Inside The Huskies

Huskies Make the First Cut for 2026 SoCal Quarterback

Jaden O'Neal pares his list to 10 suitors nationwide.

Dan Raley

Jaden O'Neal, 2026 quarterback recruit, has 10 finalists, UW included.
Jaden O'Neal, 2026 quarterback recruit, has 10 finalists, UW included. / Oklahoma

The latest trendy Southern California quarterback is Jaden O'Neal, whose big news this week wasn't all that revealing at all.

The 4-star recruit from Long Beach and the Class of 2026 merely narrowed his choices from roughly 30 schools to a more workable 10.

All of the recruiting websites get extra excited when stuff like this happens.

In this case, one of the 10 suitors still in the game for O'Neal is Washington, which usually doesn't jump into the sweepstakes for a high school quarterback that everyone nationwide wants, rather it zeroes in on one who tends to be more regional (see Demaricus Davis), has a special talent such as excellent speed (see Demond Williams Jr.) or was at one time somewhat of a hidden talent (see Lincoln Kienholz).

O'Neal, however is a national recruit, sporting good size at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds coming out of his sophomore season and possessing significant arm strength.

He played for a 5-6 Newport Harbor High School team this past season and for the Sailors he completed 209 of 343 passes for 2,475 yards and 27 touchdowns. in March, he transferred to Narbonne in Los Angeles proper, presumably for a step up in competition.

The Huskies are included on a preliminary list that also consists of, in alphabetical order, Arizona State, Auburn, Colorado, Florida State, Miami, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon and Penn State.

O'Neal reportedly came through Montlake on an unofficial visit in late April while Husky spring football practice was winding down.

Naturally, he's a young kid who's being treated like royalty wherever he goes and seems to be enjoying all the attention. To his benefit, he doesn't have to pare down his list of schools for up to another year.

"With schools like Auburn, Florida State and Miami, they are top schools in the South and I have always dreamed about playing in the South," O'Neal told On3.com. "Ohio State, Oklahoma and Penn State are schools with history and tradition. Then Colorado, Arizona State, Oregon and Washington are closer to home with great coaches and schools that have some NFL experience.”

Of their future quarterback interests, the Huskies currently have 5-foot-11, 1 85-pound freshman Demond Williams Jr. on campus after having him enroll early and take part in spring ball and 2025 QB commits in 6-foot-1, 215-pound Dash Beierly, who's at Mater Dei High School in SoCal, and 5-foot-10, 210-pound Kini McMillan from Mililani High in Mililani, Hawaii.

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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