Huskies Offer Ivy League DL Who's Drawn a Lot of Interest

The UW is one of nearly two dozen schools pursuing Joey Slackman.

With a pair of Washington senior defensive tackles moving on after this season, the Huskies have an urgent need to add an impact player or two at the position through the transfer portal. 

A target for the UW and nearly two dozen other schools is University of Pennsylvania graduate transfer Joey Slackman. 

On Monday, the 6-foot-4, 300-pounder from Commack, New York, entered his name in the transfer portal and quickly began stacking up offers from schools such as BYU, Colorado, Duke, Illinois, Miami, North Carolina, Oregon State, Pittsburgh and Wisconsin, among others. 

Following a conversation with UW director of player personnel Courtney Morgan, Huskies coach Kalen DeBoer placed a call to Slackman shortly before Midnight Eastern Standard Time to extend an offer, the 21st program to formally offer a scholarship to the transfer, who is on track to graduate from Penn in December and play his final year of college football elsewhere in 2024. 

"It was a great conversation. Really is an awesome dude and clearly he’s an amazing coach," Slackman said. "I told him that I was extremely grateful for it and we’d be in conversation over the next couple of days. I look forward to speaking with the entire coaching staff further because Washington obviously is a top-flight program and a great institution. Somewhere that I’m highly considering."

An All-Ivy League first-team selection, Slackman was a disruptive force for the 6-4 Quakers this season, totaling 50 tackles, including 12 tackles for loss and 4 sacks, in nine appearances.

Coming out of Commack High School in the 2019 recruiting class the now-coveted grad transfer wasn't sought after by colleges for his ability to sack the quarterback or stuff the run — both of which the defensive lineman feels he can do well. 

Slackman originally came to Penn as a wrestler as a Division I New York high school state champion wrestler at 285-pounds, and tried to play both wrestling and football during his first year in college before settling on football. 

After Slackman made his verbal commitment to the Quakers wrestling program his junior year in high school, Penn linebackers coach Jon Dupont told him if he ever wanted to put the pads back on he had an open invitation. 

"In the midst of Covid — when the Ivy League didn’t have any sports for that whole school year — I talked with my parents and called up the coaching staff and they welcomed me with open arms," he said.  

"So, for my first season I was with both wrestling and football. But after my first season I was told by those close to me that I think I really have a future with football and I could turn myself into a great player. I wanted to make the full switch over because I did want to put 100 percent of what I do into it. And two years later, three years later, I didn’t think that I’d be in this position, but I guess here I am."

With starting defensive linemen Tuli Letuligasenoa and Ulumoo Ale out of eligibility after the season, and junior Jacob Bandes stating on multiple occasions this will be his last season, too, UW is real thin in numbers from an experience standpoint along the defensive front heading into 2024.

"I'm looking for a place where I can come in and affect winning right away in whatever capacity that might be," Slackman said. "Obviously I feel like I'm a great player and winning is the most important." 

The Huskies will return Jayvon Parker, a 6-foot-3, 297-pound sophomore who has played in 19 games over his first two years in the program, plus his twin brother Armon Parker, a 6-foot-3, 307-pound redshirt freshman who hasn't appeared in a game yet while recovering from a knee injury.

Faatui Tuitele, a 6-foot-3, 317-pound junior and 21-game starter, potentially could come back by using an extra year of eligibility because of COVID provisions.

A pair of freshmen, 6-foot-2, 322-pound Elinneus Davis and 6-foot-5, 272-pound Anthony James, are other DL candidates, though James has worked at edge rusher, too. Neither first-year player has played in a game yet.

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