DawgmanRadio: Portalpalooza, the Sequel

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - are back heading into the last recruiting weekend before the dead period hits for the holidays, so that means another chat about the transfer portal, the players that are coming and going, and who the Huskies have targeted to get in the boat now so they can enroll in time for winter quarter, which starts in early January. They start with the positive news, which is the transfer players that have committed to play for Washington next season, including a local player in former Lynden Christian star TE Kade Eldridge, who left USC for the portal and just announced his verbal commitment to the Huskies right before the start of our broadcast. Talk then moves to the UW players that have recently moved into the portal, with specific talk about Elijah Jackson and Khmori House. Were the guys surprised by those moves, and specifically with House - how much of his portal entry was dictated by the idea of Steve Belichick leaving UW to reconnect with his Dad Bill at North Carolina. Or does it also assume his position coach, Robert Bala, is also out the door? And then there's a little side detour with regards to former juco star Thaddeus Dixon, who may end up with more eligibility if the recent Diego Pavia decision means former juco players can get those junior college years back. It's certainly not a sure thing. After a quick break the guys come back to talk about recent visitors and those the Huskies are targeting now ahead of the dead period, which starts Monday, December 23 and goes through Sunday, January 5. And could there be a straggler or two that make decisions at that time but won't be able to enroll until spring? Scott talks about that. Also don't forget the fact that now players who play in college football playoff games get five days from after their last game to enter their names in the portal too, which they couldn't last season. Will that potentially mean UW holds back a spot or two if they've targeted players from those playoff teams? Kim also spoke this week with some UW players, who gave some candid thoughts on their own experiences with the portal, getting recruited behind the scenes, and how they've dealt with the attention. Jonah Coleman, Denzel Boston, and Demond Williams certainly had thoughts about it all. After that, Kim and Chris delve into Washington's 89-73 win over cross-state rival Washington State (is a basketball game between UW and WSU an Apple Cup game? The debate rages on...). And before final thoughts from the three, Kim brought up a somewhat humorous encounter he had pre-game with notorious Cougar-backer Jim Moore. It's worth listening to the end to get the whole story. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - have been very busy since the end of the regular season for football, because that's when the mid-year signing period for high school players and the beginning of the transfer portal for current college players happens. Chris and Scott already talked at length in the previous podcast about the 29-player high school recruiting class that Washington signed back on December 4, but they haven't talked about the transfer portal yet - until today. As of today (Friday 12/13), nine current UW players on scholarship have entered their names into the transfer portal (OL Kahlee Tafai, DB Curley Reed, OL Gaard Memmelaar, RB Cameron Davis, DB Tristan Dunn, RB Sam Adams, EDGE Maurice Heims, EDGE Lance Holtzclaw, and LB Bryun Parham). And also as of today, Washington has two portal commits (Oklahoma OL Geirean Hatchett, and Kansas State OL Carver Willis). There's seven portal visitors expected on campus this weekend, as well as a visitor Scott alluded to in the podcast that has since become known via his social network accounts, and we posted that information HERE.  After nearly 40 minutes of portal talk, the chat turned to the other big college football story of the week, former New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick taking over as the new head coach at North Carolina. This new has obvious connections to Washington, as Bill's son Steve is the Huskies' current defensive coordinator. Is it a done deal that Steve is going to join his Dad in Chapel Hill? At the very least it seems like $1.2 million things need to happen before January 1st if Steve plans on joining his Dad. That's the number of his buyout if he left Montlake now before the end of the year. But is that the only thing holding him back? And then before offering up our final thoughts on the beginning of an eventful post-regular season for UW Football, Kim and Chris had to offer some thoughts on what's going on with men's hoops, especially with the Washington State game coming up next Wednesday. What's working well for UW, what needs improvement, and just how much are they missing Franck Kepnang? To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Guys from the Husky Hoops Pod on DawgmanRadio, Jack McCauley, Noah Dickerson, and Jason Crandall are back with another episode, and this time there's a ton of things to talk about ahead of Washington's first ever B1G home game versus USC. To start, they talk about the Huskies currently having the No. 1 recruiting class in the Big