Inside The Huskies

Huskies Flip Mater Dei Wide Receiver at the 11th Hour

Marcus Harris apparently will join his QB Dash Beierly at the UW.

Dan Raley

Marcus Harrris is shown visiting the UW with then receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard.
Marcus Harrris is shown visiting the UW with then receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard. / UW

Two days after the University of Washington football team beat Texas in the Sugar Bowl and CFP playoffs, Marcus Harris dropped a photo of him in a Huskies uniform with then receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard on social media.

Nearly a year later, a lot has happened to all of the involved, with Harris, a Mater Dei High School receiver in the Los Angeles area, flipping to the Huskies on Wednesday's signing day after de-committing from Oklahoma a few days earlier, according to multiple recruiting sites.

The UW, already aligned with Mater Dei quarterback Dash Beierly, will sign the back half of a prolific passing combination, giving the Huskies possibly in excess of 30 new players as this recruitment period comes to a head.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Harris, described as an explosive player and one of the nation's best at what he does by the analysts, brings career totals of 98 catches for 1,765 yards and 21 touchdowns from Mater Dei, which is ranked as the nation's top high school team and will play on Dec. 14 for a second consecutive CIF Open Division state championship. As a sophomore in 2022, he returned 4 punt returns for scores in that season alone.

In August, Harris, a 4-star prospect, listed his finalists as Georgia, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas, eventually gravitating to the Sooners.

While the Huskies were pushing hard for him in early January, Shephard left with Kalen DeBoer for Alabama a week later. A month later, they were recruiting Harris to join the Crimson Tide.

Not to be outdone, Jedd Fisch's new UW staff offered Harris on Jan. 23, a week after he was installed as the Husky coach -- and in the end he is bound for Montlake.

Here's what Greg Biggins of 247Sports had to say about the Mater Dei pass-catcher: "Harris is one of the top pass catchers in the country with a really nice all around game. He’s an explosive player who can get behind a defense, runs well after the catch and is a sure handed pass catcher with strong hands that you can go to on key third down plays. He has a strong 6-1, 185 pound frame, high level body control and routinely makes the acrobatic catch look easy. He has excellent hand-eye coordination and is one of the better receivers we’ve seen making contested catches with a corner draped over him. He’s an advanced route runner who can turn a defensive back around and create easy separation."

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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