Germie Bernard had a one-year pitstop at Michigan State, if you will.

The former 4-star recruit was a Washington commit when Jimmy Lake was coaching the team, then became a Washington signee even after Lake was replaced with Kalen DeBoer. But when wideout coach Junior Adams abruptly left for Oregon, Bernard asked out of his letter of intent and landed with the Spartans.

After a season that saw him catch seven passes for 128 yards and two scores in 12 games, Bernard entered the transfer portal. Less than a week later, he committed to UW once again.

“When I went into the portal, I didn’t want to deal with the recruiting process over again,” Bernard told reporters this week, per The Seattle Times’ Mike Vorel “I knew where I wanted to go.”

So he reached out first.

Bernard says he kept tabs on UW last season. He already had relationships with Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan, and Ja’Lynn Polk. So, he was obviously aware of the kind of room he was walking into. Odunze and McMillan are returning 1,000-yard receivers. UW arguably has the deepest wideout group in the country.

“Coming here, I know that we have talent in the room. I just wanted to help elevate the room,” he said, per Vorel. “With the NFL guys we already have in the room, I knew I’d be able to learn a lot from those guys. It was something I wanted to be a part of, and I already had relationships with them as well.”

Bernard says the Husky offense now is more explosive than the one he came from in East Lansing.

“We’ve got like four (offensive coordinators) on the coaching staff, so they know what they’re doing,” Bernard said. “They put us in the right position to make plays as receivers.”

And, after a year away, Bernard finally feels like he’s in the right position.