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Over the last year we have had the pleasure of getting to know and training with Andrew Kirkland (6-5 295 Sr. OL), the talented lineman from Jesuit. He is one of the most humble and polite kids you are ever going to meet and all we ever hear from people is…" I love that kid".
Kirkland plays on one of the most talented lines in the country, partly because he’s on it. This years Jesuit team should have a #1 state ranking coming into the season as they average 6-5 285 across the board. Kirkland had received offers from Colorado, Wyoming, and Portland St but decided that this offer was something to good to pass up.
Kirkland is ranked the #3 O lineman in Oregon behind Brayden Kearsley (Soft-BYU) and Evan Voeller (Oregon) and had a standout performance at the Showcase Event in Seattle this past weekend. The humble Kirkland said, " I just feel very blessed and hyped to be going to play for such an amazing program".
The Huskies have really gotten things going as of late capitalizing on some big time commitments from outside the state. Both Kirkland and Andrew Basham (6-5 295 Sr. OL/DL ) are huge pickups for Washington getting two of the regions best. We wish Kirkland nothing but the best, and will look forward to following his career
Jordan J-NEI
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NEI’s top ranked WR for the State of Washington for the class of 2013, Sammie Long (6-4 190 Sr. WR Lakes), was recently offered by Utah and the upstart Utes. This is a big time offer from a team that has played in BCS Bowl games and consistently won over the last decade.
Entering the Pac 12 Conference is a different animal, and an offer to the talented Washington product says a lot about his game. Both Long and talented sidekick Marquin Russell (6-1 175 Sr. WR) have received D1 offers (Idaho, Army), and will enable this years Lakes team to pick on whichever DB is in single coverage with them.
Speaking with Long earlier and referencing the Utah offer the senior to be said, " they have a very loving and welcoming coaching staff". Sammie’s a man of few words, as he usually lets his play do the talking. Its been great having Sammie out training with us at the Barton Football Academy and as part of our NEI-North team. We wish him continued success
Jordan J-NEI
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Washington got some great news last week when seven prospects on their recruiting list decided to become Huskies. The only local player of the bunch, Lynnwood (Wa.) OL/DL Andrew Basham, decided earlier in the week to make his choice, but waited for the big event and told Northwest Elite Index he knew pretty quickly where he wanted to go…
"Coach (Tosh) Lupoi, after talking with him, I could see there was a good group of guys here and I didn’t want to go too far from home, so I just decided to commit to Washington," Basham told NEI shortly after his decision. "It was just the right place for me. I love the coaches and I felt like if I was going to go to Washington, why wait any longer?"
Basham chose the Huskies over offers from Arizona State and Oregon State and was getting interest from several other schools in the region, most notably Boise State, Washington State and Oregon.
While he’s a star for Lynnwood on both sides of the ball and he certainly projects well on either side of the ball at the college level, it appears, at least initially that he will start out on the defensive side of the ball for the Huskies.
"They said defense is where they want me," Basham noted. "I think they are going to look at me at a couple of spots, end or tackle, so I’m not really sure. It will be fun to see what they end up having me do."
As far as qualifying goes, reports have been that Basham has a ways to go in qualifying and he admits that he’s behind where he should be at this point, but he’s working hard to get his ship pointed in the right direction.
"I’m in summer school now, that’s why I haven’t been at a lot of camps," Basham acknowledged. "After Washington offered, I set up a time when I could sit down with my counselors so I could see what I needed to do and they laid it all out for me.
"I’m taking classes now and I’m studying for the tests (SAT/ACT)."
Basham also admitted that this decision was also about pushing himself.
"I will admit that I didn’t take things as seriously as I needed to (in the classroom)," Basham said. "Committing like I have now, I think it’s going to push me because I want to be part of something special like this and I don’t want to miss out on an opportunity like this."
We will continue to keep track of Basham’s progress and will continue to update his status as necessary.
Basham and the rest of his teammates will work this offseason on their own and then will begin preparations for the 2012 season when they kick off training camp in mid-August.
Scott Eklund- NEI
