IMG Academy defensive back Censere Gaylord announce his intention to join the Huskies.
The Washington Huskies football team have tried and failed over the cycle to land a second cornerback for the Class of 2027.
On Saturday, those fortunes shifted for the Huskies.
Four-star cornerback Censere Gaylord, in a livestream on the CBS Sports College Football YouTube channel announced his commitment to Washington.
Gaylord chose to join Huskies over two other (and more local) finalists, the Georgia Bulldogs and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
Gaylord attends IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., where he was a major playmaker last fall.
In his junior season in 2025, Gaylord had four interceptions, five pass breakups, one forced fumble and 22 total tackles.
The 6-foot, 165-pound defensive back is ranked as the 165th-best overall player, 19th-best cornerback and 19th-best player in Florida in the class, per the 247Sports Composite.
Rivals Industry rankings has Gaylord ranked as the 144th-best player in the country, the 18th-best cornerback and the 16th-best player in Florida.
Gaylord joins three-star cornerback Maurice Williams, who committed back on Dec. 24, 2025, as the two corners committed to UW in the Class of '27.
Washington tried and failed to land a second corner to pair with Williams over the course of the recruiting cycle, missing out on players such as Josiah Molden (committed to Oregon), Jeovanni Henley (committed to Cal) and Kamil Loud (committed to Cal).
Gaylord is the 24th overall commit for the Huskies in the Class of '27. According to 247Sports player rating system, he's the highest-ranked prospect of the class (ranked 112th), just ahead of four-star wide receiver Tre Moore (ranked 161st per 247Sports composite; ranked 167th per 247Sports player rating).
The commitment boosts Washington's overall class rankings from 25th to 22nd, per 247Sports.
The 21 teams ranked ahead of the Huskies are, in order: Texas A&M, Oregon, Notre Dame, Texas, Miami, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Texas Tech, Florida, LSU, Auburn, Ole Miss, Georgia, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Nebraska, Southern California (USC), UCLA, Michigan, Penn State and Kentucky.
Washington's recruiting class ranks eighth in the Big Ten.
The Huskies will have an opportunity to bolster their recruiting class even further with another commitment set to be announced later Saturday.
Four-star interior offensive lineman DaJohn Yarborough will also announce his commitment at 3 p.m. PT on Saturday. He'll choose among a final list that includes Washington, Florida State, Mississippi State and Cal. If he commits to UW, he'll become the fourth offensive lineman of the class to announce his intention to head to the Pacific Northwest.
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