GoHuskies Magazine, Feb./Mar. Issue

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

IN THIS ISSUE

From the Athletic Director's Desk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Jimmy Lake is ready to hit the ground running . . . . . . . . . 4 10 Questions with guard T.T. Watkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Two talented freshmen took different paths to UW hoops stardom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Gymdawg Madison Copiak is living a dream . . . . . . . . . . 18 Husky football's Class of 2020 has their new coach all smiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 The Shot: Chris Petersen waves goodbye . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

GoHUSKIES

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GOHUSKIES VOLUME 13 / ISSUE 5 / FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

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EDITOR Brian Beaky WRITERS Mason Kelley, Mark Moschetti

FROM THE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR’S DESK

W

ith the start of 2020 and a new decade, I’ve spent some time reflecting on what the last 10 years have looked like for all of us lucky enough to be associated with Husky Athletics.

Wow! What an unbelievable run it has been. We have had so many incredible performances that have led to mountain-top experiences for each of our programs. We’ve also seen many changes across the landscape of college athletics. However, the one thing that’s remained constant is the support of Husky Nation. We wouldn’t be where we are today without the loyal backing of each of you.

The era ended with a memorable fall that was highlighted by Elite Eight appearances for both men's soccer and volleyball, putting us in third in the Division I Learfield Directors’ Cup standings after strong fall campaigns.

We said goodbye to a pair of coaches in Coach Petersen and Coach Gallimore; each were legendary and prolific in their respective sports. We also welcomed new leaders in Jimmy Lake (football) and Nicole Van Dyke (women’s soccer), who have already made huge impacts on our campus community. Change is always challenging, but it’s also a chance for us to grow and improve.

We remain committed to the student-athlete experience, as our amazing Huskies turned in a department-record 3.27 GPA for the fall quarter.

This would not be possible without our phenom-

Jennifer Cohen

enal coaches and academic support staff. These are all resources that you help us provide as we continue to impact and change lives.

Our winter sports are in full swing and our spring student-athletes are ramping up for another exciting competition season. We hope to see you out on Montlake cheering on the Huskies at one of our many events. Thank you for your amazing support and making this such a special place!

Go Dawgs!

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It’s been a whirlwind start to the year for the Huskies' new head man,

BY MARK MOSCHETTI FOR GOHUSKIES MAGAZINE

lijah Molden thought he had a good idea of what to expect from Jimmy Lake.

A two-way Oregon All-State player who helped West Linn High School win a state championship in 2016, he remembered Lake being “super friendly” during the recruiting process.

“He didn’t seem like he’d be the kind of coach who would lay into you a little bit,” recalls Molden, a defensive back now getting ready for his senior season at the University of Washington.

It didn’t take long for him to discover otherwise.

“My first practice, I figured out that wasn’t the case. He’s super-competitive,” Molden says. “I’d say he’s the most competitive person I’ve ever met. He has the most fiery spirit of anyone I’ve ever met.”

Super-competitive. Fiery spirit.

Whether it’s purple-clad players on the field or purple-adorned fans in the Husky Stadium stands, that’s a good idea of what to expect from Jimmy Lake.

“Somewhere, I got struck with that competitive thing across my head – to my detriment sometimes,” the new UW head football coach says with a laugh, adding that he doesn’t like losing anywhere, whether to another team on the field, to a friend on the pool or Ping-Pong table, or even to his son in the Call of Duty video game.

“It drives me to make sure our coaches and players are prepared so we can be ready for every game and every practice ahead,” Lake says. “It drives me to be prepared to make sure I’m putting everything into my job.”

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Full-Throttle, All The Time The 43-year-old Lake already has been busy delivering on those supercompetitive, fiery-spirit attributes.

First, it was putting an exclamation point on his time as the Huskies’ defensive coordinator by helping shut down Boise State’s potent offense and giving Chris Petersen his final UW coaching victory in a 38-7 Las Vegas Bowl romp on Dec. 21.

Then, it was batting one-thousand on the recruiting trail, as the 23 players who verbally committed before Petersen announced his resignation on Dec. 2 each ultimately signed on the dotted line.

Since then?

“It’s slowing down a little bit. But, every day is something new and something that needs to get taken care of,” Lake says.

Make no mistake, though: Now that he’s the guy who has to get those things taken care of, he is relishing every moment.

