Inside The Huskies

Huskies to Host Lineman from Rosengarten's Colorado High School

Reis Russell is receiving similar recruiting attention to his predecessor who played for the UW.

Dan Raley

Reis Russell (54) has UW visit lined up for April.
Reis Russell (54) has UW visit lined up for April. / Reis Russell

Desirable offensive-line recruits come equipped with natural size, nimble footwork and the ability to get real strong overnight.

The better ones, however, also have one more thing they bring to the trenches -- that look in their eye, that mischievous glint, the one that suggests they're about to swallow a canary.

Just finishing up his sophomore year of high school classes, Reis Russell, in all of his photogenic glory posted across social media, seems to have that telltale smirk.

He's a 6-foot-3, 290-pound prospect from Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, in the Denver suburbs, which, if it sounds vaguely familiar, was the same place that sent Roger Rosengarten to the University of Washington football program and on to the NFL as a rookie starter.

They're the double R boys from the shadows of the Rocky Mountains -- Reis Russell and Roger Rosengarten.

While attending several camps, Russell from the Class of 2027 has begun to draw similar Rosengarten-like recruiting attention, holding 16 offers and setting up spring visits to the UW (April 8), followed by stops at Oklahoma (April 12) and at Arizona (April 19).

This latest kid from Colorado seems equally motivated to follow in the other guy's footsteps. He mentioned how he bench-pressed 300 pounds on December 17, while he still was just 15 years old. He notes the extra early morning hours of his workouts.

Once he hit Montlake in 2020, Rosengarten proved to be a tackle all along. Russell points out he can play center, guard and tackle. The latter also is a shot putter at Valor Christian.

Reis Russel got a tour of Oklahoma State.
Reis Russel got a tour of Oklahoma State. / Oklahoma State

As he makes the rounds, Russell typically is accompanied by his parents, with the three of them photographed at field level at Texas A&M.

Yet Oklahoma State had him take an end-zone photo of himself with someone all decked out in black and orange, which was either a female host or a relative, though there was no confirmation of their connection.

He's been to Tennessee and to A&M to check out the SEC. Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska and Penn State also have offered him.

Russell will take a look at Rosengarten's old college haunts in roughly six weeks and see whether it suits him, as well.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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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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