6/19/2017 football Edit

4-Star Calabasas LB Commits to ASU

2018 Calabasas OLB Reggie Hughes with ASU LB coach Keith Patterson (via Twitter)

Ralph Amsden • ASUDevils

Staff Writer

Reggie Hughes, a 4-star outside linebacker prospect out of Calabasas, California tweeted out his verbal commitment to Arizona State on Monday, making Hughes the fourth commitment of the Sun Devil's 2018 class.

Hughes recently visited Arizona State and talked with Publisher Hod Rabino about his experience, saying of the coaches, “I met... the defensive coordinator, my position coach, Coach Slocum, and we all had a good talk. They like me at Devilbacker and I like that position a lot. Rushing the passer is my bread and butter, and I like that the position has some versatility and allows you to make plays in space, even playing a little man-to-man.”

Hughes also talked about the fact that ASU commit Ely Doyle has been on him and several other California prospects to join him in his commitment to the Sun Devils. "He’s been hitting me every day... He’s always talking to me about ASU. He’s been recruiting me and Nikko (Hall), and also Bryan Addison and Jalen Nailor and these are all guys (that) have a lot of interest in ASU."

National recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney has had an opportunity to see Reggie Hughes up close, and gave his feedback to DevilsDigest.com on what the 4-star OLB brings to the table:

"Early last season I went to Calabasas to watch Darnay Holmes, Tristan Gebbia and others, and I know coach Casey Clausen well so I asked him about a linebacker that really caught my eye just in drills. He told me about Reggie Hughes for the first time. I loved him in that game because he played linebacker, played downhill, hit people hard and covered ground well. Since then I've kept my eye on him, watched him in more games, and was really impressed. This offseason he's been great with Pro Way 7 on 7, making a lot of plays in space. He is physically developed, a smart player who takes to coaching, and the people at Calabasas can't say enough about him. It's a very nice pickup for the Sun Devils as they look to rebuild a defense that needs help."

It will be interesting to see how Hughes' improvement through the 7 on 7 season helps him build on an impressive junior campaign that saw him credited with 19 sacks and 23 QB hurries, in addition to his 69 total tackles (22 for a loss).