Juanita High School senior Jarrett Finau verbally committed to attend the University of Washington, accepting a athletic scholarship offer to play for the football team.

Finau, who plays tight and defensive end, had several offers on the table, according to Rebels head coach Shaun Tarantola, but felt the Huskies vibe and being close to home was the best fit.

Finau and his family moved to Kirkland in February from Marysville and will play his senior year and first season with the Rebels this fall.

“He’s very excited about it,” said Tarantola. “He had a few offers from Arizona, BYU, Hawaii and Utah State I believe. He went to the Huskies skill camp and worked out with the coaches and just really loved the vibe and the energy that they brought. They offered it to him at the end of the day.” Tarantola said Finau waited for about a week before making his final decision. He said a big part of the decision was Finau would be able to be close to home playing in Seattle. Finau could not be reached for comment prior to the Reporter’s deadline.

“His strengths are his combination of size and his athletic ability,” said Tarantola of the 6 foot 3.5 inch, 235 pound player. “He moves very well and is an all around athlete for his size.”

Tarantola said he and his staff will be working to help Finau fine tune his game this fall when he dons the Rebels blue and red jersey.

“We want him to have a great senior season. We’ll be work at making him a more well rounded player,” said the coach. “Defensively at playing in space and offensively at catching and ball skills.”

Tarantola said in the years as a varsity coach he’s had only a handful of players earn Division I scholarships; approximately six since 2001.

“Division I is pretty rare,” he said. “Jarrett plays the game fast, he has a motor and a lot of energy for the game.”

The Rebels open the 2010 football season against Redmond on Sept. 3 at 7 p.m.

Contact Kirkland Reporter writer Megan Managan at mmanagan@kirklandreporter.com.

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