Huskies Have 8 Players Who've Crossed Enemy Lines to Join Them

College football encourages player movement like never before, with guys packing up their stuff and joining teams once they tried to beat them, with the University of Washington no exception to this weird dynamic.

When the Huskies open spring football practice on Wednesday, they'll have seven who drew game snaps against them over the past seasons -- including three who scored touchdowns against the UW -- plus one more who watched his team get beat but didn't see any action.

If this were a Julia Roberts and Patrick Bergin movie sequel, we'd call it "Reaping with the Enemy."

The roll call of transferrable talent goes like this: running backs Jonah Coleman and Daniyel Ngata, wide receiver Jeremiah Hunter, edge rushers Isaiah Ward and Russell Davis II, cornerbacks Ephesians Prysock and Darren Barkins, and linebacker Anthony Ward.

Lining up for California, Hunter made two visits to Husky Stadium and caught 6 passes for 77 yards in a 31-24 overtime loss for the Bears in 2021 and followed up last season with 5 receptions for 85 yards and a 7-yard scoring catch in a 59-32 beating in Montlake. He sat out the 2022 game in Berkeley, California, with an injury.

"It was really the offense and how productive the receivers were and I felt could shine with that offensive mind," Hunter said of the Huskies, even with the coaching change from Kalen DeBoer to Jedd Fisch. "Last year you saw the energy they had and the type of vibe they had, especially at the end of the season, and I could see myself here."

For Arizona State, Ngata pulled duty in two games against the UW, twice taking handoffs from Jayden Daniels, an eventual Heisman Trophy winner, for 10 yards rushing in the Sun Devils' 35-30 victory at Husky Stadium in 2021 and following up with 4 carries for 39 yards, including 25 on one run, and a late 1-yard score in ASU's 45-38 win in Tempe.

Coleman heads up the five-player contingent that moved with Fisch from Arizona to the UW. In 2022, he rushed 14 times for 53 yards and a 3-yard TD run in the Wildcats' 49-39 loss at Husky Stadium and last year he carried the ball 12 times for 44 yards in his team's 31-24 setback in Tucson.

Of Coleman's defensive-minded teammates, Ephesians piled up 6 tackles, Isaiah Ward chipped in one, and Davis and Anthony Ward played but didn't register a tackle in last year's game played in the desert. Davis similarly appeared in the 2022 game and didn't log a tackle.

An eighth player, cornerback Darren Barkins, joined the Huskies from Oregon last season, but never got in a. game against the UW in his two seasons in Eugene.