Prentice, Once a 4-Star Recruit, Is No Longer With Huskies

The difficult part about University of Washington football is when a player is on the field one day and without explanation gone the next.

Such was the case for Owen Prentice, a sophomore offensive lineman from Seattle who was conspicuously absent from spring practice and confirmed to be no longer with the team.

"I think he's done," offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said on Wednesday.

Every UW scholarship player gets a huge build-up when he commits and signs, and Prentice was no different, considered a 4-star prospect who chose the Huskies from 15 offers. He had an all-star cast of suitors, among them LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Virginia, Stanford, UCLA and USC.

When it doesn't work out, however, these players simply disappear from the roster and aren't addressed until someone such as a media member discovers they're gone and asks about them. The silence by the UW is more of a respect thing, not wishing to denigrate anyone on their way out.

Prentice came to the UW from Seattle's O'Dea High School and was in his third season in Montlake, but didn't appear in a game. Listed at 6-foot-3 and 304 pounds, he looked a lot shorter than that. He had trial runs at offensive guard and more recently at center.

However, it was pretty clear that sixth-year senior Matteo Mele was going to be the starter at center, and the Huskies likewise are really high on redshirt freshman Parker Brailsford and newly arrived freshman Landen Hatchett.

Kalen DeBoer's coaching staff also expects its players to get on the field fairly quickly and play with games on the line, which was the case for much of last year's freshman class.

Cornerback Jaivion Green, safety Tristan Dunn, defensive tackle Jayvon Parker, wide receiver Denzel Boston and edge rusher Lance Holtzclaw, as first-year payers, each appeared in the first quarter of games, with Boston even drawing a good portion of the opening drive at Oregon.

While offensive linemen typically need plenty of physical development time, with Brailsford taking a full redshirt year, a number of Huskies are at a critical juncture in their football careers where they need to make a move up the depth chart or risk getting passed by the next group coming in and weeded out.

Sophomore offensive tackle Sam Peacock and sophomore offensive guard Myles Murao each are entering their fourth seasons at the UW, haven't played in many games and probably need to show considerable progress. The incoming class includes five touted offensive linemen, including Zach Henning, who is participating in spring ball.

"It's a competitive room," Grubb said. "I think there are some young guys who are starting to get those reps, where they maybe didn't have them last year at this time. I think there are some guys in just a few practices, in six or seven practices, who are starting to grow."

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