Three-star Emerald Ridge wide receiver Denzel Boston commits to Huskies
Denzel Boston, who is entering his senior season at Emerald Ridge High School, and is one of the top wide receivers in the South Sound, is the latest to join to Washington’s 2022 recruiting class.
The three-star recruit attended camp in Seattle in June, received an offer from the Huskies last week, and announced his commitment Wednesday evening on social media.
Boston is considered a three-star wide receiver by 247Sports, the No. 20 player in Washington in the 2022 class and No. 162 receiver in the country.
He chose the Huskies over offers Arizona, Arizona State, Eastern Washington, Nevada and Washington State.
“I think they’re getting a kid that has a desire to be a great football player,” Emerald Ridge coach Adam Schakel said. “I think he’s a matchup issue. He’s really long. He’s tall. And he’s going to continue to work on his agility and his speed and it’s just going to help him even more.”
Boston, who is listed at 6-foot-3, 180 pounds, has consistently produced for the Jaguars’ offense throughout his high school career, playing varsity since his freshman season.
During the shortened high school season in Washington this spring, Boston led Emerald Ridge with 553 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on 34 catches across five games, per MaxPreps.
He averaged more than 110 yards per game in one of the state’s toughest 4A leagues on his way to receiving first-team Class 4A South Puget Sound League honors, and was named to The News Tribune’s All-Area second team.
Boston hauled in 30 catches for 361 yards and seven touchdowns in 10 games as a sophomore, and added another 110 yards and a touchdown on five catches in six games as a freshman, while also leading the Jaguars with 216 yards on 14 kickoff return attempts.
“He’s a real tough matchup one-on-one,” Schakel said. “He’s long and he has a knack of going and getting the ball. Those 50-50 balls, he’s got a good shot of winning.”
Boston’s presence on the field resembles how his older brother, Andrew, another Emerald Ridge product and TNT All-Area pick in 2016, tore up opposing defenses during his high school playing days.
Andrew Boston was also a standout receiver for the Jaguars before heading to Eastern Washington, where he is entering his fifth season with the program this fall. The older Boston brother led EWU in receiving during the 2019 season, and has tallied 119 catches for 1,652 yards and 12 touchdowns in 32 career games.
“Real competitive,” Schakel said of the similarities between the brothers. “I think that would probably be a common trait. They almost play receiver like a middle linebacker. They’re going to go get it. That’s a mentality thing.”
Denzel Boston is the second player in the history of Emerald Ridge’s football program — which played its first season in 2001 — to join a Pac-12 program.
Former Jaguars three-star defensive end Mosiah Nasili-Kite, who also committed to the Huskies out of high school, but is now at Maryland — where he was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection last season — was the program’s first Power Five signee in 2018. He was a TNT All-Area pick in 2017.
Denzel Boston is the third player to commit to the Huskies’ 2022 class in the past week, joining four-star Tumwater tight end Ryan Otton and three-star San Joaquin Memorial (Fresno, Calif.) cornerback T.J. Hall, who announced their commitments late last week.
He is the 11th commit overall to join UW’s 2022 class, joining Otton, two more four-star recruits in Liberty (Henderson, Nev.) wide receiver Germie Bernard and Timber Creek (Keller, Texas) athlete Emeka Megwa, and three-star recruits in East (Salt Lake City, Utah) defensive lineman Ben Roberts, Saguaro (Scottsdale, Ariz.) offensive lineman Parker Brailsford, Lincoln tight end Chance Bogan, Graham-Kapowsin offensive lineman Vega Ioane, Desert Ridge (Mesa, Ariz.) defensive end Lance Holtzclaw, Hall and La Jolla (La Jolla, Calif.) quarterback Jackson Stratton.
This story was originally published August 4, 2021 at 5:34 PM.
