At Pac-12 Media Day this week senior center Nick Harris explained the difference between Strausser and Huff.
“I mean I think it’s just, obviously besides the age, Huff is just relatable to the players he has right now. He brings a certain energy that gives us that drive,” Harris told TheDawgReport.com.
“Strausser, he was a technician coach. You can tell he cared a lot about technique and the small nuances of playing offensive line. He wasn’t much of a screamer. He was always real calm. But Huff is probably more relatable because he’s a young guy. He’s in his mid to late 30’s, and he played o-line – he played center for coach Pete.”
UW was the second program to offer Hatchett back in December 2017 following the Oklahoma Sooners, who became his first offer on Nov. 25, 2017 when the four-star recruit made an unofficial visit to Norman.
With the addition of Hatchett, the Huskies class has moved up on Rivals team rankings to No. 25.