Recruits are allowed to take official visits until the final weekend in June. Earning that last trip is important since prospects will not be able to take official visits again until the season begins. There is a dead period in July and August meaning recruits will have an opportunity to sit on that final visit for a couple months before having a chance to see any other schools in person.

So, when a recruit like coveted three-star cornerback Maliki Crawford locks in an official visit with Washington for the final weekend of June it is certainly meaningful. The standout defensive back from Pacifica High School in Oxnard, California is set to take his official visit to UW the weekend of June 24 to wrap up what will be a busy month.

He’s also set official visits with Cal and USC next month as well.

Crawford has been to all three schools already on unofficial visits, but the official visit process will give him an entire weekend to spend at each location while he continues to evaluate his options currently on the table.

The 6-foot-3 cornerback was previously committed to UCLA for around six months, so he is being a bit more deliberate when it comes the process this time around. Decommitting from a school can be a bit tricky since it is never a guarantee that a recruit will have the same level of offers the second time around.

For Crawford, however, the move to back away from his UCLA pledge has opened up plenty of new doors and given the big cornerback recruit a number of top options.

He says his priority this time around is to make sure he picks the “right spot,” and being able to take visits to other programs without being attached to a different school as a commit has helped him explore his options well.

“It’s been great,” he said. “I’m very blessed to be in this position. And, I’m just really taking it all in and soaking it all in because a lot of kids, and some of my best friends that I know, they don't have the opportunity to do this so I'm just very happy to be able to do what I’m doing right now.”

Crawford has been able to take numerous visits to the schools most in the mix in his recruitment, and he has made a habit out of being unique when getting the opportunity to take photos on the various college campuses. Suiting up in a team’s uniform tends to be the norm for any campus visit in 2022, but the cornerback prospect certainly likes to add his own originality to each of those opportunities.

“I don't know what it is. It's like as soon as I just walk in the building, I feel the love, feel the energy and that camera is right in front of me. I just wanna do everything that I possibly can to be the most different,” he said about some of his unique visit photos. “I just want to like make my mark and make an impact on every program that I even step foot in. So as soon as I get there I just want to be known as someone who just set the trend and made it different.”