Ten for 2025, having signed four players - JJ Mandaquit, Courtland Muldrew, Niko Bundalo, and Mady Traore. Noah adds an anecdote about his own recruitment and how he visited Washington and immediately committed to another school! Next, the guys recap the Acrisure Invitational Championship, where Washington beat Colorado State on Thanksgiving and then Santa Clara the following day to bring the hardware home to Montlake. They talked about the things they saw that went well, what needs improvement, and overall how hopeful they are of success from this group of Hoop Dawgs moving forward. After a quick break the guys talk about Washington first-ever Big Ten road game at UCLA, where they lost by 11. What did they see from that game? And what is it going to take in order for the Huskies to break through? The guys also talk about certain key themes to the season so far that have started to forge the identity of the team, like the lack of offense, how the offense revolves around Great Osobor, free throw shooting (Noah has a revelation on this topic!), and more. UW Head Coach Danny Sprinkle has comped Noah and Great, so Noah offers his thoughts (Jason too) on Great's game and where improvement is going to come over the course of the year. The Huskies are now back in Seattle after the UCLA game and they next play USC Saturday afternoon. What about the Trojans? They react to St. Mary's holding the Trojans to 36 points and they just lost to Oregon in LA too. What are the guys expecting from Saturday's game, and more specifically how can the Huskies add to the Trojans' woes and at the same time maintain their 100 percent home winning record? Jason offers up some insight into a factor you might not think about when it comes to having a home-court advantage. And both Noah and Jason have strong connections to former UW Coaches Will Conroy and Quincy Pondexter, who are both now at USC. Are they having mixed emotions about seeing the former Dawgs on the other side of the court? Here's a hint; for guys outside the area, it didn't matter as much, but for the local guys? It's everything. Jack jumps ahead and asks Noah and Jason about the upcoming Washington State game, one where the Huskies will be hosting former UW player Nate Calmese. And how do they think Sprinkle will deal with his first game against WSU as Washington's head coach? Sprinkle was born in Pullman! To wrap up this most recent hoops pod, Jack asks Noah and Jason; what aspects need to improve in these next handful of games before Big Ten play ramps up in earnest in January? To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The guys from Dawgman.com - Chris Fetters and Recruiting Editor Scott Eklund - caught their breath after Washington signed 29 players in their mid-year signing class for the 2025 season, slept on it, and then came back refreshed to talk about the class. For those hoping for a breakdown of every single signee, you're out of luck. We wanted to keep this podcast at a reasonable length, but included here is the official press release, which gave biography information on every prospect signed. To start the podcast out, Chris and Scott broke down the top storylines that immediately stood out. Were the UW coaches able to adequately address need? Did they get bigger, something UW Head Coach Jedd Fisch has talked about constantly since coming to Montlake in January? Fisch spoke at Washington's Signing Day press conference along with UW Football Director of Player Personnel, Matt Doherty. Including Doherty signals just how much has changed in recruiting, because now you not only need to scour the country for the best prep talent out there, but you also have to recruit with the transfer portal in mind. After setting the scene, Chris and Scott broke down some of the players mentioned in Scott's Signing Day Superlatives piece, including who he thinks are undervalued, instant impact players, the top recruiting battles, and then we also had to talk a moment about the first signing of the class, Adelaide, Australia punter Dusty Zimmer. And that lead into talk about the transfer portal, which opens up this coming Monday, December 9. We broke down the current numbers, including the 29 prep signees and all the players recently lost to graduation. But the X factor is the expected attrition, as current Huskies will enter the transfer portal. And there needs to be a lot of attrition if Fisch sticks at the current number of 85 scholarships as he wants to (NCAA rules now allow teams to scholarship as many as 105 players starting for the 2025 season). To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't expected to be. Given their massive talent gap on both sides of the ball, as well as their coaching continuity and ability to reload at key positions - like quarterback - No. 1 Oregon was able to brush Washington aside with relative ease en route to a 49-21 shellacking Saturday night in Eugene. For Kim Grinolds, who was on site at Autzen Stadium, as well as Chris Fetters and Scott Eklund back home in the greater-Seattle area, the result was hardly surprising. It was the expected outcome given how their offseason took place, as well as the divergent they took when it came to how their seasons unfolded. One program ran the table en