Shaq Thompson signs with Washington!

Shaq Thompson originally committed to Cal, but changed his mind and committed to Washington on Monday. 

After losing one of the biggest in state recruits of the year, Monday didn't look like a good day for the University of Washington. That was until 6' 2" 210 pound safety Shaq Thompson announced his commitment to UW. I almost forgot who Zach Banner was. Thompson is said to be one of the top 5 players in the country and the best at his position. He is also being called the biggest recruit UW has landed since Napoleon Kaufman in 1991. Thompson is so athletic that he could play any of the four positions in the secondary at Washington along with running back on offense, but we will most likely see him at safety for the Dawgs.

Shaq Thompson will hopefully bring a certain presence to the UW secondary that has been missing in the past few years. A certain presence that brings fear into opposing quarterbacks and wide receivers.  With his Grant High School teammate James Sample already at Washington, Thompson will make two hard nosed, big hitting safeties in the Huskies secondary. This could be the start of elite defensive prospects coming back to Washington and a Husky defense that puts fear into opposing offenses.

Banner to USC, Armstead to Oregon

Lakes High School's Zach Banner

Zach Banner finally made his decision today to play his college football at USC. It came down to USC and Washington and he ultimately chose USC. He held an assembly today at Lakes High School in Lakewood, WA where he was joined by his family and friends along with hundreds of fans. This is another in state prospect that Washington loses, as it hasn't been able to hold on to much of the in state talent this year. 

Pleasant Grove High School's Arik Armstead

Along with losing Banner to USC, Washington also learned yesterday that the #1 offensive lineman in the country Arik Armstead will be going to Oregon. Most people had the Huskies getting Armstead a long shot, but it is yet another top recruit that the Dawgs have failed to get this year. 

On a brighter note, the #1 safety in the nation, Shaq Thompson is said to be heavily leaning towards committing to Washington after earlier committing to Cal. He is said to be making his decision on wednesday of this week.

UW Basketball sweeps the Arizona schools

The Huskies squeeze by Arizona last night 69-67 to complete the sweep of both Arizona schools. Tony Wroten was a huge part in both games, basically taking over the Arizona State game with 22 points and monstrous dunk over Jonathan Gilling which ended up as the #1 play on the Sports Center top 10 plays of the night. He also sealed the win over Arizona by blocking Josiah Turner's game tying layup at the last second. Washington was also given help my C.J. Wilcox who is finally back from his stress fracture he had in his leg. With Wroten leading the way, Wilcox back and healthy, and Terrence Ross finally starting to use all of his talent in the game I like the way the Huskies are playing heading in the games against UCLA and USC this week.

3 more Hawks added to Pro Bowl!

We already knew that free safety Earl Thomas and fullback Michael Robinson were headed to Aloha Stadium this weekend to play in the pro bowl. Now add three more Seahawks to that list as Kam Chancellor, Brandon Browner, and Marshawn Lynch will all be playing in the pro bowl as well. Chancellor and Browner get the invite due to injuries by both the San Francisco 49ers' Dashon Goldson and Carlos Rodgers. While Lynch mad it because of an illness that will keep the 49ers' Frank Gore from playing in the game.

With the additions of Browner and Chancellor 3 of the Hawks 4 starting players in their defensive secondary are in the pro bowl, Thomas as a starter and Browner and Chancellor as back ups.

Seattle can't "Field' the big one

News coming out of Detroit has Prince Fielder agreeing to a nine-year deal worth $214 million with the Tigers. This might come to a surprise to some because the talk was that he may go to Washington or maybe Texas. Either way, yet again the Mariners can't come up with a big free agent signing. Some question if the M's were even in the conversation, if they even made a deal to get Fielder. Nevertheless, he ends up in Detroit, which for the M's isn't as bad as him going to Texas but still disappointing.

Mariners sigh Millwood, Hultzen to take over?

The Mariners have just announced the signing of pitcher Kevin Millwood to a minor league contract which includes an invitation to spring training. Last year with the Rockies Millwood had 4-3 W-L record while posting a 3.98 era, and an opponent batting average of .274. These numbers aren't terrible for a veteran who has been in the league for 14 years. These are also the numbers that would get Millwood a spot on the M's 40-man roster and a $1 million dollar salary to go along with that. He would also earn an additional $750,000 in performance bonuses based on how he does throughout the year. Many experts are saying that Millwood was just brought in to fill a spot in the Mariner's starting rotation until last years first round draft pick Danny Hultzen is ready to pitch in the bigs. Some are speculating that could be as early as late May. Although I don't want to see Hultzen rushed into the bigs, I am very anxious to see what the kid can do!

