Inside The Huskies

Ex-Husky Harrington Commits to West Virginia

The safety came to the UW from Oklahoma and appeared in eight games.

Dan Raley

Huskies Justin Harrington (4) and Khmori House (28) celebrate House's interception against Northwestern.
Huskies Justin Harrington (4) and Khmori House (28) celebrate House's interception against Northwestern. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

There apparently still is plenty of gas in the tank for Justin Harrington, the former University of Washington safety who has committed to West Virginia through the transfer portal -- possibly giving him an eighth season of college football.

On Friday, the 6-foot-3, 209-pound Harrington announced he will join the Mountaineers, who have hired Rich Rodriguez as coach for the second time and are looking to restore the program to greatness once more following a 6-7 season that ended with a 42-37 loss to Memphis in the Frisco Bowl.

A North Carolina native, Harrington will return to the South in hopes of finding playing time that better resembles the last of his four years at Oklahoma, to which he became a starter to begin 2023, compared to his UW stint that lasted just eight games over a solitary season, with him playing mostly special teams for Jedd Fisch's staff.

Harrington is bidding to become that rare eight-year college football player after first spending his first two seasons at Bakersfield Community College in California, before joining Oklahoma and Washington. Medical redshirts have been responsible for continuing to extend his career.

He started the first two games of the 2023 season for the Sooners and his career appeared to be on its way until he tore an anterior cruciate ligament in a knee against SMU. Oklahoma had used him in its "Cheetah" position, which was a hybrid safety and linebacker role.

At the UW, he was held out of practice and last season's opener against Weber State as he continued to recover from his knee injury and get eased back into contact. The Huskies used him on their kickoff coverage team and he finished with 3 tackles.. He also sat out games against Rutgers, Michigan and Penn State.

Harrington will head to Morgantown to see what he can provide for Rodriguez, who had been a head coach for West Virginia, Michigan, Arizona and Jacksonville State before turning to the Mountaineers this offseason.

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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