Just four days after his Federal Way High School teammate Andre Barrington committed to play football at Washington State University, Andru Pulu did the football equivalent of the exact opposite.

The 6-foot-3, 250-pound middle linebacker verbally committed to play for Tyrone Willingham and the University of Washington Huskies next season. Pulu made his intentions known on Saturday the moment Willingham offered him a scholarship.

“It doesn’t happen everyday,” Federal Way head coach John Meagher said about having two Division I recruits on his roster. “As a matter of fact, it (a Pac-10 scholarship) hasn’t happened since I have been a head coach (11 seasons).”

Barrington, a 6-1, 200-pound running back/linebacker verbally committed to play for the Cougars on Tuesday.

The soft-spoken Pulu, along with Barrington, were huge reasons why the Eagles won their first South Puget Sound League North Division championship for the first time in 31 years a season ago.

“He talks with his pads,” Meagher said. “His size and strength are very special for a high school football player.”

Last season, Pulu racked up 62 tackles, which was second on the team behind Barrington, despite missing a game with an injury. He also had two tackles for losses and two fumble recoveries. As a sophomore, Pulu had 74 total tackles, seven for losses, one sack and two fumble recoveries.

WashingtonPreps.com lists Pulu as the 26th-ranked senior recruit from the state of Washington and gives him two out of five stars. He was a first-team, All-SPSL North Division linebacker both his sophomore and junior seasons. Pulu was listed on every major preseason all-state team in Washington and dished out numerous big hits in the Eagles’ season-opening loss to Auburn Thursday night at Federal Way Memorial Stadium.

Pulu will most likely move onto the defensive line when he gets to the University of Washington. In fact, the Huskies list him as a defensive end.

Sports editor Casey Olson: 925-5565, sports@fedwaymirror.com