Keona Wilhite commits to Washington: 'I honestly believe Washington has a chance at winning a national title'
Back in June, Keona Wilhite committed to Arizona over Washington. After staying committed to the Wildcats for three and a half months, the three-star EDGE out of Tucson (Ari.) Salpointe Catholic backed off his commitment.
On Oct. 2, Wilhite became an uncommitted recruit again. Less than two weeks later, the 6-foot-5, 230-pound senior was back in Seattle. He saw the Huskies knock off Oregon and that visit showed him all he needed to see.
“It was my first time at a Washington game and it surpassed my expectations,” Wilhite told On3. “I didn’t expect it to be that loud, the atmosphere was crazy and my ears were ringing at the end of the game.
“After that game, that experience and seeing the team and atmosphere, that settled it for me. I left that visit knowing I wanted to be at Washington.”
Wilhite is the 15th commitment for the Huskies this cycle.
Washington did not give up on Wilhite
After Wilhite committed to Arizona in June, Washington gave him some space. They backed off a little for a month or two, but when his senior season started, the recruitment of one of the best in Arizona picked back up.
Eric Schmidt led the charge. Courtney Morgan was heavily involved as well. Wilhite was planning to take more time with this decision, but he knew this one felt different.
“When I committed to Arizona, it was more of an emotional decision,” Wilhite said. “Me choosing Washington is more logical. They have a great program that develops guys who play the EDGE position. They know how to use guys at EDGE, they develop their players and it is a great fit for me. That is what it came down to.”
The new commit is a believer in Coach Schmidt.
“He is a great coach. We always talk about my game, how I can up my game and he gives me great tips. It feels like he is already my coach. He is helping me with my stance, he gives me pointers on my hands and we already have that type of connection. I like how he coaches and we already have that kind of connection.”
The connection with the staff and their player development played a key role in Wilhite’s decision. It wasn’t easy to commit, decommit, and then make another decision, but now that is done, Wilhite is very excited about the future.
“I honestly believe Washington has a chance at winning a national title under Coach Kalen DeBoer. The staff looks up to him, he listens to his staff and their ideas and he is doing a great job.
“I like how Coach DeBoer is calm and collected on the field, but then in the locker room and at practice, he is all hype. He has great balance and he is a great guy.”