UW football gets 3 star recruit from Hawaii

Coach Steve Sarkisian gets a solid commit in 6-foot-3, 205 pound Psalm Wooching. Wooching, out of Kealakehe High School in Hawaii, had originally committed to UCLA but decided to reopen his recruiting after coach Rick Neuheisel was fired. Wooching was given a 3 star grading, was ranked as the 109th best player at his position, as well as the 6th in his state. He shows great versatility, and is a big physical player which is why coach Sarkisian recruited him as an athlete. Hopefully the Huskies can add a couple more big names such as Zach Banner and Shaq Thompson to the list of commits as signing day draws near.

Dawgs get it done against Stanford

The Huskies, led my freshman guard Tony Wroten get it done against Stanford 

With their win over Stanford the Dawgs get to 5-2 in the Pac 12, and move into a tie for 3rd place with Colorado. This win was huge for the Huskies because it keeps them in the conversation for the Pac 12 regular season title.

Beside Tony Wroten's 21 points and 5 boards, Terrence Ross shakes off another slow start to finish with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Also, Darnell Gant didn't let his game tying miss late in the game against Cal affect the way he played today and stayed aggressive to score 17 points on 7 rebounds. This was also the first game that freshman football standout Austin Seferian-Jenkins saw some playing time off the bench and showed that he can play basketball as well. Although he finished without any points, he came away with 7 rebounds while playing some great defense along with that. Lets see if the Huskies can build some momentum off this win and take it with them into next week's games at Arizona and Arizona State.

Can the Dawgs make the tourney?

Many believe that the Huskies have the talent to make the NCAA Tournament in March, but can they pull it together and play well enough to do so. If they were going to make a case that they are worthy, this week/weekend might have been the time to do it. Playing California last night and Stanford this saturday at 6pm ET, the top two teams in the Pac 12 conference. They fell short last night against Cal, with Gant missing a last second 3-pointer to tie the game. Even if that shot had fallen, I still would not feel good about how UW played that game. Part of that is not having C.J. Wilcox in the lineup (the teams second leading scorer) and hopefully we can see him on saturday against Stanford. In my opinion, if Washington can't beat Stanford on saturday they are going to need a very impressive second half of the season if not a Pac 12 tournament championship to make it to the NCAA tournament.

Is Jesus Montero the answer?

22 year old catcher Jesus Montero

Some are calling Jesus Montero the next Edgar Martinez, but is that what the Mariners need? They already have Smoak and Carp as potential DHs. The Mariners need an everyday catcher that can hit 35-40 home runs a year and drive in 100+ runs. Although his numbers in the minors and last year at the end of the season with the Yankees were impressive, he still isn't a proven MLB player. The Yankees didn't think he could develop into an everyday catcher, what makes Jack Z so sure that he can? Not so sure giving up one of our premier proven pitchers in Michael Pineda was the right thing to do.

Washington defense set, but offense needs replacement for Nussmeier

With the exciting hire of Tosh Lupoi for the Huskies, comes the story of Washington's offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier leaving for Alabama. I don't find this as a major loss for the Dawgs seeing as Coach Sark already calls the plays, never the less it is a pretty big loss. Reports are saying that Nussmeier will make around 600,000 a year with the Tide as opposed to 365,000 with the Huskies. Early sources are saying it's possible that a replacement for Nussmeier could be Cal passing game coordinator and receivers coach Eric Kiesau. He has also coached at Colorado and Utah State, and was said to be a key factor in Cal's recruitment of stud WR Jordan Payton. Could the Huskies get yet another Cal coach to add to the already stacked coaching staff? We'll see.

Washington lands Lupoi as defensive line coach

Big news this weekend on the College Football front. Steve Sarkisian and the Washington Huskies landed defensive line coach and defensive run coordinator Tosh Lupoi from California. Tosh decided to accept the coaching job at Washington after denying it many times before. Many think that he will make upwards of $500,000 a year as opposed to the $164,000 he made last year at Cal, which may be one of the reasons he accepted the job. Lupoi has been called one of the best recruiters in the Pac-12 if not the entire nation. This is exciting news seeing as that UW's recruiting class has been disappointing thus far, hopefully this recent hire can change that! The first big name recruit could be what some regard as the nations top safety Shaq Thompson who said he would strongly consider Washington with Lupoi now in Seattle.