Washington Football Recruiting: Coleman Shelton Commits

This morning various recruiting services have reported that offensive lineman Coleman Shelton of Loyola High School in Los Angeles, California has given his verbal commitment to Steve Sarkisian’s program. The 6’4″ 280-pounder is being called an “under the radar” type player. He did not have any offers from major schools until midway through last year, but his recruiting stock has been rising late in the cycle.

The varying opinions on Shelton’s potential are made clear by the disparity in his ranking from recruiting service to recruiting service. That is, he’s literally unranked as an offensive tackle by Scout while Rivals has him as a solid three-star offensive center, going so far as to say that he’s the 19 best offensive center in the class. As we all know, rankings are heavily flawed, and while they are valuable for both fans and writers, they serve basically zero purpose for coaches, who often do not mind extending an offer to a player that is held in low-esteem by Rivals or Scout or 247 as long as they see a player on tape that they think has the potential to contribute at a high level.

Sark is definitely no exception, especially with offensive linemen. He received commitments from James Atoe and Mike Criste two years ago, and Taylor Hindy in 2011, even though all three players were considered two-star prospects, well below the norm for UW commits.

Shelton’s commitment came shortly after his official visit to UW this weekend, and I think it’s something to be happy about as a fan no matter where he is ranked, because in a class that currently only includes two other offensive linemen, Andrew Kirkland and Dane Crane, adding a little bit of depth is a big bonus.

As National Signing Day approaches, know that the Husky Haul will continue to report on every single piece of relevant recruiting news, and we will have extensive coverage of each and every player that sends in his letter of intent to the University of Washington on Wednesday.