Why major college coaches are already chasing Lincoln of Tacoma’s star duo
Monday was the first day college basketball coaches could legally talk to high school players from the 2028 class.
It didn’t take long for Davion Shareef-Dulaney and Justus Holt’s phones to ring.
Lincoln High School’s star sophomore duo, who are playing summer ball and heading into their junior seasons, racked up recruiting offers quickly during the first week of contact from coaches.
The high-major offers were expected for Shareef-Dulaney, one of the state’s top guards and The News Tribune’s 2026 All-Area player of the year. He picked up offers from West Virginia, UW, Utah and others this week. More are likely on their way in the coming months.
“It feels good finally being able to put our talents on the big stage and display what we can do,” Shareef-Dulaney told The News Tribune before a pair of summer league games at Lincoln on Thursday afternoon. “It paid off with us putting in work.”
One of those offers came from the hometown UW Huskies.
“It felt good,” Shareef-Dulaney said. “I’m glad to be hometown from UW, just showing that I can get UW means a lot.”
Both Tacoma players dazzled at the Section 7 showcase earlier this month in Phoenix, Arizona. Holt, a 6-foot-5 forward, pulled in an offer from Virginia.
“Especially since it’s an ACC school, a really good school, it felt amazing,” he said.
It appears some college programs are still in wait-and-see mode with Holt, who has shown flashes during the first two years of his high school career. If Holt adds a few more inches to his frame and consistently dominates opposition, he has the chance to be scary good.
Lincoln coach Ryan Rogers, who called Holt’s Virginia offer “special,” said part of that development is adding an outside shot to Holt’s game.
“We’re trying to work the 15-footer to the 3 to his game so that he can really work on being more of an all-around scorer in the offense,” Rogers said. “It’s just something that he’s been working on in the offseason to try to grow that part of his game.”
Shareef-Dulaney, a 6-foot-3 guard, is a twitchy, crafty scorer who passed 1,000 career points in his first two high school seasons. He averaged 22.5 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals for the Abes last winter.
Shareef-Dulaney and Holt led Lincoln all the way to the Class 3A state championship game last winter at the Tacoma Dome, where the Abes fell to Rainier Beach in the title game.
For many high school athletes, the physical leap between sophomore and junior years is a major one. If the success of Lincoln’s duo early in the summer is indication, Lincoln is in store for another special season in the winter.
“It’s gonna be a big leap,” Holt said. “We’re coming for that state title since we lost last year. We’re just getting better every day as a team.”
