Inside The Huskies

SoCal Tight-End Commit Flips from Huskies to Oregon

Vander Ploog had been pledged to Jedd Fisch's program for five months.

Dan Raley

UW commits Dash Beierly, Vander Ploog and Dylan Robinson hang out together on game day in Montlake.
UW commits Dash Beierly, Vander Ploog and Dylan Robinson hang out together on game day in Montlake. / UW Athletics

Vander Ploog, a Southern California high school football recruit with the unusual name and possibly a tight-end skill set to match, on Sunday flipped his commitment from Washington to Oregon, as had been forecast for more than a month now.

The 6-foot-6, 210-pound player from Troy High School in Fullerton, California, committed to the Huskies in June and had been back to Montlake on visits multiple times since, even attending the UW-USC football game.

However, in the end, it wasn't nearly enough for him to join Jedd Fisch's program after the Ducks decided they wanted him and put on a full-court press to get the 4-star player to change his mind.

"The connection [the coaches] have with each other and the players was a big part of my decision,” Ploog said to On3's Chad Simmons. “The offense that they run is tight end heavy and I can see myself playing in it, too.”

Basically, he couldn't resist what is considered college football Disneyland, with campus facilities and NIKE backing considered unparalleled in the college game.

In late September, Ploog showed what he's capable of doing by catching 12 passes for 190 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 42-10 victory over Segerstrom. And they weren't just short catches over the middle, with the tight end making first-half grabs of 33 and 40 yards.

Ploog was one two 4-star tight ends committed to the UW for the 2025 class, with 6-foot-3, 230-pound Baron Naone from West Linn High School in West Linn, Oregon, still in line to join the Huskies.

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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