Surrounded by family at brother’s gravesite, Bethel’s Will Latu commits to UW
Will Latu sat behind his younger brother’s grave Sunday afternoon in Lakewood with two hats and a choice placed on a table in front of him.
As the four-star Bethel High School football recruit prepared to announce his college decision, his family gathered in the grass around him.
That they were all there with him for this moment was a blessing, he said.
“I just want to thank everybody for coming out and supporting me,” he said. “It’s been a huge journey, this recruiting process, and I’m just thankful.”
He thanked God, his parents, his siblings, his girlfriend and her family, and his coaches at Bethel and Ford Sports Performance for helping him get to where he is.
Then, he unzipped his jacket to reveal a purple shirt, grabbed the Washington hat to his right instead of the Utah hat to his left, and revealed he would be staying home to play for the Huskies.
“My choice is locked in on this one,” Latu said. “I just feel like this is the best choice for me and my family for the next three to four years, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Latu’s family cheered, applauded and assembled in groups alongside him to celebrate the beginning of a new chapter.
“Family is important,” Latu said. “Family is first. And I’m just thankful for their support and love.”
The importance of family is what moved Latu to hold his commitment ceremony beside his younger brother, Keanu Perpetua-Prescott, at Mountain View Memorial Park. Keanu was 2 years old when he died in 2017 in the care of a family friend, who later pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter.
“To be right here for my brother, it’s a special feeling,” Latu said. “I just love and miss him so much.”
When Latu speaks about his brother, he remembers the happiness Keanu showed in life.
“Everything I do now, I do it for him and my family,” Latu said.
His mother, Elaine Prescott, said visiting the cemetery the past three years has been tough, but said it was special to see Latu honor his brother’s memory in this way.
The commitment to play for the Huskies was also a memorable gift for his father, Sefo.
“It’s just a gift to (my brother) and my father for Father’s Day,” Latu said. “It’s special.”
The opportunity to stay close to his family was part of what drew him to join the Huskies. When then-coach Chris Petersen extended the offer last summer, Latu noted in a tweet that this was a “big one.”
He maintained a good relationship with UW when Jimmy Lake took over for Petersen and said he realized after a Zoom call with linebackers coach Bob Gregory last month that Seattle was where he wanted to spend his college years.
“We were just talking about football, and life, and I felt a connection,” Latu said.
Latu, who is entering his senior year at Bethel, passed up Power Five offers from 10 other programs — including most of the Pac-12, his childhood favorite USC and Michigan — in favor of UW.
“Through this journey, I just felt a good connection with Coach Lake and Coach Gregory, so I decided to go purple and gold,” he said.
Since his freshman season with the Braves, Latu, who is 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, has built a reputation as one of the most daunting players in the state on both sides of the football.
He was the heartbeat of Bethel’s team last season as a junior, pacing the program to its first Class 3A state quarterfinals appearance in 15 years, and finishing with more than 1,000 all-purpose yards and 22 total touchdowns at running back, while making defensive contributions at defensive end, linebacker and safety.
Latu was the 3A Pierce County League offensive back of the year, and a first-team TNT All-Area and Associated Press all-state pick at linebacker.
The breakout junior season amplified what many already thought — Latu has the natural ability, positional flexibility and work ethic to be a major contributor at the college level.
“It kind of showed his positional versatility,” Brandon Huffman, the National Recruiting Editor at 247Sports.com, said. “Is he a safety, is he a linebacker, is he a running back, is he an H-back? He showed he wasn’t one-dimensional.”
Latu projects to start his career as a linebacker with UW, but said coaches have talked to him about his potential as a short yardage running back, too. If the Huskies needs a bull-rushing, he’ll be there, he said.
“I like to get tackles in and score touchdowns, so I can’t wait,” he said.
Bethel coach Mark Iddins knows Latu has game-changing ability regardless of where he ends up. He’s seen that since Latu’s freshman season — when Latu earned his first offer from USC as a 14-year-old.
Since, Bethel’s coaches have worked with Latu on fine-tuning his skill set, helping him develop his vision on the field and grow into a team leader.
Latu also made strides in the classroom after his freshman year, following a conversation with his high school and 7-on-7 coaches that spring about his college football potential. A visit from Lake, and the possibility of the offer from the Huskies, also ramped up Latu’s focus.
“That’s when the switch flipped,” he said. “It was huge. That’s the support I needed.”
He takes pride in his grades now, and the progress he’s made leading into his senior year.
Iddins said players like Latu, who overcome hardships to create a life-changing futures, are why coaches coach.
“You could make the argument he’s been the most improved player in our program, and not because of what he’s done on the football field — he’s always been a super talented football player — but because of how far he’s come as a person, a student and a leader,” Iddins said.
Latu is a consensus a four-star recruit and is the ninth-ranked player in Washington by 247Sports in what is considered the state’s deepest class in the modern recruiting era. He’s also one of seven players from the state on ESPN’s top 300 list for 2021 recruits and a Polynesian Bowl commit.
He is the fourth in-state product to join UW’s 2021 recruiting class. Kennedy Catholic’s Sam Huard, considered the top pro-style quarterback in the country, headlines the class, while Eatonville’s do-it-all athlete Caden Jumper and former Inglemoor standout Quentin Moore, who played junior college football at Kansas’ Independence Community College, have also committed.
This story was originally published June 21, 2020 at 10:09 AM.
