Inside The Huskies

UW Offers Edge Rusher, Hoping Dad-Inge Connection Pays Off

Iose Epenesa is the younger sibling of the Bills' A.J. Epenesa.

Dan Raley

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When he was in the eighth grade, Iose Epenesa, an aspiring edge rusher from Edwardsville, Illinois, received his first college football scholarship offer from the University of Iowa.

While the offer might have arrived quite a bit earlier than for the typical recruit, the Hawkeyes weren't going to waste any time in getting in on this kid and for good reason.

Epenesa's father, Eppy, played defensive tackle for the Hawkeyes in 1996 and 1997; the recruit's brother, A.J., went to Iowa, was a first-team, All-Big Ten selection at edge rusher in 2019 and now plays for the Buffalo Bills; and another brother, Eric, currently is a walk-on linebacker in Iowa City.

The Iowa football program seemingly has a strong, unbreakable bond with this Illinois family so other college recruiters need not inquire about the third son, right?

Not so fast.

On Saturday night, Kalen DeBoer's University of Washington football staff made its own run at Iose Epenesa, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound sophomore at Edwardsville High, and offered him a scholarship, his 11th so far.

The scholarship proposal was made by William Inge, the affable Husky co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

Who just so happens to be a former Hawkeyes football player himself, in fact a three-year starting linebacker during his 1993-1996 career. 

And a 1996 teammate on the Iowa defense for one Espenesa "Eppy" Epenesa, a native Samoan who joined the Hawkeyes as a determined walk-on transfer from Iowa Wesleyan and earned a scholarship.

Whether or not that's enough to successfully recruit Iose (pronounced Yo-Say) Epenesa, considered the No. 1 Illinois recruit and No. 9 national prospect for the Class of 2025, remains to be seen.

But it's good to have connections. It gives you a fighting chance during these signing wars. If nothing else, it's good to get reacquainted with old friends.

This youngest Epenesa comes off a highly productive sophomore season in which he accumulated 58 tackles, which included 11 tackles for loss and 6 sacks, for the 7-4 Edwardsville Tigers. 

Iose Epenesa has a UW scholarship offer.
Iose Epenesa (88) comes off his sophomore season at Edwardsville High / Epenesa

Some say this player compares favorably to his brother A.J. Epenesa, a 6-foot-6, 260-pound defender who went to the Bills as a 2020 second-round and 54th overall pick after finishing with 26.5 career sacks at Iowa, which ranks him fourth in school history.

The entire family, as the accompanying photo shows, has traveled to Buffalo to watch A.J. play for the playoff-bound Bills. 

Meantime, Iose Epenesa also holds offers from Michigan, Nebraska, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Arkansas, Illinois, Miami, Minnesota and the Hawkeyes and the Huskies. 

Edwardsville is located up Interstate 55 near the Missouri-Illinois state line, 30 miles north of St. Louis.

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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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