Jay'Veon Sunday Ready to Blaze His Own Northwest Trail
To better understand who Jay’Veon Sunday is, and why he chose Washington over a dozen other football scholarship offers, it starts by understanding where he came from.
Sunday, a 5-foot-11 and 194-pound running back out of Connally High School, was born over 1,700 miles away from Seattle in Waco, Texas and needed to find a way out. Football provided an opening in seventh grade, but it wasn’t until June 2018 when he received his first offer from the Kansas Jayhawks.
Shane Anderson, who met Sunday back in Spring 2015 after being named head coach at Connally, helped provide guidance both on and off the field to help him mature over the course of those five years.
“As a freshman Jay’Veon he wasn’t real mature,” Anderson told TheDawgReport.com. “He’s a very smart kid, but he’s been through a lot of adversity and had to overcome a lot outside of school in his personal life. He kind of matured later than some kids.”
Part of the Built for Life philosophy that Chris Petersen has predicated the Huskies recruiting message on in his six seasons as head coach is teaching as much on the field as off the field.
During his sophomore season on varsity Sunday played eight games, ran for over 600 yards and tallied more than eight touchdowns. It wasn’t until after a strong showing in the 4x200 state track meet for Connally the following spring when college coaches started to take notice.
“He really kind of came out of his shell sophomore year in track,” Anderson said.
“His sophomore year, other than just mentally matured – physically we knew he could do it. He was a freak show like I said as freshman. But mentally there’s a lot that goes into being the guy. That means carrying the football, understanding the play-call, where to run and all those things.”
Sunday began to see the pieces of his dream falling into place. Several months later during his junior season UW RB coach Keith Bhonapha got a hold of some of his film and reached out to Anderson to learn more about his talented back.
Bhonapha isn’t new to recruiting the Lone Star state as an assistant for the Huskies.
In 2015 Chris Warren, a four-star RB from Rockwall, Texas listed as the No. 159 overall prospect in the class by Rivals, had Washington in his final two but chose to stay home and sign with the UT LongHorns on National Signing Day.
That same recruiting cycle the Huskies signed local three-star back Myles Gaskin out of O’Dea High School in Seattle. Gaskin went on to become the first Pac-12 RB to rush for 1,000 yards four consecutive seasons, only the 10th time any FBS player has accomplished the feat.
UW was one of the first programs to offer Gaskin and he reciprocated the gesture by being the second commit in the 2015 class, sandwiched in between offensive tackle Trey Adams and quarterback Jake Browning.
Sunday didn’t receive his offer from Washington until early January when he came up for an unofficial visit with Anderson, roughly three months after he first caught Bhonapha’s attention.
Before he became a head coach, Anderson served as the defensive coordinator for Waco Midway, a 6A high school on the south side town for seven years. He had a handful of players sign with Big 12 and Southeastern Conference schools but never sent any out west.
The Huskies were one of only three Pac-12 programs to offer Sunday along with Colorado and Utah, along with 12 other schools including Arkansas and Missouri from the SEC. For a variety of reasons there was something about the conference and heading west to play for Bhonapha and Petersen that appealed to Sunday.
“When I noticed it was a really good place to take advantage of,” Sunday said on when he first realized that UW would be his school. “The opportunity to develop and just the atmosphere. I think he knows what he is talking about when it comes to the running back position so I trust him.”
Once they returned to Texas it wasn’t long before Bhonapha came back down and continued to learn more about both Anderson and Sunday, another key for Petersen and UW on the recruiting trail.
Relationships.
“One thing led to another and then coach Bhonapha ended up coming back down in the end of Spring for a visit,” Anderson said. “Spending a little more time down here kind of learning more about Jay’Veon and what he comes from.
“We stayed in contact and really it came down to Washington and Utah. He had several SEC offers, several Big 10 and ACC offers and for whatever reason he really liked the Pac-12 and liked those two schools. I think just the relationship there with KB kind of really put it over the top.”
Coincidence or happenstance, the Huskies and Utes finishing 1-2 for a recruit is rather fitting given both teams played in the Pac-12 Championship Game this past season.
Over the last three recruiting cycles UW has continued to emphasize its presence recruiting the state of Texas. Despite fans voicing their displeasure over the start time of games for Pac-12 games, more often than not it’s ideal for Anderson and his staff given their schedule.
“Down here in Texas for us those Saturday night Pac-12 Saturday night games, that’s the games we get to watch,” he said. “We’re working as a coaching staff, and as the head coach I’m working all day Saturday I get home Saturday evening.
“Catch the tail end of that SEC Saturday night game and then usually watch that Saturday night Pac-12 game until I fall asleep. So those late games are neat to watch, a lot of fun to watch.”
Another element about both UW and Utah struck Anderson.
“Other than that, I think just the diversity in the conference,” he added. “You can look at all the different teams in the conference and, like I said the one thing that really stood out at Washington and Utah for us was how diverse the team was.
“Having the different cultures, especially that Polynesian culture recruiting those kids from southern California and Hawaii. It’s just really, really neat. For Jay’Veon he’s a very diverse kid. He gets along with anybody. He has friends in all cultures, all different backgrounds.
“You’ll see him in school one minute he’ll be hanging out with the football players, next minute he’s hanging out with band members. He’s hanging out with people that aren’t even in extra curricular. He’s a very diverse kid. He makes friends easily and doesn’t judge people. I guess the diversity in that West Coast and that conference really stood out to him.”
While Sunday adds diversity to the stable of backs in terms of geographically from a recruiting landscape perspective for UW, his talent level matches that of many recent elite Huskies.
He finished with 300 rushing attempts and 2,329 yards, which ranked tied for No. 49 and No. 73 overall among high school backs in the country, as a junior. Sunday added 36 touchdowns on the ground over his 12 games to help lead Connally to an 8-4 record overall in 2018.
What he can’t do might be a tougher question to answer, especially being an “athletic freak” as his coach put it.
“Yes,” Sunday said, when asked his thoughts on the assertion Anderson made, before continuing on to say “I did everything and played a lot of positions. Really just me getting bigger and getting used to playing running back.”
The position other than RB that Sunday has played which has helped the most on the field is wide receiver. He noted seeing an improvement in his football speed, a different dynamic than track speed.
Yet, for all his electric game-changing quickness, Sunday packs a devastating punch as a physical runner with the ball.
“He’s probably the toughest and most physical kid I’ve ever coached,” Anderson said describing Sunday.
“Down hill, doesn’t do a lot of dancing around. He’s north and south, and like I said very very physical. He’s super, super strong in the weight room. He’ll come in as a freshman and be one of the strongest kid’s in the program there at UW.”
Earlier this spring Sunday recorded a 570-pound power lift, just another average day in the Connally weight room for the talented junior. Anderson added that he’s also squatted 550-pounds, handled a 300-pound bench press with ease to go along with a 300-pound power clean.
Even though Anderson knows the ability and potential that Sunday has, he already has a plan to limit his attempts early this fall to help gear up for a potential state championship run. It’s part of his overall goal that is shared with Petersen, to grow players into men.
“When you have guys like Jay’Veon and players like that you can help but love your job and love coming to work everyday,” he said. “Trying to get these kids better and that ultimate goal of winning a state championship. Not only that but just, like I said, getting them out.
“Getting them out of Waco and into good situations and letting them become men. Watching them grow and hopefully one day have a chance to play in the NFL, get that college degree. Be good dad’s and good husband’s. Those type of things are very important.”