Having loaded up early on skill players for the Class of 2012, the Huskies today landed a lineman, getting a commitment from offensive tackle Nathan Dean of Juanita.

Juanita High head coach Shaun Tarantola, who has sent a steady stream of players to UW the last few years, told the Times that Dean decided this morning to make his commitment today and was expected to head to campus and tell the Husky coaches in person.

The 6-5, 270-pounder is rated a three-star recruit by Scout.com and also had offers from Arizona, Colorado, UCLA and Washington State, among others. Rivals.com also has him with a three-star rating.

Tarantola said Dean, whose parents each attended Illinois and was born in the Midwest before moving to Washington when he was about 2, was initially intrigued by the idea of looking at other schools. He attended a camp last year at Notre Dame.

But he said Dean had recently decided that UW was the best fit for him, telling his coach that "I can't find any reasons why I shouldn't go (to Washington),'' he said. So Dean decided today to make the call.

Tarantola also coached current UW OT Senio Kelemete at Evergreen High and said of Dean that "he's the total package as an offensive tackle. He can play a number of positions, but he can drive block and pass protect and reach and zone you and now he can finish a block. He's not content unless he gets the guy on the ground, at least that's what he's shown the last few weeks in practice. He's a player that has a huge upside.''

As indicated by the above quote, Tarantola says he has seen a lot of progress in Dean the last year or so, saying that during his earlier years in the program he was "pretty physical at times but was just kind of content making the block. Over the course of the last year he has really developed mentally and physically and has really devoted himself to the weight room.''

Dean is the sixth commit for UW's Class of 2012 (second in the last 24 hours, joining WR Dwayne Washington of Gahr High in Cerritos, Calif.) He is the second in-state commit, along with Mercer Island QB Jeff Lindquist, and he is the first of a stellar group of in-state linemen to commit, what UW hopes is a foreshadowing of things to come.

Here is some video of Dean: