Kalepo Never Envisioned Playing on National Stage in Sugar Bowl

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Roman Tomashoff | Last updated Jan 1, 2024 4:00 PM ET

NEW ORLEANS — After being asked what it means to him to be a starter on college football's top offensive line with a chance to play for the national championship, Washington's senior left guard Nate Kalepo paused to look around.

He not only saw a cavernous Superdome, he considered his football past.

"It means the world to me to be here," Kalepo said. "Even though it wasn't on my timing, I feel like everything happens for a reason and it played out perfectly."

A 4-star recruit in the class of 2019, Kalepo committed to Chris Petersen's staff over 18 other offers while playing at Rainier Beach High School in south Seattle. He became a vocal leader among Washington's other commits and helped the Huskies pull in the nation's 15th-ranked class that year.

Among his classmates were two other members of the Huskies' starting offensive line, left tackle Troy Fautanu and right guard Julius Buelow. Even though the three came up together as highly touted recruits, Kalepo was the last of them to start a game.

Buelow's first game-opening assignment came in Washington's 2021 season-opening loss to Montana, while Fautanu's came later that fall when the Huskies traveled to Arizona.

Kalepo played in 11 games that year but didn't draw a start until the 2022 season opener against Kent State.

Since then, he has missed just one game and developed into a reliable member of the interior of Washington's offensive line between Fautanu and redshirt freshman center Parker Brailsford.

Before the Sugar Bowl kicks off on Monday, Kalepo has been able to reflect on just how far he's come under the bright lights of the Caesar's Superdome as he tries to help lead his hometown team to a berth in the national championship game in Houston.

"Looking around, as a kid from south Seattle, I never thought I'd be in a position like this," he said.

This article first appeared on Washington Huskies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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