Jan. 5, 2026, 11:30 a.m. PT
The Washington Huskies have emerged as a contender for Miami defensive lineman transfer Donta Simpson.
Simpson, a 6-foot-2 and 300-pound freshman, originally committed to play his college football in the Big Ten at Maryland before he flipped to the Hurricanes prior to his senior year at Chaminade-Madonna Prep (Hollywood, Fla.) in 2024.
In his lone season for Canes’ coach Mario Cristobal in 2025, the former three-star recruit logged 105 defensive snaps (116 total) over 10 games as a reserve defensive tackle for the ACC champions.
In the three games where Simpson played the most snaps—Week 2 vs Bethune-Cookman (20 snaps), Week 12 vs North Carolina State (19 snaps), and Week 11 vs Syracuse (18 snaps)—the first-year defender registered 3 tackles and a half tackle for loss, which suggests the upside he displayed in high school is where most schools are viewing and protecting his potential rather than his sparse usage at Miami.
In his final two high school seasons, the Sunshine State native racked up a combined 88 tackles, 30.5 tackles for loss, and 13.5 sacks to help lead his team to a pair of FHSAA Class 1A state titles.
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Simpson, who declared his intentions to the transfer portal on New Year’s Day, posted on social media Sunday that he has four official visits scheduled to Illinois, SMU, Texas, and UW, with the Fighting Illini up first on January 7.
Of the four programs, only Illinois offered Simpson out of high school and hosted him on an official visit in late June 2024, just before he committed to the Terrapins, which offers intrigue that the Illini will be the first school he visits now that he’s in the portal.
UW has targeted several defensive linemen since the transfer window opened on Jan. 2, including New Mexico State senior Ezra Christensen, Sacramento State sophomore DeSean Watts, and others, with the majority having multiple years of college experience, something Simpson doesn’t posses, which could be a defining factor for how hard the staff pushes to get him on campus sooner rather than later.