It is be-fitting that the first official commitment for Jimmy Lake as head football coach at the University of Washington came from a defensive back.

Two days after the Huskies hosted three-star cornerback Zakhari Spears for his first unofficial visit the talented junior decided to shut down his recruitment.

UW had identified his talent early on in the recruiting process as the second DB recruit to receive an offer from the staff in the 2021 class at his position. Will Harris, the Huskies’ defensive backs coach, extended a scholarship to Spears five days after Jaylin Davies, who was the first CB to receive an offer in this years’ cycle, back in early November 2018.

The relationship that Harris cultivated with Spears and his family was one key contributing factor that led to his commitment on Friday.

When Spears called Lake to deliver the news the UW head coach reaffirmed the policy that Chris Petersen held, if he wanted to wait it was more than fine.

Spears made it clear that he knows his home is Washington.

“He went into detail about the commitment process and reassured (me) that it was perfectly fine to wait if I needed to,” Spears told The Dawg Report after he announced his decision on social media.

“He was elated. Very pumped and hyped. ‘LETS GOOO DAWGS’ he said happily.”

Listed at 6-foot-3 and 184-pounds, Spears, a three-star cornerback out of Loyola High School in Los Angeles, California, is the second pledge for the Huskies in the 2021 class.

He joins four-star Kennedy Catholic (Burien, Washington) quarterback Sam Huard who announced his pledge before his junior season when Petersen was head coach.