Football Recruiting: Arik Armstead

A few weeks ago, Arik Armstead didn’t have the Huskies on the radar, not even close. He is one of, if not the most, talented defensive lineman in the 2012 class and UW was eliminated. However, in the last week Armstead has allowed UW back into the picture and to once again recruit him.

How did UW receive an audience with this 5-star recruit? The answer is simple: Tosh Lupoi. 

Armstead and Lupoi are close and he is the reason Cal was able to be in the running throughout the recruiting process. Armstead wanted to play for Lupoi at Cal.

Then Lupoi took a coaching job for the University of Washington and a lot of things changed. Steve Sarkisian was able to recruit the recruiter and change the tides of West Coast recruiting. Players like Armstead and Shaq Thompson who were close to a decision or convinced of where they would play now were uncertain. This shows the recruiting prowess of Tosh Lupoi.

According to Joe Davidson of the Sacramento Bee, Armstead is done with his official visits, unofficial visits, and coaching visits. He is in the process of deciding which school he will play for next year. The last coaches he heard from was seven UW coaching staff members, last night, in a conference room of a hotel near Armstead’s home.

Sarkisian, Lupoi, and five other coaches went out with a bang for Armstead. They displayed his “Husky jersey” all over the conference room, they had a powerpoint presentation prepared, and they each pitched why Armstead should be a Husky.

Davidson from the Sacramento Bee paraphrased Armstead’s visit with UW this way, “He was impressed with the Washington set up, and joked that it would have been nice to take one of those jerseys home (prospects can’t as it is a recruiting violation).”

His decision is coming soon, and it’s between Auburn, Cal, USC, Notre Dame, UW, UCLA, and Oregon. He may decide today or in the next week, on or before signing day. UPDATE: He has set his decision day as Sunday at 3pm at his family church. 

Even if he doesn’t choose the Huskies, a Husky fan should revel in fact that UW was there and was close to landing him because of Tosh Lupoi.

Lupoi is already honing in on the 2013 class and some of the top prospects in the West that will be seniors next year. UW is fortunate to have Lupoi and it may be too late this year to land many recruits because of him (they may land a couple) but Lupoi is hard at work to make sure that UW has one of the top 2013 classes in the nation.