Inside The Huskies

Anthony James Will Go Big Sky Route, Commits to Eastern

The highly regarded defensive lineman from Texas lasted just a year at the UW.

Dan Raley

Anthony James takes part in a UW defensive drill.
Anthony James takes part in a UW defensive drill. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Anthony James II -- one of the University of Washington's highest-rated football recruits in recent seasons -- on Saturday pushed his ego aside, dropped down a level of competition and committed to Eastern Washington.

In a somewhat surprising development, the 6-foot-5, 272-pound defensive lineman from Wylie, Texas, opted for the Big Sky Conference team after he was once committed to Texas A&M before signing and spending his freshman year at the UW.

Yet James certainly is not alone among former Huskies who have gone the FCS route in order to draw immediate or more concentrated playing time.

Last season, one-time 5-star quarterback Sam Huard played at Cal Poly after leaving the UW and recently used that experience to commit to Utah. Lonyatta Alexander Jr., a 4-star receiver with stops with the Huskies and Arizona State, will play this coming season for Montana State after sitting out as a redshirt transfer. Jacob Sirmon, a one-time 4-star QB who played for the UW and Central Michigan, just finished up his career at Northern Colorado. Will Haskell, the Huskies' No. 3 quarterback last season after transferring from San Diego State, has joined Portland State.

James was injured much of his time with the Huskies and unable to settle firmly on a position, bouncing back and forth between edge rusher and defensive tackle. Kalen DeBoer's staff was decidedly vague about James whenever asked about his progress last season.

"Healed and hungry," James posted on social media while announcing for Eastern Washington.

He recently attended two and a half weeks of Husky spring practice run by Jedd Fisch's coaching staff, but he wasn't cleared for contact and spent most of his time off to the side working on strength and agility drills with trainers.

When he entered the transfer portal in April, James posted something about going somewhere where he could play right away. He visited Illinois and Eastern Washington, and also received scholarship offers from UTEP and Tarleton. It's possible he was encouraged to check out his options by the Fisch coaching staff.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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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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