Sumner’s Wedington makes verbal commitment to UW

Connor Wedington goes by one nickname: CW.

It’s a simple moniker that depicts the no-nonsense style of work and performance the Sumner Spartans’ star running back developed since childhood, where he and his brother Tristan dreamt big on taking their career to Division I football.

It’s a dream many share with Wedington.

“Ever since I was little, it was about playing D-I football,” Wedington said.

That dream became official last week when Wedington committed to the University of Washington football program after taking an unofficial visit the previous weekend. He had fielded five official offers besides Washington: Washington State, Eastern Washington, Idaho and Montana State.

“I took some time to talk about it with my family (and) I didn’t mind committing early,” Wedington said. “I took my unofficial visit (on Feb. 7), (and) we were talking with the coaches a long time. We just knew — we just knew it was the right fit. It was a great time.”

Wedington becomes the first Sumner football player to join a Pac-12 Conference program, and is arguably coach Keith Ross’ top recruit to come out of the program.

“It’s never happened before before Connor, and I couldn’t be prouder,” Ross said.

The early commitment comes after Wedington tore through the 3A South Puget Sound League as Sumner won the league championship behind his 2,135 all-purpose yards, with 1,501 coming rushing the football. He finished with 22 total rushing touchdowns.

“Last year’s league was tough. We had three or four teams in the top 10 in the 3A,” Wedington said.

Wedington also sports a 3.85 grade point average, and will use his 4.53-second 40-yard dash speed to help the Sumner boys relays get back to state in track this spring.

From CW to UW

On his visit, Wedington was drawn in by the way the UW program operated under second-year coach Chris Petersen. It’s rare to get the chance to get a peek in to one of the top minds in college sports — especially one that’s taken those touted as less talented coming in and turned them into NFL-level players.

The early commitment came as a surprise for Wedington even after making a claim last summer that he wanted to have his college decision made by the end of his junior school year. He’s surpassed that by committing in February.

“I wanted to commit before my senior year. It’s a little earlier than I (set) but I’m fine with it,” he said.

But what stood out to the Sumner playmaker wasn’t the prospect of becoming the backfield compliment to UW breakout player Myles Gaskin, who will be in his junior — and potentially final — season with the Huskies when Wedington joins the squad.

No, it was that Petersen — a coach who arguably values character and effort as much as talent — was willing to put out the extra effort in recruiting him.

“It’s great feeling knowing that all my hard work is paying off. And I know that if I keep working, it’s that, you know, things will turn out right,” Wedington said. “I want to see if I can do early enrollment next spring, so I can get started on that part of my life and get out to spring practices with the team.”

Now Wedington’s mind is at ease. There’s excitement, sure, but there is something more important to this future Husky than erasing the chaos of the recruiting circuit: Finishing his high school career in style.

“Having this off my plate, it will help me a lot. But I feel like I rise to the situation,” Wedington said. “I’m just going to be here, going through the season trying to get us a championship.”

It’s business as usual for this Spartan.

This story was originally published February 15, 2016 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Sumner’s Wedington makes verbal commitment to UW."