Inside The Huskies

Powell, UW Walk-On Turned Secondary Hero, Enters Portal

The defensive back's departure is one of a dozen or so involving players with eligibility left.
Dan Raley|
Powell, UW Walk-On Turned Secondary Hero, Enters Portal
Powell, UW Walk-On Turned Secondary Hero, Enters Portal

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Washington Huskies

While news was breaking that coach Kalen DeBoer was leaving the University of Washington football team for Alabama, Mishael Powell somewhat unexpectedly went out the door, too.

On Friday, the versatile junior Husky defensive back — who had started at cornerback, nickelback and safety for in recent seasons — revealed he has entered the transfer portal.

Crimson Tide, maybe?

His departure, one of more than a dozen involving UW players with eligibility remaining, was a surprise because Powell was a local kid who had come to the Huskies as a walk-on and worked tirelessly to earn a scholarship, a starting job and at times a starring role.

Powell largely was responsible for the Huskies pulling out a 15-7 victory over Arizona State at home when he returned a Sun Devils pass 89 yards for a go-ahead touchdown with the Huskies trailing 7-6 and just 8:11 left in the game.

The well-rounded Husky defensive back becomes the latest player since the CFP championship game against Michigan to exit the program with eligibility remaining, joining wide receivers Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan and Ja'Lynn Polk, running back Dillon Johnson, edge rusher Bralen Trice, offensive tackle Troy Fautanu, defensive tackle Faatui Tuitele, cornerback Jaivion Green and walk-ons Griffin Waiss and Austin Harnetiaux, a tight end and a linebacker. 

Powell was an O'Dea High School grad who turned down Ivy League scholarship offers to walk on for Chris Petersen's 2019 team but he didn't see any action that season or the next under Jimmy Lake.

However, Powell, still without a scholarship, played in a dozen games in 2021 and started three times at cornerback, initially as a temporary replacement for an injured Trent McDuffie.

One of DeBoer's first moves as a newly hired Husky football coach was to award a scholarship to Powell at a team meeting in front of cheering teammates.

Powell started nine games in 2022 and all 15 outings this past season. He finished with 92 career tackles, 12 pass break-ups and 3 interceptions, with all of the pass thefts coming this past season.

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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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