Huskies Secure Commitment from Vaunted SoCal Back Brian Bonner

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated Jul 8, 2025 5:14 PM ET

Everything seemed to line up just right for Brian Bonner in Montlake.

The University of Washington football team wears purple, same as his Valencia High School, which is located north of Los Angeles.

Bonner has a Vikings logo on his helmet, same as Husky running backs coach Scottie Graham in the NFL.

And maybe just maybe the traffic in Seattle was a little less complicated than in L.A., though not by much.

After a rather intense and prolonged recruitment, the 6-foot, 190-pound running back from Southern California on Tuesday resisted the advances of hometown UCLA and its former vaunted running back turned head coach in DeShaun Foster to commit to the Huskies.

For Jedd Fisch's UW staff, and most notably Graham, it was a big step forward in securing a runner considered by the recruiting websites to be the 105th best player in America for 2026, the No. 13 California recruit and quite possibly the best back on the West Coast.

Bonner becomes the seventh UW commit to carry a 4-star rating or better, joining offensive tackle Kodi Green, edge rusher Derek Colman-Brusa, safety Gavin Day, quarterback Derek Zammit, wide receiver Mason James and cornerback Jeron Jones.

BREAKING: Four-Star RB Brian Bonner Jr. has Committed to Washington, he tells me for @rivals

The 6’0 190 RB from Santa Clarita, CA chose the Huskies over UCLA, Penn State, & Nebraska

He’s ranked as the No. 4 RB in 2026 ☔️https://t.co/gTvp2CvfNO pic.twitter.com/SsT3EuQPAT
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) July 8, 2025

The Huskies worked this one hard to pull Bonner, a 1,433-yard rusher with 31 touchdowns as a junior, away from schools such as Notre Dame, Nebraska, Penn State and, of course, the determined Bruins playing the local connection.

Graham was shown on social media posing for photos with Bonner at the player's school, in a California retail district and in Husky Stadium with the two of them playfully posing with a gold throne and a miniature Space Needle in the backdrop.

The football numbers seem to go a long way in describing what this back is all about, but one word on his social media account best summed him up: sprinter.

Bonner is a track guy with electric speed, timed in 10.65 seconds over the 100-meter dash.

So now he'll run to the UW next year and join the younger backs in Adam Mohammed, Jordan Washington and Julian McMahan, with the latter two likewise hailing from Southern California, and arrive with fellow 2026 runner Ansu Sanoe from Lake Oswego, Oregon.

Bonner is the 18th commit for this UW recruiting cycle, just seven of whom are clearly designated as offensive players.

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

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