“I thought five years, eight years from now, there would be a possibility, whether I was here or somewhere else, that whenever Chris decided to step away, I would have an opportunity,” he says. “But, no one told me that I was going to be the next head coach.”

No one, that is, until Huskies athletic director Jen Cohen gave him a call on Saturday, Nov. 30, the day after the 31-13 Apple Cup win against Washington State. That call pulled Lake away from a family Thanksgiving gathering in his home.

“I was just lounging around, watching football, watching with my family,” he says.

Only wife Michele had an inkling of what was happening, as Lake says she went to see what was going on when that phone call kept him upstairs for a while.

Their three children were told on Sunday evening, Dec. 1. The rest of the world found out the next day: First, the news that Petersen was stepping down — which virtually nobody saw coming — then, the announcement that Lake would be the new man at the helm following the bowl game.

“Obviously, it was a surprising moment,” Lake says. “But, at the same time, it was an exhilarating moment, knowing I was going to get to be a head football coach.”

Preparing For That Moment He was going to be a head football coach.

When he first got into the game, that was not on Jimmy Lake’s radar. His first job was as the secondary coach at his alma mater of Eastern Washington University from 2000-03. Then it was a year on Keith Gilbertson’s staff at Washington in 2004 as the defensive backs coach, and a year at Montana State in 2005.

“I wanted to become the best defensive backs coach in the country – that was my goal,” Lake says. “And, I made it all the way to the NFL.” He had three stops at that level, all coaching DBs: Tampa Bay in 2006 and ’07, Detroit in 2008, then back to Tampa Bay in 2010 and ’11.

“After my second stint in the NFL, when the head coach was fired, the rest of the staff was fired, you felt like you had no control over that,” Lake says. “At that point, it was, ‘You know what? I do want to learn how to be a head coach.’ I had taken copious notes from Jon Gruden (in Tampa) and Rod Marinelli (Tampa and Detroit) and all these coaches I had been around.”

He took plenty of those notes during his eight seasons working with Petersen, as well, first at Boise State (2012 and ’13), and then with the Huskies, beginning in 2014.

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PLAY WITH ENERGY. BE EXCITED. CUT LOOSE. HAVE FUN. Now, all of those notes, all of those conversations with his predecessors and mentors – from Cheney to Bozeman, Tampa to Detroit, Boise to Seattle – are there for Lake to draw upon as his dream of becoming a head coach becomes reality.

“I wasn’t going to take just any job,” he says. “I knew when that time came that I was going to take a head job, it was going to be a job that had resources, that we could recruit great coaches and great players and great staff so we could win championships.

“Thankfully, it would be here.”

Demanding The Best – And Getting It Like any athlete in any sport, Molden doesn’t necessarily like it when his coach will “lay into you a little bit.”

But, when that coach is Jimmy Lake, it’s a little easier to take it to heart.

Beginning as a true freshman in 2017, Molden has seen action in every game, going from an off-the-bench player his first year to a regular starter, AllPac-12 First Teamer and Pro Football Focus All-America Second Teamer in 2019.

“He just demands it,” Molden says of how Lake has gotten the best out of him – and all of the UW players under his tutelage. “It starts in the offseason, and goes through spring camp, fall camp.

“He has such a high level of expectation – and it’s always rising.”

Defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike, who, like Molden, will be heading into his senior season, feeds off another aspect of Lake’s coaching style.

“He’s an aggressive person – he always wants to take shots and blitz,” Onwuzurike says. “He’s always fired up. You make a play, and he goes crazy with us.”

Coming from a USA Today top-20 team at Allen (Texas) High School, where he was an honorable mention All-State player, Onwuzurike has made his share of plays for Lake – enough to earn All-Pac-12 First Team and Phil Steele All-America Honorable Mention this past season.

He has grown to enjoy the contrast between the on-field and the off-field sides of the Huskies’ new head man.

“On the field, he’s more assertive, and he likes to get stuff done,” he says.

“But, he still laughs and jokes and likes having fun. He’s easy to approach and easy to talk to – and he always wants us to learn.”

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Student Of The Game That aspect won’t change.

“I want to teach my guys something every day,” Lake says. “I have a lot of pride in watching guys grow and develop and succeed.”

Ditto for himself.

“I’ve never been set in my ways and said, ‘This is the way it is,’" he says.

"I always want to be searching for better ways to do things – I think that comes across as genuine. I hope the players can see that not only do I expect them to grow and develop, but that I’m (also) growing and developing.”

