PNW triple swoop: UW adds top Oregon recruit, two local standouts (2024)

Washington’s hot streak on the recruiting trail continued Monday as the Huskies and coach Jedd Fisch received three more commitments to make it six pledges in just about 24 hours.

Baron Naone, a three-star tight end and the consensus top player in Oregon for the 2025 recruiting cycle, announced his commitment to Washington on his social media Monday morning.

Naone’s commitment was followed shortly by a pledge from local three-star athlete D’Aryhian Clemons, a Spanaway Lake High School standout, and four-star athlete Jonathan Epperson Jr., who stars at Auburn Riverside High School and is considered a top-three player in the state.

UW currently has 13 players committed for its 2025 class. Naone, Clemons and Epperson were all official visitors at Washington during the past weekend.

Naone, a West Linn, Ore., native, is considered a three-star prospect by 247Sports industry-generated composite rankings, but the website’s own ratings consider him a four-star recruit and the No. 16 tight end in the country.

“Plays in a run heavy offense so not a lot of opportunities as a pass catcher but has shown in 7v7 he’s a natural pass catcher with strong hands and a smooth route runner,” Gregg Biggins, 247Sports National Recruiting Analyst, wrote in an evaluation Feb. 7. “Maybe not the downfield threat of some other TEs in the class, but a solid possession guy who can keep chains moving.

“As he continues to improve athletically and improve his speed and burst, he’ll take his game to another level. Highly competitive and a really strong off field work ethic should ensure he’ll be an impact player at the next level.”

Naone, who also plays baseball at West Linn High School south of Portland, Ore., is the second tight end from Oregon recruited to Washington by position coach Jordan Paopao since his return to Fisch’s staff.

UW flipped former Arizona commit Charlie Crowell, a Bend, Ore., native during the 2024 recruiting cycle. He will be a true freshman this upcoming season.

Like most of the position groups at UW this season, the tight ends have experienced a lot of turnover. The Huskies’ top two contributors from the 2023 season — Jack Westover and Devin Culp — exhausted their eligibility. Josh Cuevas, the former Cal Poly transfer, followed former coach Kalen DeBoer to Alabama.

That leaves sixth-year senior Quentin Moore as the most experienced tight end on Washington’s roster in 2024. The former Inglemoor High School star played in 15 games during the 2023 season, making two catches for 10 yards and a touchdown which sealed the Pac-12 championship for the Huskies.

Washington added former California and Nevada tight end Keleki Latu — the younger brother of former UW edge rusher and first-round draft pick Laiatu Latu — from the spring transfer portal, too. However, Moore and Latu are expected to exhaust their eligibility in 2024.

UW’s three scholarship tight ends behind Moore and Latu are untested. Two will be true freshmen during the upcoming season. One is Crowell. The other is former three-star prospect Decker DeGraaf, a DeBoer recruit who stayed committed to UW when Fisch arrived. The Glendora, Calif., native was present for UW’s spring practices and took lots of repetitions since Crowell and Latu weren’t on campus at the time.

The final piece of Washington’s tight end room is Ryan Otton, the younger brother of former UW standout Cade Otton. The 6-foot-6, 257-pound former four-star recruit is entering his third season at Washington but hasn’t registered a catch in limited playing time.

Washington and Paopao might not be done at the tight end position for the 2025 cycle. The Huskies currently hold all the 247Sports crystal balls for four-star tight end Vander Ploog from Fullerton, Calif.

Clemons, a 6-foot, 170-pound athlete who plays running back and defensive back at Spanaway Lake High School, is considered the No. 6 player in Washington and the No. 69 athlete in the country according to 247Sports composite rankings.

He’s the second local recruit to join Fisch and the Huskies after edge rusher Victor Sanchez Hernandez Jr., a Mukilteo native who plays at Kamiak High School, announced his UW commitment on social media on Sunday.

Clemons held offers from Arizona State, Cal, Louisville, West Virginia and Washington State — where he took an official visit on June 14.

“He’s a physical kid who can jump routes, plays aggressively and has a nice edge in his game,” Biggins wrote in an evaluation Sunday. “He shows off both short area quickness and change direction you have to have at corner along with the long speed to turn and run with the faster receivers.”

Clemons will likely play cornerback at Washington, where he’ll join a young position group. Only one player, senior Thaddeus Dixon, is expected to exhaust their eligibility in 2024 and six of the 11 scholarship cornerbacks currently on the roster are redshirt freshmen or younger.

Epperson, the third local recruit in the class so far, is also the third composite four-star prospect to join Washington’s 2025 class along with Bay Area offensive lineman Champ Taulealea and wide receiver Raiden Vines-Bright. A two-way star at Auburn Riverside High School where he plays running back and linebacker, Epperson is considered the No. 3 player in Washington and the No. 16 ranked athlete nationally by the composite ratings.

He chose UW instead of offers from Arizona, Arkansas, BYU, Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, USC, Utah and Washington State along with several other schools. His primary recruiter was linebackers coach Robert Bala, so Epperson will likely start his collegiate career at the second level.

“He’s rangy, can play in space and looks like an ideal weak side (line)backer who can match up against tight ends and running backs,” Biggins wrote in an evaluation on Sunday. “He’s physical enough to play linebacker as well and has enough length and athleticism to be an impact player at the high Power 4 level.”

Epperson joins a linebacker group which is set to lose its top-four contributors in 2024. Alphonzo Tuputala, Carson Bruener, Drew Fowler and former San Jose State transfer Bryun Parham are all set to run out of eligibility this season.

Washington’s four remaining scholarship linebackers — former walk-on and special teams contributor Anthony Ward, redshirt freshman Deven Bryant, former Michigan transfer Hayden Moore and true freshman Khmori House — are unproven. Washington also got a commitment from hybrid defender Donovan Robinson on Sunday, who may play linebacker or safety.

Epperson might not be the only Washington local joining the group. The Huskies also hold all of the 247Sports crystal balls for four-star Bethel High School linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, considered the top recruit in the state.

Rainey-Sale named a final three including Washington, UCLA and Florida State on June 17, with plans to announce his decision on July 1.