High school football recruiting: Arizona State offers 8, including Bethel’s Latu brothers

Arizona State football did more than play the Huskies last weekend in Seattle. Coaches also extended verbal offers to eight high school players from Washington, including brothers Peter and Will Latu from Bethel.

The Sun Devils are the first to offer Peter Latu, a 6-foot-5, 205-pound wide receiver and safety for the seventh-ranked Braves. He is considered a three-star recruit by 247Sports.com, and the No. 10 player in Washington in the 2020 class.

“It was amazing,” Peter Latu said of his first offer. “It was my dream to get an offer from a (Division I) school. It was just a blessing.”

His younger brother, sophomore Will Latu, picked up his second FBS offer from ASU over the weekend. His first, from USC, came last spring.

Will Latu is listed at 6-2, 185 pounds, and is ranked as a four-star recruit by 247Sports and the No. 46 player in the nation in the 2021 class. He plays running back and safety for the Braves.

“Last spring I asked Will, who would be your dream schools? This was before anybody offered, and he said it would probably be, at this point, USC and Arizona State,” Bethel coach Mark Iddins said. “Sure enough, those are the first two.”

“It motivated me to keep on pushing and strive for the best,” Will Latu said.

Iddins, the Braves’ fifth-year coach and a former quarterback at Montana State, says both Latu brothers are on the radar of most Pac-12 programs.

Iddins said he has a stack of letters in his mailbox waiting for Peter most days, and expects the same attention for Will when he is old enough to receive written communication from schools.

“They know about both of them,” Iddins said. “This is just the beginning. As it gets out, and they continue to develop, and hopefully put out more good film and get their transcripts right, who knows?”

Brandon Huffman, the national recruiting editor at 247Sports, said Peter Latu is arguably the most physically impressive player in the state, regardless of class or position.

“He has the most NFL ready body of any high school player in Washington,” Huffman said. “He moves like a safety, but he’s built like an outside linebacker or ‘buck.’ He has tremendous positional versatility.

“And he’s only a junior, so you assume he’s going to get bigger and thicker, too. He’s one of those guys who could play in any of the three levels on defense, depending on how his body develops.”

Will Latu displays some of that same versatility as his older brother has.

“He’s got positional versatility at running back, receiver and safety, and probably grows into a linebacker,” Huffman said. “He translates well to the next level.”

Huffman and Iddins agreed both Latu brothers could project as linebackers in college. Antonio Pierce, who is ASU’s recruiting coordinator and linebackers coach, extended both offers.

The Latu brothers have another older brother, Junior Latu (6-5, 295), a Washington High School product, who is entering his junior season as a tight end at Weber State.

Peter and Will Latu said they’d like to continue playing together in college if the right opportunity is there. The two train together at Ford Sports Performance in Bellevue, and have played football with and against each other growing up.

“I would feel comfortable, because I would have someone to look up to, and know that I have my brother by my side,” Will Latu said.

“It feels nice having the people you already have a bond with,” Peter Latu said.

During their trip, ASU coaches also offered six players from Class 3A powerhouse Eastside Catholic.

After watching the second-ranked Crusaders rout Rainier Beach, 48-22, on Thursday night, coaches offered juniors Sam Adams, Ayden Hector, Gee Scott, and Jernias Tafia, sophomore J.T. Tuimoloau, and freshman Dishawn Misa.

Five more players from Washington also hold offers from ASU, received earlier this year.

Two players in the 2019 class, Oregon commit Cale Millen (Mount Si) and UW commit Nathaniel Kalepo (Rainier Beach), hold offers from the Sun Devils.

ASU coaches watched Garfield’s Sav’ell Smalls, whom they offered in February, in a win over Seattle Prep last Friday. Smalls also added offers from Oklahoma and Penn State earlier this month.

Two more 2020 players, Eastside Catholic’s D.J. Rogers — who also added Oregon State and UCLA over the weekend — and Ferndale’s Geirean Hatchett also hold offers from the Sun Devils.

This story was originally published September 26, 2018 at 9:14 AM.