Welcome to Wyoming Football: Damashja Harris
LARAMIE -- Wyoming has welcomed nearly 50 new faces this offseason.
Transfer portal era, am I right?
Jay Sawvel knew a rebuild on defense was in order after losing both starting linebackers and safeties, along with leaders like Jordan Bertagnole and DeVonne Harris. The departures of Wrook Brown, Sabastian Harsh and Keany Parks only magnified things.
The second-year head coach got busy, inking a dozen transfers on that side of the ball on February's traditional signing day and adding three more since the annual spring game.
On offense, the damage was limited.
Yes, running back Harrison Waylee is now at Virginia. Young wideout Justin Stevenson is a Utah Ute now, too. But if you ask Sawvel, he kept the players he wanted on offense, beginning with quarterback Kaden Anderson.
Three of the Cowboys' top linemen -- Jack Walsh, Caden Barnett and Wes King -- are also back. So is tight end John Michael Gyllenborg, wide receivers Chris Durr Jr. and Jaylen Sargent, along with leading rusher Sam Scott.
So, without further ado, let's spent the summer meeting the new players that litter this 2025 roster:
NAME | Damashja Harris
YEAR | Graduate Transfer
HT/WT | 6' 4", 224
HOMETOWN | Tallahassee, Fla./ Killeen, Texas
POSITION | Running back
JERSEY NUMBER | N/A
PREVIOUS SCHOOL | North Texas
YEARS OF ELIGIBILITY | Two
NOTABLE | Damashja Harris missed the final 11 games of his brief North Texas career, including a late September meeting against Wyoming. They didn't need the senior running back that muggy night in Denton, easily blowing past the depleted Cowboys, 44-17. Harris did rush for nearly 200 yards on just 22 attempts in the Mean Green's first three games, including a 142-yard effort against Stephen F. Austin. He averaged 8.8 yards per carry during that time frame. Harris began his career at Lamar, spending three seasons in Beaumont. There he earned First Team All-Southland Conference honors as a kick returner and was named the 2023 Dave Campbell's All-Texas Team Specialist of the Year. He returned 19 kickoffs for 509 yards and a touchdown that fall. He also added 299 yards and three scores on the ground out of the backfield.
QUOTABLE | "We're going to have depth at running back. That was one of the things that we've committed ourselves to was to have extra running backs that we carry. So, that search, and the guys that we have, and with Sam (Scott) coming back off of his knee and everything and all that, we feel like we'll have depth there. And we've got three freshmen coming in ... I want that room to look like the tight end room right now. I look at the tight end room, I'm like, that's a good room. I want the running back room to look that way, too," -- Jay Sawvel said in late April, just weeks before plucking Harris out of the NCAA Transfer Portal
WELCOME TO WYOMING FOOTBALL SERIES:
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University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players
Gallery Credit: 7220Sports.com
- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players
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