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Inside The Huskies

Huskies Remain in Running for Rainey-Sale, State's Top 2025 Player

The UW had a commitment from him briefly in January before the coaching change.
Dan Raley|
Former UW edge rusher coach Ikaika Malloe, now UCLA's defensive coordinator, is recruiting Bethel LB Zaydrius Rainey-Sale.
Former UW edge rusher coach Ikaika Malloe, now UCLA's defensive coordinator, is recruiting Bethel LB Zaydrius Rainey-Sale. | UCLA

Within hours of the Huskies kicking off in the CFP national championship game against Michigan, the state's top 2025 high school football player, linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, committed to the University of Washington football program.

It seemed only apropos the 4-star player would do this with the UW on the verge of such a milestone moment -- playing with everything on the line.

However, the Huskies lost the game, followed by coach Kalen DeBoer and Rainey-Sale's commitment, all in the space of five days, with the 6-foot-3, 225-pound recruit from Bethel High School in Spanaway, Washington, publicly pulling back within 60 minutes of the announcement that DeBoer had taken the Alabama job.

While the game can't be reversed and DeBoer is long gone, getting Rainey-Sale back in good graces with Montlake has been a Jedd Fisch priority. The new UW football leader sent seven coaches, including both of his coordinators, to Bethel last month in a show of good faith interest, which didn't restore the player's commitment, but kept this staff firmly in the running for his services.

On Monday, Rainey-Sale disclosed he has narrowed his choices to Florida State, UCLA and Washington.

That's a start -- or a restart.

Consider the first time around, Rainey-Sale had narrowed his choices to Florida State, Miami, Oregon Penn State and the UW.

So in effect, the Seminoles and Huskies remain in the recruitment game for this elite player, while the Ducks, Nittany Lions and Hurricanes didn't get a reprieve, and UCLA, with Ikaika Malloe, the former UW edge coach and now Bruins defensive coordinator, getting his team in the mix.

The attraction to Rainey-Sale is his flat-out speed for a big hitter that obviously has shown up in all of his football camp auditions. For the Huskies, he's also that symbolic No. 1 local recruit if they can land him once and for all.

"Explosive player who shows the ability to play inside or outside and has some natural pass rush ability," 247Sports analyst Greg Biggins sized up in his online report. "Can really accelerate and close on the football. Has the speed to run down plays from behind and outside his area."

This past season, Rainey-Sale appeared in just six games for the 4-6 Bison in the east Tacoma area because he got injured. He finished with 65 tackles, or more than 10 per game, which included 6 tackles for loss and 4 sacks.

So the Huskies don't have him back as a commit, but they haven't missed out on him either.

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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