Lake says Chris Petersen’s philosophies of “great foundation, built for life, uncommon unity” also will remain part of the Washington program.

“There was just a changing at the helm. I’m just going to take over the steering wheel, so to speak,” he says.

Though defense has been his career calling card, Lake says he has made it a point to stay in tune with all aspects of the game.

“Even when I wasn’t a head coach, I always had a well-rounded view of what our offense was doing to pin a team back,” he says. “I love the game; I love the strategy. It’s really going to get my juices flowing.”

That mindset ultimately is expected to flow down to the players – and to Husky Nation.

“You’ll see a team that is going to play with a lot of energy,” he says.

“You’ll see a team that is excited to go play. I want these guys to cut loose and show what great athletes they are, and have fun out there.”

Play with energy. Be excited. Cut loose. Have fun.

That’s a good idea of what to expect from Jimmy Lake.

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C

10 QUESTIONS WITH... GUARD T.T. WATKINS

alifornia native T.T. Watkins arrived at Washington last year and hit the ground running, appearing in 20 games in her freshman season before sitting out the latter part of the season with an injury. Healthy again in 2019-20, Watkins has proven to be an important cog in the Huskies' rotation this year, averaging 5.0 points and 2.6 rebounds per game, and ranking second on the team in blocks. We caught up with Watkins to find out how she spends her time when she’s not playing basketball:

What has been your favorite place to visit in Seattle?

“Chihuly Garden and Glass, downtown by the Space Needle. It's just beautiful art all around, made from glass, which is epic and awesome to my eyes.”

Where is the most interesting place you’ve ever traveled?

“Puerto Rico. The weather was so beautiful in the morning. I love waking up to the smell of fresh air coming off of the water and the sounds of the waves crashing in. Just to be succumbed with peace.”

What do you do in your free time?

“I love to take nature walks, being able to listen to my own thoughts.

To see the beautiful mountains, trees and everything nature has to offer. In addition to sitting and walking on the beach, listening to the waves. When I'm not outside, my free time in the house is occupied with the infamous Netflix. I can say Netflix has kinda taken over when I don't have anything else to do through the day.”

If you were to create a slogan for your life, what would it be?

“My slogan for life would be something that my grandma and my mother always told me my whole life growing up: 'You are destined to do great things,' stemming from my middle name, Destiny. Whenever they express those words to me, it just brings a smile to my face, and makes me feel, believe and know my life is meant for good. I am destined to be that light which shines so bright.”

What are the things on your personal bucket list?

“This is actually a very hard question. My top two are, changing 'my story' to what I want my life to be, and bringing happiness to other people's lives.”

What are some of the earliest memories of you playing basketball?

“When I played NJB ball and I would play against the boys' team. After the games, parents would come and ask me for a picture or an autograph.”

Who is your biggest inspiration in basketball?

“My travel ball coach, Coach Irv. I remember him telling me, 'You can be good. You can be the best. I see it in you. But, you have to believe in yourself and you have to figure out if you want it or are willing to put the time and effort to be the best. I already see it in you. So go be it.' I will forever treasure those words from him. I don't believe he ever knew before he passed how much that meant to me.”

What do you love most about playing basketball? “ What I love most about playing basketball is making longlasting relationships with my teammates. We spend dayin and day-out with each other, and I can say that I love my team as if they were all my sisters.”

Who were your favorite basketball players growing up?

“My favorite basketball player growing up was Kevin Durant. In high school I wore the number 35, just like him. Everyone would call me KD, because I shot like him and I was long and athletic, as he was. I took it all as an honor and compliment.”

Can you talk about some of the experiences that have been opened up to you through the sport and how they have changed your life?

“Having the opportunity to be

offered scholarships to further my education. To be on very diverse basketball teams and meet other talented individuals. The sport has provided me the opportunity to travel to different places. It has given me the traits of dedication, commitment and hard work. The sport has made me a well-rounded person and it has given me growth as an individual.”

Continued on page 15 GoHUSKIES

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Running WITH THE

ISAIAH STEWART and JADEN MCDANIELS took different paths to Washington, but their reasons – and their lofty goals – are the same PAGE 14

GoHUSKIES

BY MASON KELLEY

saiah Stewart had a tough decision to make.

The 6-foot-9 big man with a diverse skill set that made him one of the nation’s top prospects could have played anywhere.

He could have selected Kentucky, Duke or Michigan State. The upstate New York native could have stayed closer to home and played at Syracuse. He could have gone wherever he wanted.

