On Jan. 6, Aaron Dumas entered the transfer portal. On Jan. 8, Washington offered the former New Mexico running back. A little over two weeks later, and Dumas was in Seattle on an official visit this weekend. He left with good news for the new UW coaching staff.

He’ll be a Husky.

The 5-foot-11, 190-pound running back has four years to play three seasons with the Huskies. He was a 3-star prospect coming out of the 2021 class, per the 247 Composite, and comes to Washington as a young, upside back.

He played right away as a true freshman, but was in a timeshare early as his production was up-and-down. Dumas got 15 carries in the season-opener against Houston Baptist, but produced only 57 yards on 15 carries.

He saw his rushing attempts decline each week after until an Oct. 9 game on the road against a ranked San Diego State. Dumas went for 77 yards on just 11 carries that day, and from then on both his confidence and the coaching staff’s confidence in him grew. Dumas had 68 yards against Colorado State the next week, 92 yards against UNLV on Nov. 6, and then against Fresno State on Nov. 13 had the best game of his young career.

With his new coach standing on the other sideline, Dumas went for 143 yards on 23 carries, scoring the Lobos’ only touchdown of the game. New Mexico lost, one of its nine defeats on the season, but Dumas was a major bright spot.

He finished the year with 658 rushing yards (team-high) and two touchdowns on 4.8 yards per carry. It would seem that new UW head coach Kalen DeBoer was impressed with what he saw on that November day.

Dumas is the fifth known transfer pledge to Washington so far this offseason, joining Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr., Arizona State wideout Lonyatta Alexander, UC Davis corner Jordan Perryman, and Cerritos College linebacker Demario King.

The Huskies have lost just as much to the portal, but the running back room will be pretty crowded once Dumas arrives. Though the team’s top two rushers from a season ago—Sean McGrew and Kamari Pleasant—have exhausted their eligibility and departed, the Huskies still return junior Richard Newton (39 carries, 138 yards in 2021), sophomore Cameron Davis (85 carries, 308 yards), and then redshirt freshmen Jay’Veon Sunday (eight carries, 10 yards), Sam Adams II, Caleb Berry, and Emeka Megwa.