route to being the No. 1 team in the country; the other had to scrape by on the second-to-last game of the season just to get bowl-eligible. But the biggest talking point, and the first thing discussed tonight, was the move from UW Head Coach Jedd Fisch to have true freshman Demond Williams make his first start of the season in Eugene. Without doing an exhaustive look at the record books, we have to believe this is the first time in UW history a true frosh quarterback made his first start ever on the road against the No. 1 team in the country. And he performed really well, all things considered. He finished with a higher passer rating than his Oregon counterpart, Dillon Gabriel, and also led UW to 21 points against a Duck defense that was surrendering less than 16 points a game. However, it was the inability of Washington to muster anything on the ground, coupled with Oregon's ability to pick and choose the kind of running game they wanted all night long, that proved to be the difference in the game. Gabriel really didn't have to test Washington's defense because their best offense was handing the ball off to Jordan James and Noah Whittington. And defensively, Oregon was able to wreak a ton of havoc with their base attack, eventually forcing 16 tackles for loss and 10 sacks against a Washington offensive line that was outmatched at every turn. Most of the night, Williams had little to no time to look downfield, let alone go through a progression. Now that the game is over, what does Washington do going forward? Signing Day is this coming Wednesday, and the transfer portal window opens up the following Monday. It's safe to say the UW coaches have their hands full, as well as their plates because right around when the portal opens is the same time the team will learn which bowl game they will be playing in. And before the guys gave their final thoughts on the game and what UW needs to do moving forward, they talked about what bowl game the Huskies will likely go to. There were Independence Bowl reps in Eugene Saturday night, so is it a done deal that the Huskies will be heading to the Bayou? Kim has been hearing about another bowl that could be a possibility, and this destination is much closer to home. And lest we forget, Dawgman.com is running our biggest sale of the season: 75 PERCENT OFF a yearly subscription, and just in time for the holidays! Consider it a great stocking stuffer for the UW sports fan in your family. They'll love you forever. You can get details on the sale HERE. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds and Chris Fetters - get together to offer up their thoughts on the Washington-Oregon game as Scott Eklund works his way back from the east coast. If there was ever a game where Washington would have a free roll to do what they wanted to try and upset the No. 1 team in the country, today's game would be the day. It's doubtful a loss would change where they end up as far as a bowl is concerned, but that doesn't mean there isn't a ton of intrigue about this game. For starters, who will Jedd Fisch start at quarterback - Will Rogers or Demond Williams? Fisch already said this week that he knows what his plan is for using both players, and Kim and Chris have slightly different takes on who should start and how each should be used. That talk morphs into a general conversation about what Washington needs to do in order to have success against Oregon's defense, one that should be getting DL Jordan Burch back. How will the OL deal with Matayo Uiagalelei? After a quick break the sides are switched. How can Washington's defense cope with a powerful Oregon offensive attack led by Dillon Gabriel, Jordan James, Terrance Ferguson, and Tez Johnson? Getting Johnson back is a huge deal for UO OC Will Stein. And the question is asked; since Oregon is already guaranteed a Big Ten Championship Game berth, will Dan Lanning and the Ducks be looking ahead with one eye toward that game? Or will Lanning try and exorcise demons from the past two seasons of losing to Washington with one aim only; to run up the score and leave no doubt? A win over Washington doesn't really do much when it comes to Oregon's ultimate aims, but what about preparing for the Big Ten Championship and everything that comes with that win, including a bye week in the 12-team playoff? Kim and Chris finish off the pregame show with some thoughts on Washington's Acrisure Invitational Tournament win this week in Palm Springs. First year head coach Danny Sprinkle won his first hardware for the Purple and Gold, beating Alcorn State, Colorado State, and then Santa Clara for the title. They also talk a little about Washington's latest 2025 commit, Prolific Prep F Niko Bundalo, a commitment that literally came out of nowhere this week. