Mothers MS fuels walk-ons UW move

University of Washington defensive back Brian Clay gave up a scholarship at Hawaii to transfer and walk on in Seattle. PETERHALEY/STAFFPHOTOGRAPHER

Brian Clay was on scholarship at Hawaii, where he spent the first two seasons of his collegiate career before transferring to Washington in September, choosing to pay his own way as a walk-on.

That was a sacrifice he made not only in pursuit of greater competition and the chance to play in the Pac-12 Conference, but for his mother, Mary Jane, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when Clay was in high school.

Clay grew up in Vacaville, Calif., about halfway between Sacramento and San Francisco, which made for long trips back and forth from Honolulu. But more important, he said, is UWs nationally renowned Multiple Sclerosis Center, where his mother receives treatment twice a month when she comes to visit.

He likes to be there.

Washington has one of the premier MS centers, so I wanted to be closer to home so I could be with her coming up here and getting treatment, Clay said after a recent practice. Washington completes its spring practice slate with its spring preview scrimmage at 1 p.m. Saturday at Husky Stadium.

It is the plight of Clays mother that most motivates him in his pursuit of a spot on Washingtons two-deeps, in pursuit of that coveted scholarship, which previous coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff had promised to deliver this spring. That was before they left for USC.

The 6-foot-1, 193-pound defensive back developed a relationship with former defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox and former defensive backs coach Keith Heyward, traveling to Seattle for a couple of recruiting camps as a high schooler. That, too, was a factor in his decision to transfer.

But the coaching turnover doesnt bother Clay. Its pretty much all he knows. Chris Petersen is Clays fourth coach in four seasons, a list that begins

with Greg McMackin (whom Hawaii fired after the 2011 season), then Norm Chow (2012), then Sarkisian (2013), then Petersen.

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Mothers MS fuels walk-ons UW move