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All-Mountain West LB in Transfer Portal Has UW Among Final 4 Choices

Daiyan Henry leaves Nevada after it undergoes a coaching change.
Dan Raley|
All-Mountain West LB in Transfer Portal Has UW Among Final 4 Choices
All-Mountain West LB in Transfer Portal Has UW Among Final 4 Choices

Kalen DeBoer left the Mountain West Conference behind for the University of Washington football team and the Pac-12, yet it hasn't been a total break.

The new Husky coach is now waiting to hear whether he gains the services of Nevada inside linebacker Daiyan Henley, who announced on Sunday through social media that he will choose a new football destination from USC, Washington State, Kansas State and the UW.

A 6-foot-2, 225-pound senior from Los Angeles, Henley is a second-team All-Mountain West selection who has one season of eligibility left to play. 

Two months ago, DeBoer's Fresno State team hung on for a 34-32 victory over Nevada in a conference showdown game in Fresno where Henley collected 8 tackles and a half sack.

While discussing recruiting needs this past week, DeBoer acknowledged that the Huskies were short on inside linebacker numbers. 

Henley chose not to stick around Nevada after it went through a coaching change, with Jay Novell leaving for Colorado State and being replaced by Oregon co-defensive coordinator Ken Wilson.

The veteran linebacker previously announced he would not be playing for the Wolf Pack (8-4) in their postseason game, the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit, against Western Michigan (7-5) on December 27.

Henley is an interesting athlete who came out of Crenshaw High School in L.A. and initially played wide receiver for Nevada before switching to safety and linebacker. He caught 17 passes for 232 yards and 3 scores while on the other side of the ball.

He moved to linebacker in 2020 and has played 21 games at the new position. This past season, he led the Wolf Pack with 103 tackles, intercepted 4 passes and recovered 3 fumbles.

A big-play guy, Henley scored on 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 ironically shared No. 11 at Nevada with freshman quarterback Clay Millen, the youngest son of former Husky and NFL signal-caller Hugh Millen. The younger Millen likewise entered the transfer portal to follow his coach to Colorado State.

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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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