Inside The Huskies

Former Husky Walk-On Cornerback Kinchen Joins WSU

The Lake Stevens product didn't appear in a game for the UW in two seasons.

Dan Raley

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Kasen Kinchen was so determined to play football for the University of Washington, the cornerback passed on scholarship offers elsewhere and came to the Huskies as a walk-on player.

However, when Jimmy Lake and his UW coaching staff were dismissed last November, Kinchen apparently decided his dream of playing in Montlake was done, too, and he entered the transfer portal.

On Friday, the 5-foot-10, 170-pound defensive back disclosed on social media that he was joining Washington State, though it's unclear whether he received a scholarship or was walking on once more.

Originally from Lake Stevens High School in Lake Stevens, Washington, Kinchen didn't appear in a game for the UW over two seasons. He forever will be remembered for ending up in the middle of one of the most violent Husky practice fights in recent years.

Fourteen months ago, Kinchen and walk-on wide receiver David Pritchard got everyone's attention when they agitated each other and traded serious punches on a spring pass play, an outburst that then defensive-backs coach Will Harris later said was a bit too much.

Recruiting analysts offered high praise for Kinchen, calling him a potential Power 5 starter. Yet the UW previously had gone heavy on defensive backs and didn't have a scholarship for him in that class.

He reportedly passed on offers of financial aid from Air Force, Hawaii, Eastern Washington and Northern Colorado. He was recruited by California and Oregon. He even took a recruiting trip to Notre Dame.

"He actually had offers coming out of the Big Sky, but it was just him wanting to come and be developed, and be part of the best unit," Harris said.

Kinchen reported to the UW as a new freshman in June 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak. He was unable to get much done in fall practice and during the abbreviated Pac-12 season, both of which were subsequently delayed and suppressed.

Kasen Kinchen, middle, has transferred from the UW to WSU.
Kasen Kinchen, middle, spent two seasons with the UW / UW

Kinchen finally got a chance to show what he could do by rotating between the Husky first to third teams during 2021 spring practice. He intercepted then-true freshman quarterback Sam Huard in one of the earliest workouts. He finished with 5 tackles in the closing spring game.

His progress went no further as the Huskies tanked last season, he went unused for a 4-8 team and the coaches who knew him best were gone.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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