Inside The Huskies

Ex-Husky QB Considers Leaving UCLA with Arrival of Iamaleavas

Dermaricus Davis finds himself backed up even more with the Bruins.

Dan Raley

Dermaricus Davis is show at UW spring ball in 2024.
Dermaricus Davis is show at UW spring ball in 2024. / Skylar Lin Visuals

A year ago almost to the day, quarterback Dermaricus Davis left the University of Washington football program midway through spring practice, apparently not enamored with falling well behind Will Rogers and Demond Williams Jr. on the Husky depth chart.

The 6-foot-5, 187-pound Davis ended up at UCLA, returning to his home Southern California roots.

However, the player known as MarMar is once again contemplating transfer portal entry, according to UCLA coach DeShaun Foster, in the wake of practically the entire Iamaleava family taking over the Bruins quarterback position in the past week,

UCAL not only signed Nico Iamaleava from Tennessee, it added his brother Madden from Arkansas.

Which leaves Davis where?

Twelve months ago, Davis showed off his enticing length and arm strength during UW spring ball, but struggled with his decision-making and quickly fell behind even his fellow freshman in Williams. As the third-teamer, he received minimal scrimmage snaps.

So he left.

Who's to say now that Davis wouldn't have been better off had he stayed put in Montlake, settled in and remained in competition with Williams.

Jimmie Dougherty puts the departed Dermaricus Davis through a drill to test his concentration.
Jimmie Dougherty puts the departed Dermaricus Davis through a drill to test his concentration. / Skylar Lin Visuals

From Altadena, California, Davis was a 4-star recruit initially signed by Kalen DeBoer, then the Husky coach, who considered the quarterback a priority for his program. The teen even accompanied the Huskies to Houston to the CFP national championship game against Michigan as a spectator with other signees.

Once DeBoer left for Alabama, Davis entered the transfer portal in January 2023, only to reconsider a short time later and give Fisch's coaching staff a try.

Davis claimed Michael Penix Jr.'s No. 9 jersey number, but he didn't even last three weeks of spring ball before he was gone.

Should he ultimately leave UCLA, he'd become the third quarterback to exit the program after the Iamaleava's position takeover. He didn't appear in any games last season.

Trying to guess which way a program is headed, and move through the transfer portal accordingly, as Davis is finding out, is getting to be a difficult proposition.

To get 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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