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Inside The Huskies

Bainivalu Joins Kirkland by Accepting East-West Bowl Invite

Oldest college football all-star game welcomes both Husky starting guards.
Dan Raley|
Bainivalu Joins Kirkland by Accepting East-West Bowl Invite
Bainivalu Joins Kirkland by Accepting East-West Bowl Invite

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Washington Huskies

Henry Bainivalu wasn't expected to return to the University of Washington football team. He'd played five college seasons. 

In fact, new Husky coach Kalen DeBoer was surprised when the 6-foot-7, 307-pound offensive guard had a change of heart, providing the UW with another veteran guy up front to build around.

This week, Bainivalu received confirmation three times over that he made the right move by coming back for more football with the Huskies.

On Wednesday, the UW senior earned a third-team selection to the Pro Football Focus All-Pac-12 team, one of four Husky offensive linemen singled out, and he accepted an invitation to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl on Feb. 2 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Two days earlier, the Pac-12 selected Bainivalu as Offensive Lineman of the Week, the third Husky to receive this honor, joining offensive tackle Troy Fautanu and center Corey Luciano.  

Bainivalu joins fellow UW guard Jaxson Kirkland in the East-West Shrine Bowl, which is college football's oldest all-star game and annually favors UW players. It previously has selected 154 Huskies in its 97-year existence. 

All of this should serve Bainivalu well in pursuing an NFL career. Where he might not have been on anyone's wish list following the 2021 season, in which the UW suffered through a 4-8 season and the Husky O-line underperformed, pro teams should be more inclined take a good look at him.

With a bowl game left to play, Bainivalu has started 30 consecutive games for the Huskies and held his own in a landmark season that has seen them finish tied for second in the Pac-12 and rank ninth nationally in the AP poll.

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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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