His future was in his control.

But, as he made his choice, the McDonald’s All-American went back to a moment when he was 14 years old. His decision was based on a relationship, not a school. He chose trust over prestige.

He decided to play for coach Mike Hopkins.

“I’ve known him since I was 14 years old,” Stewart says. “Being from upstate New York, he coached at Syracuse. He came up to watch me work out and things like that.”

Hopkins didn’t just get to know the teenager, he made the recruit feel like he could accomplish everything he wanted to on a basketball court.

“He told me when I was younger that he believed I would be the best player in the country,” Stewart says.

Long before he decided to play for Hopkins, the coach championed the big man’s cause.

“For a coach to say that to me that young, he really saw something in me,” Stewart says.

So, when it came time to make a choice, well, there wasn’t much of a decision to make. Stewart selected Washington because he wanted to play for Hopkins. He traveled more than 2,500 miles away from home to build something with the coach who believed in him.

“The experience has been great. Coach Hop and the staff have been working hard every day at practice to make us the best players we can be,” Stewart says. “The season has been great. We have a young team and we’re just trying to get better every day.”

Stewart has been as a good as advertised, averaging more than 18 points and eight rebounds per game in his first season (totals through Jan. 16). He is learning the college game in real time, taking the best shot of each opponent the Huskies face. And, he is more than holding his own.

“I’m just trying to work on a little bit of everything,” Stewart says. “Being a freshman and facing double teams, triple teams every night, it forces you to grow up really quickly, mature really quickly when you step foot on the court every night.

“You’re going to get your opponent’s best, because it’s their Super Bowl game, their ticket to play against you.”

And, as Stewart grows, Hopkins is with him every step of the way. They align well together, both through their work ethic and drive to succeed.

“I just look at Hop as someone who’s like me,” Stewart says. “He’s very determined. He always wants to go out and play hard, compete against the

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best in the country and just take names. I look at him as a dog.

“We connect so well, because he’s so hungry, never satisfied.”

When Hopkins was recruiting Stewart, not only did he tell the teenager he could be the best player in the country, but Hopkins made a promise. He said he would be the one on the court, leading the individual workouts in addition to practices.

“He told me during the recruiting process he would be working with me every day, getting me better every day, doing everything in his power to do that,” Stewart says. “He’s been truly honest to that.

But, not only with me, he does that with everyone.”

For a coach to make that kind of guarantee isn’t unique, but Hopkins’ level of follow through has impressed Stewart in his first season at Washington.

“You really don’t find too many head coaches who are actually working players out,” he says.

“They usually have assistants or someone else doing it, but he will be the one running the workout with you, banging with you, using the pads against you, moving with you. He does that with all our players.”

W

hile Stewart decided to travel across the country to play college basketball, fellow freshman Jaden McDaniels made a different choice. He picked the same school, but he didn’t have to travel quite so far, fewer than 30 miles up I-5.

The Federal Way product, who was also a McDonald’s All-American, chose to stay close to home. He felt comfortable.

“It wasn’t that hard,” he says. “I was comfortable being here. This is the school I was always at. It wasn’t really anything new to me. It was just a comfortable situation for me.”

Stewart added, “His journey was to stay home and put on for the home team, and mine was to come out west with coach Hop from upstate New York and build a legacy on the West Coast.”

While the teammates come from different places, their reasons for selecting Washington line up.

“It was the people who were here, my teammates and the coaching staff, just being comfortable with them,” McDaniels says.

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Each chose Washington because they believe in what Hopkins is building.

“It’s like a brotherhood,” McDaniels says. “We’re just trying to have fun together. We know each other’s goals. We just help each other try to reach that.”

And, while they come from different places and bring their own personalities, McDaniels said the similarities run deep between the freshmen standouts.

“We’re not really that different,” he says. “We’re both laid-back, chill, funny, crazy at times.”

And, they’re both working to make the most of their opportunity with Hopkins and the Huskies.

“The experience has been great,” Stewart says. “Coach Hop and the staff have been working hard every day at practice to make us the best players we can be. The season has been great."

S

tewart traveled to Washington because Hopkins helped a 14-year-old believe he could be the best player in the country. McDaniels chose the Huskies, because he believed Hopkins had the hometown school pointed in the right direction. Stewart and McDaniels had unique reasons for joining the program, but now that they’re here, their journeys are aligned.

