Inside The Huskies

Huskies Flip San Francisco Offensive Tackle from Texas, Sark

John Mills had been pledged to the Longhorns since last June.

Dan Raley

John Mills has flipped his recruiting commitment from Texas to the UW.
John Mills has flipped his recruiting commitment from Texas to the UW. / SI

Just about this time of the year it seems the University of Washington football team takes something away from Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns.

In each of the past two seasons, it was the Alamo Bowl and the Sugar Bowl.

On Monday, with the Huskies relegated to a rebuild and a lesser postseason experience where these teams won't run into each other in the coming month, they settled for John Mills, flipping the San Francisco offensive lineman late in the recruiting process.

The 6-foot-6, 320-pound Mills from St. Ignatius College Prep made this disclosure to the recruiting websites after being committed since June to Sarkisian, the former Husky coach, and his staff.

Considered a 3-star player, he also held offers from Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas A&M and USC, among others.

With his shock of blond hair and huge frame for a high school player, Mills stood out on a couple recruiting visits to Montlake, standing along the sideline in Husky Stadium with a physique not unlike those already in a UW uniform.

Yet he initially opted for the Longhorns, swayed by the big recruiting pitch that comes from a trip to Austin.

"It's been great," Mills told Horns247 during the fall. "Seriously, I've been thinking about it every day. I'm really excited to get down to Austin and start playing football there. I know I made the right decision. Seeing how they've been succeeding on the field and off the field as well with these accomplishments. ... I trust and bought into the process. Hopefully it's going to be like that for a long time."

However, Mills similarly visited the Huskies and took a long, hard look at what Jedd Fisch's program had to offer him, and it's more than likely the offer increased.

Mills' commitment turnabout comes a day after offensive tackle Zac Stascausky from Portland's Cental Catholic High School flipped from the UW to Oregon, and two days before everyone across the college football landscape can start signing their financial agreements.

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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