Inside The Huskies

DeBoer Had UW Recruiting Channel Tuned to Showtime

Lance Holtzclaw becomes the Husky with the best nickname.

Dan Raley

In the popular TV series "Friday Night Lights," fictional football coach Eric Taylor randomly calls one of his players "Lance," because he really doesn't know who the kid is.

That won't be Kalen DeBoer's problem with his newly signed edge rusher from Mesa, Arizona.

Lance "Showtime" Holtzclaw comes to the University of Washington with all kinds of names and reasons to remember him.

"Personality-wise, I can't wait to get him in the locker room," DeBoer said. "He's an all-in guy."

The football attraction to the 6-foot-4, 201-pounder from Desert Ridge High School is the length and speed he brings to his playmaking position. He just needs to put 30 or 40 pounds on his frame to become a high-level college player.

By his own making, Holtzclaw is a premium channel that's always turned on or a Deion Sanders wannabe with a slight variation from his "Prime Time" label.

Showtime?

As a child, he shied from attention, even resisted having his photo taken. That all changed when he became a sixth-grader and he realized he liked being the object of everyone's affections and gave himself a nickname. 

"As a kid I hated being in front of the camera," Holtzclaw explained. "My mom tried her best to take pictures of me but I would fight it. As I got older I enjoyed being in the spotlight and looked to be the center of attention. When the light gets bright, I show out."

The recent slew of Husky signees stands to be fun bunch, especially when it comes to nicknames, with "Showtime" joined by Nevada wide receiver Jeremy "Germie" Bernard.

For a 4-7 team, Holtzclaw was a definite bright spot with 10 sacks among 48 tackles. Coming off the end, he also blocked four punts, had 7 pass defends, forced 3 fumbles and recovered a pair of bobbles. 

An all-around athlete, Holtzclaw also caught 14 passes for 266 yards and 2 scores.

"He's an explosive guy," DeBoer said. "He's got a burst that you really like to see."

With the UW coaching change from Jimmy Lake to DeBoer, Holtzclaw initially intended to delay signing his national letter of intent until February to make sure he and the new staff were a good fit.

DeBoer contacted the Arizonan multiple times and was able to persuade him to be part of the early five-player Husky recruiting class. 

"He's going to be great football player for us," the coach said. 

DeBoer, of course, learned about Holtzclaw's nickname from their first phone call and he was entertained by it, though he'll have no problem calling him Lance if necessary.

"The personality is fun and easy-going hanging out with him, but he's also got this intensity about him where he knows what he wants," the UW coach said. "Like his coaches all verify, he knows what it takes to get what he wants."

A catchy nickname ranks right up there, too.

"You can't go away from a guy whose nickname is Showtime," DeBoer said.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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