Inside The Huskies

Nevada Linebacker in Transfer Portal Makes Surprising Choice

Daiyan Henley's four finalists were the UW, USC, Kansas State and WSU.

Dan Raley

Former Nevada linebacker Daiyan Henley, finding a creative way to select a new school, lined up four small cakes representing his final choices and he took a bite out of the one labeled WSU.

The Cougars won this bake-off for this second-team All-Mountain West player, who also considered Washington, USC and Kansas State. 

"Once a Cougar, always a Cougar," remarked Henley, whose Los Angeles high school, Crenshaw, also answers to that nickname.

Henley goes to WSU after playing four seasons for Nevada, first as a wide receiver before moving to safety and, for the past two seasons, at inside linebacker. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound senior has one season of eligibility remaining. 

This past season, he led the Wolf Pack with 103 tackles, intercepted 4 passes and recovered 3 fumbles. He scored twice on defense, going the distance with a 50-yard interception return in a 51-20 victory over UNLV and on a 56-yard fumble runback in a 27-24 win over San Jose State.

Henley decided to transfer from the Mountain West school after his coach Jay Novell left for Colorado State. 

The Wolf Pack (8-4), without Norvell, Henley and NFL-bound quarterback Carson Strong who opted out, will face Western Michigan in the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit, against Western Michigan (7-5) on December 27.

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Husky Maven stories as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Husky Maven on Facebook by searching: Husky Maven/Sports Illustrated

Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven

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