College Football Recruiting: Darien Chase, Sawyer Racanelli grapple with the ups and downs

Chase, at 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, arguably is the one of the most highly-recruited high school players to come out of Southwest Washington, with scholarship offers from five Division I programs — Boise State, Oregon, Oregon State, Utah and Washington. He said Aug. 16 he likely will announce a verbal commitment after the season; players can sign letters of intent as soon as December’s newly installed early-signing period.

Recruiting is still recruiting, but one thing is certain about the college football recruiting process: It’s different from what it used to be. The online football video service Hudl makes high school players’ game film accessible to college recruiters, and prospects can market themselves through college camps and showcase events.

And that goes for players in Southwest Washington, said Brandon Huffman, a national recruiting editor for 247Sports.

“They’re doing much, much more to get out and get visible,” Huffman said.

For Chase, college interest began at Mountain View as a freshman. Huffman calls Chase the most versatile senior in the state because of his size and athleticism. He’s rated a four-star recruit and No. 3 prospect in the state for 2019 by the organization.

Chase checks off a lot of boxes for colleges coaches at a receiver and cornerback, but Union coach Rory Rosenbach says Chase’s ball skills in the secondary is what makes him elite.

“He’s not going to knock it down,” Rosenbach said, “he’s going to pick it and go the other way.”

As Chase’s recruiting trail winds down, it’s heating up for Hockinson’s Sawyer Racanelli.

The junior might be the area’s next top recruit. Racanelli landed his first scholarship offer from Oregon State this spring, before he even got his driver’s license. He continues to attract interest from several schools.

Racanelli helped Hockinson to the program’s first state championship last season with a record-breaking season at receiver. At 16 and 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, his high school coach, Rick Steele, says he already passes the eye test for a college freshman.

“He’s so out of the realm of every other player we have,” Steele said.

Being a class of 2020 recruit, Racanelli has yet to experience as much of the recruiting process as Chase has, but he’s received a steady stream of digital breadcrumbs.

After his sophomore season, Racanelli spliced together a season highlight video with a recording of him, introducing himself, his high school and graduation year. Then he began to direct message the video to various college coaches and recruiting coordinators, in hopes he’d get noticed.

“I was like, well, what do I have to lose,” Racanelli said.

And it worked. An Oregon State coach told his father he saw the highlight package. After his sophomore season, the Beavers offered him. Some coaches responded, but in a coded manner.

“Because they can’t respond, I’m wondering what they thought about it,” Racanelli said. “They’ll send a text message of a letter saying ‘we’re a great academic school,’ not athletic related because it has to follow NCAA rules.”

Added Racanelli: “Even Mississippi State, from the SEC, their recruiting guy followed me on Twitter, all of a sudden I got a letter in the mail and it said ‘Mississippi State’ addressed to our high school so I was like, woah, this is working.”

As much as he’s been able to measure engagement from coaches, Racanelli has tried not to get overly invested in the process. At the end of the day, he says, the focus should be on the football, not the self-promotion.

“An Arizona State coach told me, ‘some kids fall in love with recruiting, others fall in love with football,’” Racanelli said. “I’m trying to make football the No. 1 priority and recruiting second.”

While other Clark County recruits such as Chase and Union quarterback Lincoln Victor are going through similar processes, Racanelli says he doesn’t ask them for advice, or compare their recruiting processes. But the three often boost each other’s announcements. When Victor received his first D-I offer from Eastern Washington, Racanelli quote-tweeted the post, adding: “Congrats Lincoln well deserved.”

The no-contact period ends on Sept. 1 of an athlete’s junior season, which means in one week, it’s open season for college coaches contacting Racanelli.

That’s when he says the real process will be kick-started.

Asked about the importance of that date, Sawyer offers a smirk.

“I’m expecting his phone to blow up,” his dad says. “I’m kind of nervous. This is the calm before the storm.”