Inside The Huskies

Huskies Not in the Portal Reveal They've Been Pursued by Other Schools

UW wide receiver Denzel Boston discloses that eight persistent suitors have come after him.

Dan Raley

Denzel Boston catches a two-point conversion pass at Oregon.
Denzel Boston catches a two-point conversion pass at Oregon. / Skylar Lin Visuals

As University of Washington football players continue to walk out the door, with a dozen and a half entering the transfer portal and seeking fame and fortune elsewhere, even more unsettling for Jedd Fisch's team has been the brazen overtures made to high-profile Huskies who have intended all along to stay put.

It seems no one is immune from the frenetic college football auction that has elevated to free-for-all levels in terms of player pursuit and money offers.

On Thursday, sophomore wide receiver Denzel Boston -- enjoying a 60-catch, 807-yard and 9-touchdown season entering the Sun Bowl against Louisville -- disclosed to media members how eight teams have reached out to him and three or four of them have been really persistent in making a pitch for his services.

Yet the 6-foot-4, 209-pound pass-catcher, a guy with local roots from the Puyallup area southeast of Seattle, insisted he wasn't interested at all in giving up what he has achieved after becoming a first-year starter and a leading passing target for the Huskies.

"I just went about it [that] I'm valued here," said Boton, who acknowledged he has an agent. "Why would I throw all that away just for some type of, maybe, just a little bit of money?"

Seated next to him, junior running back Jonah Coleman, enjoying a team-leading 1,011-yard, 10-touchdown rushing performance this season, was asked the same question about outside solicitors reaching out to him.

Before he could respond, Boston provided the short answer on behalf of the veteran running back: "The whole nation."

Coleman clarified that it's been more than 10 schools that have come after him, but maintained he wasn't changing schools again after leaving Arizona a year ago to follow coach Jedd Fisch to Washington.

"Keep the main thing the main thing," the running back proclaimed in a low growl. "Like I said, I'm committed to the University of Washington and the people who believed in me when no one else did."

If there was an encouraging sign amid all of this elevated college football madness, freshman quarterback Demond Williams Jr., installed as the Huskies' starter for the Oregon game and now the Sun Bowl and christened by Fisch as the face of UW football going forward, said no one has approached him.

For the ever loyal Boston, he said it's buyer beware for those players who leave their college situations in pursuit of a new place to land, hoping for something better. There are no portal guarantees.

"There are always other teams trying to come in and offer you more money," the wide receiver said. "You've got to understand like where the values are at. Is that real over there? You still have to take the risk to go over there. You might not like your new life over there."

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

Published
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.

Home/Football