“We’re trying to stay true to the Dawg pack,” Stewart says. “The pack stays together, doesn’t leave anybody out. You always have your brother’s back, no matter what. We play as one. We celebrate as one.”

And, Stewart says, their goals are the same.

“We’re just trying to leave Washington in a better place than it was before we came here.”

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No

Regrets

BY BRIAN BEAKY EDITOR • GOHUSKIES MAGAZINE

T

hree times in her life, Madison Copiak has had

gymnastics taken away from her.

First, by choice.

Second, by injury.

Third ... well, we'll get to that.

Copiak estimates that she was about six years old the first time she stepped away from the sport.

Just barely old enough to read, she had already been flipping, turning and tumbling competitively for two years prior, before deciding that she'd rather join her primary school friends on the soccer field instead.

It took stepping away, though, for Copiak to realize what she was giving up. She promptly returned to the gym at the end of soccer season,

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and vowed not to walk away from her sport of choice again. Upon her return, she was placed in a recreational gymnastics class, the ones where kids — some coordinated, some very much not — learn to do somersaults, cartwheel into foam pits, hop through hula hoops and generally goof around.

"The first day, I was like, 'Oh, no, this is not going to work," the Husky senior recalls. "So, they put me into the competitive program and it was much better."

Over the next several years, Copiak established herself as one of Alberta's top young competitive gymnasts, training year-round, competing for provincial championships and becoming one of just a handful of youth gymnasts to earn a gold LEAP badge, requiring months of hard work. Unlike the way competitive individual youth sports (think figure

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For two decades,

Madison Copiak

has focused her entire life on being an elite gymnast — when she takes her final bow this spring, what comes next?

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Over the course of her three-plus years at Washington, Copiak has developed into one of the Huskies’ leaders both inside and outside of competition.

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skating, tennis, etc.) are often portrayed in popular media, Copiak says that the atmosphere among her fellow competitors was generally congenial. After all, there were so few girls competing at her level that they'd see the same group at every meet — they might as well get along.

"The gymnastics world in Canada is fairly small, so we were a tight-knit group of girls," she says. "It was definitely competitive, but we were all friendly."

The world was opening up. National Championships were certainly within reach — maybe even a spot on a future Olympic team, if she continued to train and fine-tune her routines. In 2011, though, at age 13, it all came crashing down — literally. A labral tear in her hip kept Copiak off the mat for months; eventually, the decision was made to undergo surgery. The recovery? Two years.

For a competitor who had never spent more than a few months away from the gym in nearly a decade, it was a bitter pill to swallow.

"It was hard," she says. "It definitely challenged me mentally."

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No

Regrets To keep her spirits up, Copiak took on a mentor role at her local gym, shifting her passion for the sport from her own training and development, into those of her teammates and the younger girls who looked up to her. On a daily basis, she'd undergo grueling rehabilitation for her hip, then push the pain deep inside and head over to the Calgary Gymnastics Centre to pour positive energy and enthusiasm into her teammates. If she hadn't, she says, she might not have made it through.

"The day after surgery, I came in and was there helping coach the girls, and doing my own conditioning," she recalls. "Being in the environment helped me keep my love for gymnastics. Later, when I came back, I had an appreciation for being healthy and able to compete. A lot of gymnasts burn out, and I think those years helped me remain steady and get to where I am now.

"In the long run, I think the break was actually kind of helpful for me."

It's no secret that female gymnasts typically peak in their mid-to-late teens. By 16 — an age when she should have been at her best, with two years to build towards the 2016 Summer Olympics — Copiak was instead just returning from two years away from competition. Two years to lose that razorsharp edge, to develop new habits and routines. Two years away from your sport is difficult for any athlete to come back from. For a competitive gymnast, in her mid-teens? It's a lifetime.

Copiak had tasted at a young age what life without gymnastics felt like, though. She wasn't ready to step away again.

Instead, Copiak threw herself back into her training, putting in the extra hours of work she knew it would take to get herself back to the level at which she had been performing before the injury. Then, she pushed herself even farther. In 2014 — just months after her return from injury — Copiak was back competing for Team Canada internationally. In 2015, she finished in the topfive on bars, beam, floor and all-around at the 2015 Canadian Championships, and represented Team Canada at the World Championships and Pan-American Games. The following year, the national team coaches offered her the chance to compete for a spot on the squad that would represent Team Canada at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. For any gymnast, the opportunity was a dream come true. For Copiak, it was a dream she had already largely let go.

