Washington Huskies Land Big 4-Star Recruits with DE Levi Onwuzurike and CB/WR Byron Murphy
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA
The dust collecting on Washington’s 2016 commitment list was knocked off hard over the last two days with the Huskies landing two big recruits on Wednesday and Thursday pulling in defensive end Levi Onwuzurike and cornerback Byron Murphy respectively.
The Huskies did not pull in talent off any old high school gridiron but secured commitments from 4-stars playing with top programs in their respective states. Onwuzurike is heading to Seattle from Allen High School in Texas and Murphy from Saguaro High School in Arizona.
Washington made Onwuzurike’s Top 4 list released in mid-December after hosting the Texas native on Oct. 17. The 6’3”, 240 pound athlete also took official visits to Georgia (Oct. 3), Michigan (Oct. 10), and Baylor (Nov. 14).
Allen High School has been one of the top programs, not only in the Lone Star State, but in the nation in recent years winning three consecutive championships from 2012-2014. Onwuzurike jumped on the scene in 2014 coming up with 67 tackles and 5.5 sacks. The Eagles fell short of a fourth consecutive title in 2015 but put on an impressive run going 14-1 before falling 23-17 in the fourth round of the playoffs to Westlake (Austin). Along the way, the star defensive end picked up nearly 30 offers from teams like Arkansas, Kansas State, TCU, Oregon, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Iowa State, Houston, and Georgia.
The Sabercats are another top national team loaded with talent. Saguaro went 12-2 on the season with Murphy doing a little bit of everything to help his team out. He rushed 31 times for 179 yards finding the end zone four times and pulled in 88 passes for 1,733 yards with 21 scores. On defense, Murphy closed out his senior season with 52 total tackles, two tackles for a loss, eight pass deflections, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and an eye popping seven interceptions racking up 178 return yards.
Murphy, a U.S. Army All-American Bowl selection, is widely considered at Top 15 cornerback in the 2016 recruiting class. With around 20 offers, the 5’11”, 170 pound, speedster took official visits to Washington (Sept. 26), Texas A&M (Oct. 16), Arizona State (Nov. 21), and USC (Nov. 28). Many believed Murphy was going to stay in-state playing for the Sun Devils at the next level. His commitment to Washington is a surprise for most.
Washington now has 15 total commitments to their 2016 recruiting class with a lot of ground to make up in less than two weeks before National Signing Day. Before Onwuzurike’s commitment, the last player added to the Huskies class was quarterback Daniel Bridge-Gadd on Oct. 22.
Washington Huskies 2016 Verbal Commitment List (15)
CB Isaiah Gilchrist, 5’11”, 180 lbs, Bellevue HS, Bellevue, WA
CB Byron Murphy, 5’11”, 170 lbs, Saguaro HS, Sauaro, AZ
SS Kentrell Love, 6’2”, 175 lbs, Centennial HS, Corona, CA
SS Taylor Rapp, 5’11”, 197 lbs, Sehome HS, Bellingham, WA
LB Camilo Eifer, 6’2”, 210 lbs, Bishop O’Dowd, Oakland, CA
LB Brandon Wellington, 6’0”, 215 lbs, Eastside Catholic, Bellevue, WA
DE Levi Onwuzurike, 6’3”, 240 lbs, Allen HS, Allen, TX
DE Amandre Williams, 6’3”, 233 lbs, Tahoma HS, Covington, WA
OG Nick Harris, 6’2”, 275 lbs, J-Serra Catholic, San Juan Capistrano, CA
OG Luke Wattenberg, 6’5”, 265 lbs, J-Serra Catholic, San Juan Capistrano, CA
TE Jacob Kizer, 6’5”, 235 lbs, West Salem HS, Salem, OR
WR Aaron Fuller, 5’11”, 170 lbs, Lovejoy HS, Lucas, TX
RB Sean McGrew, 5’7”, 166 lbs, St. John Bosco, Bellflower, CA
QB Daniel Bridge-Gadd, 6’2”, 185 lbs, Paradise Valley HS, Phoenix, AZ
K Van Soderberg, 6’0”, 205 lbs, Capital HS, Olympia, WA
Photo credit: twitter.com; Murphy with Saguaro coach Jason Mohns.