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Inside The Huskies

Former UW Corner Zakhari Spears to Finish Up at Idaho

He came to Montlake with an all-star cast of players at his position.
Dan Raley|
Zakhari Spears and Mish Powell were UW teammates in 2021.
Zakhari Spears and Mish Powell were UW teammates in 2021. | Spears

They were the final cornerbacks delivered to the University of Washington football program by Jimmy Lake, forming a highly reputable group that consisted of Davon Banks, Jacobe Covington, Elijah Jackson and Zakhari Spears.

Three Californians and an Arizonan.

They arrived with the COVID pandemic winding down and immediately posed for a photo standing on a Conibear Shellhouse dock with defensive-backs coach Will Harris to signify their position bond.

They came to play for Lake, now the Husky head coach and the guy who had helped turn the Huskies into the proverbial DBU.

Today, Covington just completed his college football career at USC and will make himself available for the NFL draft, Banks plays for Boise State, Jackson recently transferred to TCU and Spears just signed to finish up with Idaho.

The 6-foot-2, 197-pound Spears from Los Angeles remains a bit of an unknown except to the most staunch UW football follower. He's the only one of the four corners who didn't draw game time in Montlake.

After failing to make inroads in 2022 with a new Kalen DeBoer coaching staff, Spears entered the transfer portal and joined another set of Huskies.

He signed with Connecticut and coach Jim Mora, the former UW linebacker and safety, and appeared in three games for him in 2023.

Through a social-media posting, Spears indicated he's been out of school recently to get healthy and restore his confidence.

He comes to Idaho with former UW edge rusher Maurice Heims and one-time Husky wide receiver Lonyatta Alexander Jr., both teammates of his in 2022, with all three looking to finish up strong as transfers.

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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