"That's something that I never really expected to happen," she says, "especially after my injury. But, the coaches saw me compete at Nationals, and gave me the opportunity. Each time I competed internationally, I gained experience and my scores improved, and I started to realize, 'This is really something I can do.' It encouraged me to set higher goals for myself than I had been setting before."

Copiak made the team as an alternate, and trained daily with the squad right up until it left for Rio, preparing herself to be ready if needed. She wasn't.

It was OK. “I was happy being an alternate, because that’s still an important role,” Copiak said in a 2018 interview with UW's The Daily. "I still went to the training camp, I still pushed people, and pushed lineups. I showed up and that made everyone else push themselves."

"Looking back on [my international experience] now, it's crazy how young I was, and how much I've grown since then," she added. "That was a lot of fun.

I had a lot of really unique opportunities; I got to travel to a whole bunch of places. It was an awesome experience."

Just as Copiak had proven herself to Team Canada's coaches, so, too, had her quick return from injury caught the eye of Joanne Bowers, then head

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No

Regrets coach at the University of Washington. When Bowers called Copiak in 2015 to offer her a spot in the Huskies' 2016-17 freshman class, it took her all of two seconds to say yes.

"I was ecstatic," she says. "It was my first season back, and for a little bit, I had thought that I wasn't going to do college gymnastics, which had been my biggest goal. So, to get that call was so exciting."

Over the course of her three-plus years at Washington, Copiak has developed into one of the Huskies' leaders both inside and outside of competition. After earning second-team NACGC All-America honors on bars as a freshman with a score of 9.850 at the NCAA Championships, Copiak competed in three events at nationals the following year (the only one she does not regularly compete on is floor, then upped her scores consistently as a junior, winning eight event titles. Against UC Davis, she swept titles on bars, beam and vault, her score of 9.975 on bars the highest by a Husky in 15 years.

She has also developed a new perspective on the sport she's loved for nearly all her life.

"If you had asked me a few years ago, I would have told you that gymnastics is an individual sport, but it's so much more rewarding as a team sport," she says. "I've never met a group of more humble, caring and selfless young women. When you're on a college team, you're doing it for something that's bigger than you. You have automatic best friends that are there for you in good or bad, and push you towards your goals. It's a unique experience that has made me a better person."

Entering the 2019-20 season, Copiak was elected captain by her teammates, a role she says that, as a generally quiet leader, she never expected to fill. It's emblematic, though, of her growth as a person over the last four years — from a shy teenager venturing out of her comfort zone to a new country, a new school and a new team, to a well-rounded young woman who is looked up to by her teammates, and ready to face whatever challenges come next.

A speech and hearing sciences major at UW, Copiak spends her free time in the research lab or working with patients in the community, helping to develop their speech and language skills. It's an appropriate career choice for a student-athlete who notes that her time at Washington — especially her teammates, coaches and peers — helped her find her own voice.

"I have grown tremendously," she says. "I came in as a pretty quiet, timid freshman that wasn't great at communicating or self-advocating, and never expected to see myself in a leadership position. Now, here I am as a senior, being a co-captain and being able to stand up for myself. I have more confidence than I have had during my entire gymnastics career, just in who I am as a person, and who I am as a gymnast, and a student. It's a unique transition that everyone goes through as they enter and exit college.

"It's so cool to look back and see how much I've changed."

A

t some point in April — hopefully at the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth — when the judges post her final score, gymnastics will be taken away from Madison Copiak for the third time. College gymnastics is, in Copiak's own words, "the last stop" for most competitive gymnasts, at least those who are not pursuing their dreams on the elite level, a path not often followed in conjunction with a college education. Thus, when Copiak steps off the mat for the final time this spring, that will be it. The end of nearly 20 years of hard work, intense physical and mental training, and unwavering commitment to her goals.

When she stepped away the sport for the first time in 2004, she was filled with regret. When she had it taken away by injury in 2011, she was crushed.

This time, she's ready. There's no reason to look back, after all, when one has so much to look forward to.

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GoHUSKIES

TIME TO

GET TO

WORK

With the 2019 season behind them, Washington's new coaching staff is fully focused on 2020 — starting with a recruiting class that may be the program's best to date

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BY BRIAN BEAKY EDITOR • GOHUSKIES MAGAZINE

hen Husky quarterback Jacob Eason took a knee at the end of a 38-7 win over Boise State in December's Las Vegas Bowl, and players and staff swarmed outgoing head coach Chris Petersen at midfield, it was easy to think of it as the end of an era.

