Inside The Huskies

Wilhite Asks for UW Scholarship Release; De-Commited Earlier From Fisch

The Arizona defensive lineman has reopened his recruitment.

Dan Raley

In this story:

Keona Wilhite, a Tucson defensive lineman who de-committed from Jedd Fisch and Arizona in October, asked for his University of Washington scholarship release on Sunday, just hours before Fisch was revealed as the Huskies' new coach.

It's probably safe to say the 6-foot-5, 240-pound Wilhite from Salpointe Catholic High School wasn't going to play for Fisch for whatever reason.

He parted ways with the UW on the same day another Arizona player, edge rusher Noah Carter from Peoria's Centennial High School, requested his release from the Huskies. 

"Please respect the decision I have made," Wilhite posted on social media. "After much discussion and [prayer] with my family, I have decided to de-commit from UW. I want to thank the UW community for all the love and support. With that said, I am officially reopening my recruitment."

In two years at Salpointe Catholic High, Wilhite accumulated 84 tackles, including 24 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks.

He committed to the Huskies in late October when Eric Schmidt was still the UW edge-rushers coach and Kalen DeBoer the head coach.

Wilhite signed with the UW in December even though Schmidt was leaving to become the defensive coordinator for San Diego State.

"I love the development program for their edges," Wilhite said. "Coach Schmidt explained each step to me during my unofficial visit and showed me how they're able to get such elite edge play. I believe committing to Washington will help me reach my end goal of the NFL."

Not anymore. After signing with the Huskies over Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Colorado, Nebraska, Oregon State and UCLA, Wilhite asked out of his scholarship once DeBoer left for Alabama.

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published. Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12

Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 or @UWFanNation or @DanRaley3

Have a question, direct message me on Facebook or Twitter.

Published
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.

Home/Football