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dawgman.com's Jack McCauley and Luke Mounger get into the holiday spirit this week with their Thanksgiving game week preview, but it's not the Apple Cup! Now that both Oregon and Washington are in the Big Ten and Washington State is in the college football wilderness, it's time to turn the page and look at the rivalry between UO and UW as the true big Pacific Northwest rivalry game. But before they go into the meat of the game against the No. 1 Ducks, the guys recap the UCLA win at Husky Stadium that got the Huskies to bowl eligibility. And that chat folds right into one of the big conversations for Washington fans this week; should Demond Williams start at quarterback instead of Will Rogers? The conversation then merges into a breakdown of Washington's defense and what they can try and do to stop a potent Oregon attack, and then the tables are flipped. What can Washington's offense do against Oregon's stout defense, especially their pass rush? After a break, the guys go into the players they expect to shine in their Bet to Bark segment, and then go into their Betting B1G talk where they look at other conference games and compare their season-long predictions. And then to finish up they go into their Confidence Intervals, which measures just how good they are feeling about a Washington win in Eugene. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - caught up Friday morning as the Washington Huskies rested up ahead of next weekend's game at No. 1 Oregon. And while the final football game of the regular season is over a week away, there is still a ton of news to catch up on. For starters, will the Huskies get anyone back in a substantial way ahead of the Oregon game? Does that include EDGE Zach Durfee? And could the Oregon game also provide a springboard for players that are just starting to show their potential, like Deuce Davis? They also talk about other relevant football topics, like the coaching carousel and more as the season moves one week closer to the 12-team playoff. Who do they think will eventually win it all? After a break to pay some bills, the guys come back with a big recruiting update, courtesy of Scott. They talk about recent commit, RB Quaid Carr, as well as the current status of committed players elsewhere, like Andrew Marsh and Donovan Olugbode, who recently visited UW. They also talked about the impending decisions of 2025 OL Peter Langi and 2026 OL Esun Tafa. Talk then turned to the men's basketball news, as Mady Traore, arguably the No. 1 juco prospect in America, signed with Washington this week. And what does that mean for other big that is expected to enroll at some point - forward Dominique Diomande from France and the Ivory Coast. Will the increase in scholarships from 13 to 15 take care of a potential numbers crunch for first-year head coach Danny Sprinkle. To wrap up, the guys give their final thoughts heading into the weekend, including the debate on who should start at quarterback next Saturday in Eugene - Will Rogers or Demond Williams? To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Husky Hoops Guys, Jack McCauley, Noah Dickerson, and Jason Crandall are back with their third installment of the Hoops Pod. They begin by discussing the loss against Nevada, especially about if fans need to value DJ Davis and if folks should expect another performance from Great Osobor like we saw against the Wolf Pack this season. The guys then talk about the upcoming games leading into the Thanksgiving tournament down in Palm Springs, specifically what the Huskies need to do in these two games to give them a good shot to win the tournament in the Desert. After that, Noah discusses how he gets ready for games, what his pregame routine looks like, and some potential superstitions he had while suiting up for the purple and gold. The guys end the pod by talking about specific guys that need to step up this season for Coach Sprinkle and really start to make an impact as a tougher schedule looms in the distance. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - wax lyrical over Washington's 31-19 win over the UCLA Bruins, a win that put the Huskies at 6-5 on the season and secure in the knowledge that they'll be bowling come December. The guys talk first about Washington's defense, and specifically the ability of UW's front 7 to shut down UCLA's run game and force Ethan Garbers on the run all night long. They held the Bruins to 52 yards on 33 carries, and it was mainly due to the work of defensive tackles like Sebastian Valdez, as well as edge players like Russell Davis II. The man they call 'Deuce' only played in his third game as a Husky, but the former Arizona product finished the night with three tackles, three tackles for loss, three sacks, a forced fumble, and a recovery of that same fumble. After a quick break the talk turned to the other side of the ball, and mostly it revolved around Jedd Fisch and his decision to pull UW starting quarterback Will Rogers after Rogers threw interceptions on back-to-back possessions. True freshman Demond Williams came in the final three series of the game for UW and led the Huskies to 17 points, including touchdowns on their two fourth-quarter drives. Now that UW is bowl-eligible, where are they going to go bowling? Los Angeles? San Diego? Las Vegas? El Paso? Shreveport? A lot of names have already been thrown out there. Before the guys wrap up the post-game podcast, Scott provides a quick recruiting update on who was in the stands for the game, and there's also talk about a few of the former players that were also there, like the two Legends of the Game - Mason Foster and Roy Lewis. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices