Feb. 13, 2026, 2:00 p.m. PT
The Washington Huskies became one of roughly two dozen schools to offer prized offensive lineman Niko Kampas in late January, and since then, interest has only picked up.
Listed at 6-foot-7 and 279 pounds, Kampas, born and raised in Kaarst, Germany, played for the Düsseldorf Panthers of the junior German Football League (GFL) before joining the NFL Academy last year.
Coached by former Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Kris Durham and based in Loughborough, England, more than 60 players from Europe and Africa are part of the NFL Academy that played a six-game schedule in 2025 featuring Florida high school powerhouses St. Thomas Aquinas and Edgewater, along with the Madrid U21 All-Star, Mexican Academy, The Hun School of Princeton, New Jersey, and Düsseldorf.
The Huskies are one of 18 Power Four offers on the table for Kampas, who would be the first player from Germany on the roster since Maurice Heims, an edge rusher who finished his high school career at Santa Margarita Catholic in California after getting his football career started in Germany.
Heims played for three head coaches during his four seasons with the program from 2021-24, initially signing on to play for Jimmy Lake, who got fired halfway through his freshman season in 2021. He flourished in a reserve role under Kalen DeBoer before playing mostly on special teams for Jedd Fisch in 2024 prior to his decision to finish his career at Idaho last season.
Ranked as a four-star recruit and the No. 13 tackle in the 2027 class by 247Sports, Kampas is very much a raw product who would certainly need a year or two before being expected to be in the rotation. Fortunately for the Huskies, that’s an ideal scenario, with both right and left tackle expected to be spoken for for at least the next two or three years, with freshman Kodi Greene expected to step in on the left side, while right tackle post Drew Azzopardi is a little more up in the air.
Kampas is one of at least a dozen German players part of the NFL Academy’s current roster, all of whom are looking to join the list of 27 former players from the European organization to play Division I college football. Although their website notes that no players have reached the NFL from the academy, each year more and more players are having an impact at the Power Four level who began their football career outside the country, including Tennessee edge Emmanuel Okoye, Oklahoma offensive tackle Daniel Akinkunmi, and Mississippi State tight end Seydou Traore.
It’s expected that Kampas will likely take several official visits before making a decision, which should give UW offensive line coach Michael Switzer and the rest of the staff time to carve out a relationship and put the team in a solid position by June.
