UW Fresh Start (No. 70): Prentice Hopes to go from Apprentice to Serious Job Candidate

On a Zoom call, Jimmy Lake sat at his desk and sized up each of the 15 players in his 2021 University of Washington football recruiting class.

It was a week before Christmas and the Husky coach was feeling extra charitable in his effusive praise for everyone.

Fifteen names.

All perfect specimens, in his mind.

Lake couldn't say enough glowing things about each and every one of these signed high school players.

It's what college coaches do on signing day. It's a beauty contest. Not a negative word from any of them.

"It starts with Owen Prentice, one of the top offensive linemen in the country," Lake said, mentioning that he and the other big guys had the requisite size and toughness to meet Husky standards.

Fifteen months later, Lake is long gone as the Husky leader, which wasn't expected at all.

Prentice?

He's coming off a year in college lineman purgatory, which is standard fare for young guys to remake their bodies to fit the next level.

He was a 6-foot-2, 310-pound freshman coming in.

Now he's 299 pounds.

Most new UW linemen add weight to get on the field. Prentice, an offensive guard from Seattle's O'Dea High School, shed a few pounds.

It took him out of the limelight for a season. He should be ready to jump back into it.

With a new coach in Kalen DeBoer, this local kid who picked the Huskies over LSU and Stanford will try to make a strong first impression with the former Fresno State leader.

Owen Prentice waits for the next OL drill.

Owen Prentice used to have high hair.

Owen Prentice's Polynesian Bowl invitation.

Owen Prentice played high school football for O'Dea.

Owen is shown as a young teen learning the game.

With spring practice underway, we're offering intel and observations gathered on the UW football personnel in a series of stories on every scholarship player from No. 0 to 99. We'll review each Husky's previous starting experience, if applicable, and determine what comes next under DeBoer.

As is the case with any coaching change, it's a new football beginning for everyone, including the Huskies' No. 70.

To be sure, Prentice is expected to be a contributor for the UW. It's just a matter of when.

At Wednesday's opening practice, he lined up at guard on the third-team line and even took turns snapping the ball with others.

Look for Prentice to be in the middle of the competition this spring for all of the interior linemen jobs, pushing players at both guard spots.

While he hasn't played the position before, Prentice also fits the profile well of a college center — that of a smart player with great footwork who uses leverage well.

He has the same Husky offensive-line coach in Scott Huff, so, unlike most of the guys on the roster, he doesn't have to start at the beginning with the staff. He can just sit back and compete.

Prentice, who arrived with offensive tackle Robert Wyrsch from Capitola, California, became even more important to the Huskies as a local lineman because of what happened in the latest recruiting cycle.

Of the state's five highest-rated linemen, Todd Beamer’s Malik Agbo (Texas), Graham-Kapowsin’s Vega Ioane (Penn State), Puyallup’s Dave Iuli (Oregon) and O’Dea’s Mark Nabou (Texas A&M) went elsewhere and Rainier Beach’s Josh Conerly (likely Oregon or USC) is expected to do the same.

Ioane and Nabou were once committed to Lake's staff before changing their minds. Nabou retreated when Lake was still coach, Ioane after he was fired.

It will be interesting to see, in this day and age of the transfer portal and constant movement, if any of those five end up returning home and playing for the UW someday.

Meantime, Prentice will provide the Huskies with someone with a solid homegrown reputation and continue to work his way into consideration for significant playing time.

UW Starter or Not: Prentice is projected to be a multi-year starter for Washington. With a season spent remaking his physique, it shouldn't be long before he pushes the older guys for playing time. As for starting, he's likely a year away. However, someone did say he was one of the top linemen in the country.

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