For the 23 student-athletes who signed letters of intent just a few days prior, though, it's just the beginning.

Having ended 2019 with a bang — and sent off coach Petersen in style — it's now time to begin looking ahead to 2020. And, if new head coach Jimmy Lake's 2020 recruiting class is any indication, it's going to be an exciting year.

Headlined by five-star linebacker Sav'ell Smalls from Burien's Kennedy Catholic High School and a pair of four-star wideouts, California's Jalen McMillan and Nevada's Rome Odunze — all of whom were recruited by just about every major college program in the country — the Huskies' 2020 class was ranked in the nation's top-15 by the major college recruiting sites, and was ranked No. 1 among all Pac-12 schools.

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Most notably, Lake and his UW staff managed to hold on to every one of the recruits who had committed to Washington prior to Petersen announcing his resignation, an early indication that players share fans' enthusiasm for the Huskies' new top Dawg.

"With all that's going on with [Coach Petersen] and myself, to be able to hold on to these 23 excellent players – we're all just thrilled as a staff," Lake said. "Just a huge kudos to our operations staff, our recruiting department, and our assistant coaches."

Lake said that the Husky coaches may have had some help in keeping the class together from the players themselves.

"Those guys get really, really tight. It's part of the uncommon unity that we have here at Washington," he said. "They forge these really cool relationships, and we try to foster that as much as we can. Certainly, once they arrive on campus, we're just going to pour gas on that fire and these guys are going to get that much closer. Our best recruiters are our current players and our [recruits] that are committed because they know that if we all band together and come here, something special is going to happen."

GoHUSKIES

OFFENSE

Offense

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hile last year's class was heavy on the defensive side of the ball — as would be expected for a team that lost nine defensive starters from the previous season — this year's class includes a number of dynamic offensive weapons at nearly every position, again reflective of a team that must replace its quarterback, tailback, tight end and three-fifths of its offensive line, including two four-year starters.

At some schools, the skill-position players receive all of the buzz. Husky fans, though, are a savvy bunch that appreciates the importance of a dominant line, which is why fans have been excited about the maulers Washington is adding to its offensive line.

That group is headlined by three players ranked among the nation's top-150 in California's Myles Murao, Colorado's Roger Rosengarten and Ferndale's Geirean Hatchett. At 6-foot-2 and 312 pounds, Murao projects to play on the inside of the line, either at guard or as a potential replacement for all-everything center Nick Harris. A graduate of California's prestigious Mater Dei High School, Murao was ranked among the nation's top-three recruits at both interior line positions and could have an immediate impact next fall. At 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-4, respectively, Rosengarten and Hatchett both have the reach to play just about anywhere on the line. Rosengarten was ranked as Colorado's top recruit and the No. 9 offensive tackle in the country by 247Sports.com, while Hatchett was ranked as high as sixth among the nation's guards. Combine those three with 6-foot-4 Gaard Memmelaar of Idaho and 6-foot-6 Samuel Peacock from Gig Harbor and it's easy to be excited about the physical style of play Lake envisions for his offensive line.

Also generating a lot of excitement is tight end Mark Redman, who scored 13 touchdowns as a senior en route to a state championship and a No. 7 ranking among the nation's tight ends. At 6-foot-6 and 239 pounds, Redman is built like an undersized tackle, with speed to burn and terrific hands. That combination of power and versatility gives him a great shot to follow in the footsteps of Hunter Bryant, Will Dissly, Austin Sefarian-Jenkins and others and add his name to the list of outstanding tight ends to wear the purple and gold.

He won't be the only one out there catching passes, though — not only will Washington also have the services of fellow tight end Mason West, but despite signing a strong wide receiver class in 2019, the Huskies went back to the well in 2020 and added three more in McMillan, Odunze and Brush Prairie's Sawyer Racanelli. Both ranked among the nation's top wide receivers, McMillan and Odunze bring track-star speed to the position, while Racanelli topped 1,000 yards in each of his GoHUSKIES

three high school seasons before missing his senior year with an injury.

