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Seattle • Coming off a season in which he rewrote the Washington record books, running back Bishop Sankey will skip his senior season with the Huskies and enter the NFL draft.
Sankey's father, Chris, confirmed his son's decision in a text message to The Associated Press on Monday after ESPN first reported Sankey was leaving Washington early. Sankey has not yet decided on an agent.
Sankey is coming off the finest season in Washington history, rushing for 1,870 yards and 20 touchdowns in 13 games. He blew past Corey Dillon's school record for yards rushing in a season and set a mark that will be difficult to top. Sankey had 1,775 yards in the 12-game regular season — Dillon had 1,695 in 12 games in 1996 — then added another 95 yards and two touchdowns in Washington's 31-16 win over BYU in the Fight Hunger Bowl last Friday.
By leaving Washington early, Sankey is bypassing a chance at becoming the all-time leading rusher in school history. Sankey finished his career with 3,496 yards and would have needed a little more than 600 yards next season to surpass Napoleon Kaufman's school record of 4,106 career yards rushing.