Pac-12 recruiting: Washington’s big finish (to June), Stanford and USC stay hot and dead period arrives

The Hotline is delighted to provide Pac-12 fans with a weekly dive into the recruiting process through the eyes and ears of Brandon Huffman, the Seattle-based national recruiting editor for 247Sports.

A quick spin around the conference, starting in the upper left corner …

What a Week for Washington
The day spring became summer, Washington had one commitment for the 2023-24 recruiting cycle.

A week later?

The Huskies are up to 11 commitments.

They’ve added a slew of four-star prospects (in the 247 Sports rankings), starting with receiver Jason Robinson from Long Beach and athlete Peyton Waters from up the road a bit in Van Nuys.

Peoria (Arizona) edge rusher Noah Carter is a four-star recruit, as well, with the Huskies hoping he brings the same kind of impact another Arizona edge rusher, Bralen Trice, has for UW.

After parting ways with quarterback commit EJ Caminong, the Huskies landed a verbal pledge from Rancho Cucamonga (California) passer Demaricus Davis.

All the panic on Montlake was for naught, as we wrote a week ago. The Huskies were always building towards a big push at the end of June, with the loaded final weekend of official visits. Each of their commits had plans to announce by the end of the month.

And just like that, things are trending back up in Seattle.

Cardinal Stays Red Hot
Stanford added three more commitments to the No. 3 class in the Pac-12 — and, for now, the No. 11 class nationally.

Last weekend, the Cardinal reeled in Irvington (New Jersey) safety Cam Richardson.

This week, coach Troy Taylor pulled in the fifth four-star prospect of his initial recruiting class. It came from offensive tackle Ziron Brown of Bay Saint Louis (Mississippi) — the same town that produced former Cardinal star Tank Williams a quarter century ago.

And for good measure, Stanford flipped Carlsbad (California) linebacker Luke Ferrelli, who had been committed to Arizona.

The Cardinal has 26 commitments and might not be done. Taylor and Co. are in hot pursuit of the No. 1 prospect in Connecticut, four-star defensive lineman Benedict Umeh, and they are a finalist for the No. 1 prospect in Utah, four-star offensive lineman Isaiah Garcia.

Cardinal and Gold is White Hot
USC has the highest-rated class in the Pac-12 and the seventh-ranked class in the country.

The Trojans added a trio of 247 Sports four-star prospects in the last week, two of them from Southern California and one from the Lone Star State.

On Monday, they beat Oregon for Long Beach receiver Ryan Pellum, the nephew of former Duck linebacker and longtime Oregon coach Don Pellum.

A day later, they pulled in a commitment from Chatsworth (California) safety Marquis Gallegos.

And the ties to Texas paid off for head coach Lincoln Riley and offensive line coach Josh Henson with a verbal commitment from Arlington four-star offensive lineman Makai Saina.

What’s Next in Recruiting
The NCAA dead period began on June 27th and lasts until July 24th.

That means contact with recruits is limited to the digital variety (text, phone, direct message) — nothing can be done in-person (no unofficial visits, no official visits, no off-campus evaluations).

What it really means is vacation time for the college coaches, with fall practice beginning in late July or early August.

There is a one-week quiet period from July 24 through July 30th, when unofficial on-campus visits are allowed.

Oregon has its annual “Saturday Night Live” camp set for July 29, but the rest of the Pac-12 will just host a smattering of small-scale unofficial visits instead of big events.

Then the calendar turns to August, fall practice begins, and the dead period is back in play until September.

So expect a flurry of commitments in the first week of July as recruits look to lock in their spots.