Of course, while we can probably count on these receivers making some big catches in their time at UW, who they'll be catching those passes from is very much up in the air. Jacob Eason's departure for the NFL opens up competition at the quarterback position for the second-straight year, and don't be surprised if signee Ethan Garbers makes a strong case for himself. The younger brother of Cal's Chase Garbers, Ethan led his Corona del Mar High School team to a 16-0 record and the California Division 1A state title in 2019, racking up 71 touchdowns (a single-season total bettered in California prep history by only Jake Browning) and just six interceptions.

A similar opportunity exists for running backs Sam Adams II and Jay'Veon Sunday, who will have the chance to compete for carries vacated

by Salvon Ahmed, who declared for the NFL Draft.

The son of former Seahawk Sam Adams (whose own father also played in the NFL) was one of the state of Washington's most coveted recruits, a dynamic speedster who dominated on offense and in the return game for Eastside Catholic. While Adams uses speed to run away from defenders, Sunday uses power to run right through them, with a punishing style that should provide the Huskies with an excellent 1-2 punch for years to come.

Sunday rushed for an incredible 5,000 yards and 80 touchdowns in his time at Waco's Connally High School, and was a first-team 4A All-State selection.

“Our best recruiters are our current players and our [recruits] that are committed because they know that if we all band together and come here, something special is going to happen.”

Continued on page 26 PAGE 25

DEFENSE Defense J

immy Lake's first UW class may be offense-heavy, but it's not like he's forgotten his roots. Indeed, the Huskies' most highly-ranked signee, Smalls, will line up on the defensive side of the ball, as will seven other players each ranked among the nation's best at their respective positions.

Ranked among the nation's top-10 prep players overall by ESPN — just the third ESPN top-10 recruit ever to sign with UW — Smalls has drawn comparisons to Terrell Suggs for his combination of size and power, and his ability to be equally effective against the run or pass. Listed as a linebacker on the Huskies' official roster, expect to see Smalls lined up as a rush end plenty in the season to come, wreaking havoc in opposing backfields.

In fact, none of Washington's 23 recruits are officially listed as defensive linemen, though both Smalls and fellow linebacker Jordan Lolohea will have plenty of opportunities to get after the passer. Originally part of the Huskies' Class of 2017, Lolohea re-signed with the Huskies in December following a two-year church mission, and will reunite at UW with high school teammate Sam Taimani. Cooper McDonald, from Haslet, Texas, meanwhile, is an inside 'backer in the mold of a Ben Burr-Kirven, with a motor that never quits and an uncanny ability to read offenses and break up plays, while Carson Bruener (son of Husky tight end Mark Bruener) racked up 122 tackles as a senior at Redmond High School.

And, of course, Lake made sure to restock the Husky secondary, adding two corners — Elijah Jackson and James Smith, both from California — and two safeties, Jacobe Covington and Makell Esteen. All four will look to continue the tradition Lake established at "DBU," but it's Covington who brings the highest pedigree. A four-star safety out of Scottsdale, Ariz., Covington ranked among the nation's top-150 recruits, and has the ability to play corner, safety or nickel in the Husky defense.

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SPECIAL TEAMS Special Teams W

hile it's always a bit of a guessing game when projecting playing time for freshmen on offense and defense, there's a clearer path for the Huskies' two special-teams signees, including junior-college punter Triston Brown and long-snapper Jaden Green. Elite punters and longsnappers may not get fans' pulses racing like quarterbacks and defensive ends, but they're positions you only appreciate when you don't have a good one — a position Husky fans have been fortunate to avoid in recent years.

The nation's top-ranked junior-college punter, Brown will be given every opportunity to step into the big shoes left by Joel Whitford, who helped UW set a school record for punt average in 2019. He'll quite likely be receiving the ball from Green, the nation's sixth-ranked prep long snapper and the son of former ASU tailback Gerald Green.

Of course, while fans and recruiting sites love to talk of stars and stats, there's one number that Lake — like Petersen before him — is most proud of when he evaluates the class as a whole.

"What I really like about this class is the average core GPA of these 23 signees is 3.06 ...We're very happy about that," he says. "When the recruiting classes actually show their work is what they do when they get here. So, that's how we've always got to pay attention to it. But, yes, we're thrilled with the talent and the potential in all these guys.

"Now, it's time to get to work."

GoHUSKIES

PAGE 27

Photographs by RED BOX PICTURES

Thank You, CP

Coach Petersen salutes Husky Nation one final time as head coach following Washington’s 38-7 defeat of Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl.

To purchase Husky Athletics photography, visit www.HUSKIESPHOTOSTORE.com

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