According to Scout.com, Washington has filled its placekicking vacancy for next season by securing a commitment from Travis Coons of Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif. The commitment was also confirmed to the Times tonight by Chris Sailer, who runs the Chris Sailer Kicking camps, where Coons has been a student the last few years.

Here's his Scout.com profile. And here's his profile from the Sailer site.

Coons committed to San Diego State in December, but Sailer said Washington began recruiting him hard in recent weeks and Coons decided to switch today, making the final calls to coaches in the last few hours.

"He always wanted to play in the Pac-12,'' Sailer said. "That was his dream.''

Sailer also said that San Diego State was recruiting Coons more as a punter while UW has plans to use him as a kicker. "His strength is more on the kicking side and he really wanted to kick,'' Sailer said.

UW also has a commitment from punter Korey Durkee of Gig Harbor, who is also a student of Sailer's.

The Mt. SAC stats show him going 2-10 on field goals last season and 49-51 on PATs.

But Sailer said the field goal accuracy number is "misleading,'' noting that all but three were from beyond 40 yards. He also said a few were blocked.

"I wouldn't look too far into that (number),'' Sailer said. "He's a phenomenal kicker.''

Sailer wrote last May that Coons was the best kicking prospect at his camp --- the Huskies also found former punter Will Mahan out of the Sailer Kicking camps. Here's another scouting report from 247Sports calling him the No. 3 kicking prospect in the country.

Finding a kicker was obviously a key for UW in this class with the graduation of three-year starter Erik Folk. UW is also expected to bring in a walk-on or two, including possibly Santiago Lopez of Lynden High.

Coons is a 2010 graduate of Alta Loma (Calif.) High, so that means he would have three years left to play two.

Sailer said Coons didn't begin concentrating on kicking until after high school and simply didn't have college offers out of high school, which is why he went the JC route.

"He's good under pressure and he's a great athlete, so it kind of translates onto the field,'' Sailer said. "I think hiss biggest strength is his ability to really do all three (kick, kickoff and punt) at a high level. That makes him really valuable that he can help in one way or another.''

Here's some video of Coons: