SPOKANE, Wash. — It's difficult to think at one point, Devin Culp was considering giving up the sport of football to pursue basketball full time.
After a conversation and an agreement with his mother, Pia, Culp stuck with football and went on to win a 4A state championship with Gonzaga Prep in 2015.
"My mom had always loved watching me play the game and loved coming to games and supporting me, so we made a deal that if I play, she would let me get tattoos, so I said okay," Culp said. "Little did I know that we would go 14-0 and win a state championship and that I would play on a really good team and have a lot of fun doing it."
Culp earned a scholarship offer from Mark Helfrich at Oregon and committed to be a Duck. After Helfrich was fired, Culp decommitted and reopened his recruitment.
Chris Pedersen came calling and Culp committed to UW. However, Pedersen resigned and his replacement, Jimmy Lake was let go after nine games in 2021. Despite the instability, Culp stayed a Husky.
"Through my tenure here I probably had a million different excuses or reasons to leave, but it just came down to my relationships in that locker room and the brotherhood we have here. People talk about it, but I am a part of it, I live it and I get to feel it every single day with these guys and at the end of the day, I just could not leave them," Culp said.
Heading into Culp's senior season, there was another coaching change at UW, but Culp quickly bought in to new head coach Kalen DeBoer's philosophy.
"It was easy to gel with him and connect with him because I knew the direction he wanted to take our program was the right one. Being openminded to his philosophies and his coaching style has been huge to get us to the point we are at today," Culp said.
After an 11-2 season last year, Culp had a decision to make: turn pro or return for a fifth season at UW. One key player had a big impact on that decision.
"Once Mike (Penix) made that call that he was coming back, I think it made it a lot easier on some of the other guys who may have still been up in the air at that time about their decision. We believe in each other, we love each other and we want to do it for each other," Culp said.
This year the Huskies are 13-0 and will play for a national championship on Monday evening.
"We put in a lot of work to make this happen, so it feels amazing to see all of this hard work come to fruition. Our first goal was to win the Pac-12 championship and our next goal is right here in front of us. We just feel so blessed and so thankful to have this opportunity because we have worked for it," Culp said.
Culp and the Huskies are ready to go and his old high school coach is excited to watch him ball out on a national stage.
"Boy, he sure looks good and we are rooting for the Dawgs and for him and he has earned it. The kid has worked hard, the coaching staff has done a heck of a job and they are fun to watch. I think they have a good chance to win," former Gonzaga Prep head football coach Dave McKenna said.
Culp is thankful for all of the support he has received from his friends and family here in Spokane, especially his mom Pia and his former teammate, Gonzaga forward Anton Watson.
"I appreciate all of the support from the Spokane community throughout the years, it has been a hell of a ride and go Dawgs," Culp said.
The Huskies and Michigan Wolverines will kick it off at 4:30 p.m. Monday evening for the CFP national championship.
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