Inside The Huskies

Linebacker Switches Walk-On Plans from Wisconsin to UW

Seattle Prep's Austin Harnetiaux has change of heart on college destination.

Dan Raley

Austin Harnetiaux, dissatisfied with his recruiting situation, turned down scholarship offers from Eastern Washington, Army, Georgetown, Air Force and others, and announced bold plans to walk on at Wisconsin.

Still not satisfied with his college football arrangement, the Seattle Preparatory School linebacker said this week he would join the University of Washington football program instead, also without a scholarship.

The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Harnetiaux obviously envisions himself as a Big Ten or Pac-12 player deserving of financial assistance. 

While solidly built and highly productive as a high school player, he likely still has to prove he's fast enough to play for a Power 5 school, though he lists a 4.67-second 40-yard dash on his profile.

Searching for a college program last year, Harnetiaux pitched himself to the Badgers and outside linebackers coach Bobby April with a flurry of emails and drew a positive response.  

"Their walk-on program is phenomenal and they do a great job of converting those guys into contributors," Harnetiaux told badgerswire.com. "I think I can go there and earn my money in the weight room, and I want to be a leader and someone who makes plays on Saturdays."

The former Prep standout declared he would enroll at Wisconsin in December but he changed his mind last week. As a walk-on, of course, he was under no obligation to join the Badgers.

Instead, Harnetiaux will try do what inside linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio and cornerback Mishael Powell have made happen at the UW in recent seasons — go from walk-on to scholarship recipient and a full- or a part-time starter.

While Seattle Prep is the high school nearest the UW, it has supplied just a handful of players who have made meaningful contributions over the past several decades. 

Prep alums who have made the successful jump include linebacker Jim Kristof, running back Mark Wheeler and punter Ryan Fleming, all starters for the Huskies at some point. 

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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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