UW Roster Review, No. 0-99: Bainivalu Has Big Appetite, Will Play for Food
Henry Bainivalu pulls all F's these days, but he's no failure.
His approach to life, as spelled out phonetically on his Twitter account, goes as follows.
Food, family and football.
While the big man no doubt cares deeply for the people closest to him and enjoys knocking heads with opponents across from him as this oversized starting University of Washington offensive guard, nourishment still appears to be No. 1 in his world.
Consider this pre-pandemic disclosure by Husky offensive-line coach Scott Huff regarding Bainivalu's full-fledged intake capabilities.
Yes, that's 30 wings with a full pizza chaser.
The 6-foot-6, 340-pound Bainivalu, a junior from Sammamish, Washington, rates as a first-team All-American eater. A consensus food hound. Always, a consumer advocate.
Vegan?
Not then, now or ever.
Bainivalu is working on increasing his appetite for college football to match his massive assault on all things caloric. He's taking bigger bites as a Pac-12 player all the time.
In the shortened 2020 season, Bainivalu started all four games and came away with All-Pac-12 honorable-mention honors, with the promise of doing so much more during a longer regular season.
He's also the second-heaviest Husky on the roster, trailing only 6-foot-6, 365-pound sophomore Ulumoo Ale for flat-out girth. He's one of the pillars of the largest O-line in school history, the most massive group that will be found across the Pac-12 this fall.
"It's crazy to think about it because we hang out with each other every day," Bainivalu said. "We see each other every day. We look normal to each other. To think about it, we're one of the biggest O-lines that's been here. I think it's helped us with our mentality, like how physical we want to be on the field and we can impose our will on those guys across from us."
Going down the roster in numerical order, this is another of our post-spring assessments of all of the Husky talent at hand, gleaned from a month of observations, as a way to keep everyone engaged during the offseason this fall.
Henry Bainivalu puts in some weight work.
UW Athletics
Bainivalu, with his bushy beard and big hair often scrunched into a man bun, presents an imposing figure when he comes into view. He wears No. 66, a number he has all to himself. He has a Husky jersey previously made memorable by future pros or players named as some sort of All-American in Paul Schwegler, Max Starcevich, Ted Holzknecht, Milt Bohart, Chuck Allen, Rick Redman, Charles Jackson and Daniel Te'o-Nesheim.
Double sixes.
With six career starts to his name, Bainivalue has two seasons of eligibility remaining to make himself into a highly desirable NFL prospect. The former 4-star recruit, once was pursued by teams such as Michigan, Nebraska and USC, probably needs just one more year to get ready for the pros.
That means he gets at least one more season at the Husky training table, where there's no shortage of his favorite sustenance provided to him and his peers.
Food.
He intimated that additional pounds were not a focus for him. Still, he didn't make any hard promises. He also didn't say he would stop eating any time soon.
"I don't know about everybody else," Bainivalu said with a laugh, "but I think I'm good."
Bainivalu's 2021 Outlook: Projected offensive-guard starter
UW Service Time: Played in 28 games, started 6
Stats: None
Individual Honors: All-Pac-12 honorable-mention selection
Pro Prospects: NFL 2023 free-agent signee
