By Steve Wiltfong

In April of 2019, 247Sports went across the pond to Amsterdam for a joint combine with PPI Recruits, where a young German defensive end in Maurice Heims was one of the prospects on the field that caught our eye.

Heims hadn’t even been playing football a year at the time.

“Has a chance to develop into a Power Five level recruit with the right work over the next two years,” 247Sports Director of Scouting Barton Simmons wrote coming out of the event. “He showed some natural athleticism and pass rush instincts.”

That ended up being on the money as just a little over a year later the 6-foot-5, 240-pound Heims secured his spot among the Power Five ranks Friday announcing his commitment to Washington.

In retrospect, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind for Heims, who was discovered two years ago by Brandon Collier of PPI Recruits, an organization not only trying to build the game of football in Europe but also provide a pathway for these European prospects to land at Division-I schools in the United States.