Inside The Huskies

O'Dea Running Back Reveals His 3 Finalists

Jason Brown has a bigger high school reputation than that of another Irish rusher, Myles Gaskin.

Dan Raley

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Jason Brown, the most prolific running back to emerge from the state since fellow O'Dea High School product Myles Gaskin, has narrowed his college choices to Michigan State, Oregon and Washington, he told recruiting services on Thursday.

As weird as it sounds, those are all Big Ten schools or soon to be part of that conference. 

The 5-foot-10, 200-pound Brown, considered a top 10 recruit at his position for the Class of 2024, has accumulated 23 offers, including six from SEC schools or soon to be in that league. Others to offer him include Alabama, Georgia, USC, Florida State, Texas, Tennessee and Penn State.

While he's taken just one official visit, to Michigan State in late June, Brown recently told Inside the Huskies' Lars Hanson that the hometown Huskies still have a good shot at landing him. 

"I'm very interested," Brown said. "Washington has been one of the most consistent teams in my recruiting. This is my community. This is my home."

For a 10-2 O'Dea team last fall, Brown comes off a junior campaign in which he rushed for 1,600-plus yards and scored 21 touchdowns and earned a 4-star recruiting rating..

He finishes up with the Fighting Irish nine years after Gaskin emerged as a senior carrying similar size at 5-foot-10 and 193 pounds, and posting similar rushing numbers of 1,567 yards and 25 TDs in 2014.

Gaskin, of course, went on to become the UW's all-time leading rusher with 5,323 yards and scored 57 touchdowns in 2015-18 before joining the NFL's Miami Dolphins, where he's battling for a roster spot while entering his fifth season.

Again, the Huskies remain in the running for this latest O'Dea sensation.

"I truly believe I can put on for any city wherever I go," Brown said. "You have an ideal situation to put on for your state and your city when you play in your state."

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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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