Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Ryan Turman helps UW's recruiting effort
By Mason Kelley
When Jermaine Kelly (Los Angeles/Salesian) committed to Washington on Monday, he was asked about Ryan Turman.
The 6-foot-1, 171-pound cornerback has yet to spend any time around Turman, a 6-foot, 195-pound receiver out of Bellevue (Wash.) Interlake. But through social media, text messages and phone calls, the two seniors are becoming fast friends.
“Ryan Turman is my best friend, man,” Kelly said. “I think we’re going to be good friends up there. He’s a really cool dude.”
After committing to the Huskies as a walk-on, Turman decided to take the initiative and help the program with its recruiting effort.
“I hit him up on Facebook, because I heard UW was trying to get him and I’m just trying to get all the best players,” Turman said.
The recruits started texting. They started talking. Now they talk every day. In fact, Turman was one of the first people to find out that Kelly planned to commit.
“He’s been trying to recruit all of us, trying to get us all onto the same team,” Kelly said. “I know he’s a walk-on as of right now, but he’s really trying to get that full ride, because he wants to be a Husky so bad. It shows how much he’s dedicated to the program.”
The friendship between Turman and Kelly was sparked through mutual interests.
“We relate really well,” Turman said. “We agree on the same things. We get along really well. I see him being my roommate or best friend next year.”
Now that Kelly has committed, Turman is trying to convince another friend, UCLA commit Myles Jack (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue), to flip to the Huskies.
“I’m on Myles every day,” he said.
Turman is doing everything he can to improve the program’s 2013 class. Like defensive line commit Elijah Qualls (Petaluma, Calif./Casa Grande), Turman is transforming from recruit to recruiter.
“I know a lot of people,” Turman said. “I just have connections. I don’t really know how. I’m really good at recruiting people. I just give them the positives and they always seem to think I’m right. Myles and Jermaine are just two really good examples. I’m trying to contribute to the team in any way possible. I just love the Huskies and the whole staff.”
