Huskies Receive OT Commit from SoCal HS That Sent Them Wattenberg, Harris
Restoring an old recruiting connection with a new coach, the University of Washington football team received a commitment from offensive tackle Jake Flores, who plays for the same Southern California high school that sent Luke Wattenberg to the Huskies, and Nick Harris before that.
On Saturday night, while coach Jedd Fisch was addressing the sellout crowd attending the UW-Washington State basketball game in Seattle, the 6-foot-6, 280-pound Flores from JSerra Catholic High School was posting his intentions on social media.
Labeled a 3-star recruit, Flores actually has a much bigger reputation than that in the class of 2025 after piling up 22 offers on an impressive list of suitors — among them Florida, Florida State, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas A&M and USC.
The Huskies initially offered Flores in June 2022, six months into Kalen DeBoer's tour of duty, when the lineman was just a ninth-grader at his San Juan Capistrano high school. He visited Montlake last season on Nov. 25 for the Apple Cup against Washington State with his family and, a few days following the coaching change, was re-offered by Fisch's staff on Jan. 19.
Wattenberg was a JSerra Catholic graduate who proceeded to become a versatile 48-game starter for the Huskies at left tackle, left guard and center, opening games in each of five seasons.
After twice earning All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors at center, Wattenberg entered the 2022 NFL draft and went to the Denver Broncos as a fifth-round pick and the 171st player taken overall.
Flores was one of the first to retweet Wattenberg's draft pick.
Harris likewise emerged from JSerra Catholic and became a 50-game UW starter at center and both guard spots over four season. Twice named the first-team All-Pac-12 center, Harris was a fifth-round draft pick for the Cleveland Browns and the 160th player selected.
Flores was a long and lean 225 pounds when DeBoer's staff offered him as a freshman, shuttling between the JSerra varsity, junior varsity and freshman football teams as he began his high school career.
He since has added 55 pounds to his receptive frame while playing for a 5-6 Lions team this past season.
Flores became the second player on Saturday to commit to the UW, joining junior-college defensive tackle Bryce Butler from Garden City Community College in Kansas and a former Arizona signee.
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