Washington Increasing Recruiting Efforts in Oregon under Chris Petersen
https://rivals.com/content/prospects/9630Former Portland State graduate Jordan Johnson, who is heavily involved in high school football in the state of Oregon, spoke with Rivals.com this week on the increased recruiting presence of Washington in the state.
On Washington/Chris Petersen’s recruiting efforts in Oregon… “From a historical perspective I think currently we have 32 kids in the state of Oregon four games into the season with D-1 or D-1AA offers which is unheard of for the state in comparison to previous years. I was doing John Canzano’s show last Friday and one of the questions that was brought up was Marlon Tuipulotu, who committed to Washington obviously. He is a special kid, he’s not your normal – he’s a four-star who is borderline five-star kid and Washington, for them to come in and take him out of the state, I think that is one of the most, at least that I can remember, one of the most unique things that I’ve seen. If I’m Oregon or Oregon State, I take that pretty hard because he’s a potential Haloti Ngata, Ndamukong Suh type guy if everything pans out, he’s that good. So for Washington to come in and get him I think speaks volume about what Coach Petersen’s doing. Because Oregon’s obviously had a long run, and they’ve been able to pick and choose and the tides have kind of turned a bit. Now UDub is also keeping all these top kids in state too like Budda and Salvon and all these other kids. It’s impressive. I’ve always been a Petersen fan before he was there. I’m super impressed with what he’s doing and what Washington is doing in general. I’ll always support my local, hometown teams, but in reality I think with these 30 kids that are currently offered or committed, that one with Marlon sticks out to me because I think . . . and also with Jacob Kizer, not a lot of people remember him from the year before out of West Salem. He’s a tight end who might wind up being a defensive end. 6’5, 240, I think he’s going to be one of the best players in the Pac-12 as well. They came down and got him out of West Salem, and he grew up a Beavers fan. So I give a lot of credit to Petersen and what they’re doing because obviously it’s a lot different there now.”
On if Petersen is doing anything different/what’s it about Petersen that makes him get kids… “My impression and the impression I get from kids who speak with him, because there’s a few kids who are still committed and reference Washington. Elijah Molden has Washington in his top four, and when all these other guys have Washington listed in their top three or two or whatever, as one of the final choices it’s his ability to be real and genuine with regards to who he is. The feedback I get is just incredibly likable, genuine, which isn’t always the case. So I think he separates himself by being a real good dude and obviously knowing what he’s doing with talent and who he’ll get. It’s not like Oregon doesn’t get guys like Shane Lemieux, Calvin Throckmorton, and others that are Washington guys. Oregon still does their thing, but when you have a guy like Marlon I think he’s a great kid and a super, super talent. I think he’ll play early for Washington and do big things.”
On how much does it help UW that Oregon isn’t where they use to be… “I give more credible to just who coach Petersen is and getting out there and making sure the top guys are staying home. The guys like Throckmorton and others who use to leave the state, I think that trend continues to subside and they’ll tend to stay home due to the presence and the way it is now. Oregon, for an extended period of time, just had it the way it was. It’s hard to get back when you loose that and that’s where the Ducks – when you get complacent I don’t think recruits ever say ‘oh I’m going to Oregon. It’s always taken some work. I think I would give a lot of credit to coach Petersen for being a guy that people want to play for. The person he is and the people he has around him, that staff, this is something that really hasn’t happened before with guys leaving Oregon to go to Washington. Obviously there’s no love loss between Oregon and Washington. But being honest I give props to them and I would give the same props to Oregon for what they’ve done for the past decade. . . This may be a little off topic but I don’t think Coach Riley got nearly enough credit for recruiting to Corvallis, Oregon over Tucson, Los Angeles, Seattle and what have you. I’ve never met a more genuine guy like Mike Riley, that kind human being. Petersen I think has some of that, just a special dude. With these commitments staying home like the Sirmon’s and Salvon’s, it’s a really good thing for UDub.”
On Oregon State recruiting under Gary Anderson compared to Riley… “I think this year so far I give him a lot of credit, Gary, on what he’s done. He went and got Davis Morris, who I think is going to be the biggest steal in this recruiting class. I think he’ll start as a freshman, worse case as a sophomore. Then his teammates, Josh Bowcut he’s committed. He also got Travis Mackay out of Central Catholic – he’s doing a good job especially with 2017 because it’s so unique. I’ve been following this stuff since I was like six years old and this is really unique. Luka Nixon is another I think would commit to Oregon State if they offer. If he could continue to do that plus get a couple of JC kids’, they need. This year was rough because they lost a couple of kids from last year due to eligibility. I think Davis Morris could have a Michigan, Notre Dame and some other guys come in on him that would carry some weight. If they can steal a Talanoa Hufanga, who I think is going to have all of the Pac-12 on him. If he could get a guy like that and grab a couple more linemen and have around seven local guys, that will carry some weight.”
On the rise in talent and prominence coming out of Oregon… “I think part of it is there’s just some really good kids. The format for 7-on-7 we’ve been able to travel to out of state tournaments like Las Vegas. We finished fourth out of 120 teams two years ago and lost to Bishop Gorman and lost in the semi-finals. I think people before these last two years were like okay Oregon is just Oregon. The kids I think made it happen but from a national perspective they’ve gained some legitimate exposure. People are paying attention now. If they can do that back to back years obviously they’re a talented group. It’s also all these kids in January and February getting together and having these four-star guys going up against other four-star guys. Even the top kids have done a good job getting out, even though they don’t have, and battling. It’s really cool for the kids who are putting in this time and their families making all these trips to reap the rewards during the actual football year.”