Inside The Huskies

UW Fresh Start (No. 16): Davon Banks Still Making Up for Lost Time

Knee injuries and the pandemic nearly made recruiters overlook him.

Dan Raley

Davon Banks had trouble getting on the football field at San Jacinto High School, located at the base of the similarly named mountains halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs. It had nothing to do with his ability.

He twice injured a knee, limiting him to two games as a junior. The pandemic pushed his senior season to the spring and cut it to a half-dozen contests.

This wasn't exactly the recommended steps for attracting recruiting attention. With no scholarship offers, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound cornerback figured he first would first need to play junior-college football.

However, then-University of Washington defensive-backs coach Will Harris discovered Banks participating at a Northern California football camp late in the process, brought now former coach Jimmy Lake in for a look, signed him and brought the San Jacinto corner north.  

Ready to make up for lost time, Banks played right away for the Huskies, appearing in four games. He was one of five true freshman out of 15 who received Friday or Saturday snaps for real, pulling time against Washington State, Arizona State, Arkansas State and Oregon. It was enough for him to get a taste yet preserve his redshirt status.

Billboard Build-Up / Sacramento State

Davon Banks drew some Big Sky recruiting attention.

Terrific Tiger

Davon Banks was a cornerback, wide receiver and return specialist in high school. 

Four Freshmen / UW Athletics

Vince Nunley, Dyson McCutcheon, Davon Banks and Zakhari Spears pose for a photo with DBs coach Will Harris. 

He was the only one of four new Husky defensive backs to draw playing time, with the others all rated recruits and fielding multiple offers. His knee and the pandemic had made it easy to be overlooked. 

An elite speedster when healthy, Banks showed what he was capable of doing last April in San Jacinto's 35-21 victory over Citrus Hills. He was downright sensational. Banks scored on pass receptions of 85 and 39 yards, making an acrobatic one-handed catch on the longer throw, and he went the distance on a kickoff return that covered 92 yards. He had two other touchdowns nullified by penalty, including a 99-yard interception return.

Whew.

Yet it was admittedly tough for Banks to deal with a sixth-month knee rehab following the second knee injury and the corresponding lack of recruiting attention that came with it.

"Sometimes I was, 'Do I want to play football anymore?' " Banks said candidly to this SI site after signing last summer. "Watching people get offers, it was really a mental game for me."

A month and a half until Kalen DeBoer's first spring practice as the coach, we're offering our gathered intel and observations on the UW football personnel in a series of stories on every scholarship player from No. 0 to 99. We'll review each Husky's previous starting experience, if applicable, and determine what comes next for him under DeBoer.

As is the case with any coaching change, it's a new football beginning for everyone, including the Huskies' No. 16 on the defensive unit. Opportunity abounds.

DeBoer's Huskies need a pair of new starting cornerbacks with veterans Trent McDuffie and Kyler Gordon leaving for the NFL draft. Banks made significant strides in his football comeback by drawing playing time in his first collegiate season in Seattle. 

Ten of his fellow freshmen teammates didn't enjoy that benefit. 

He's been there.

UW Starter or Not: With his great speed, Banks will be a serious candidate who can't be ignored in the upcoming cornerback competition. However, experience likely will keep him behind older guys such as sophomores Jacobe Covington and Mishael Powell, plus UC Davis transfer Jordan Perryman, a first-team All-Big Sky selection last fall, when the rotation is determined. Yet Banks is a young player with all that promise, still holding four years of eligibility, still extremely fast.

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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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