By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former Hayden star Finn Dunshee hasn't played football since helping lead the Wildcats to a runnerup finish in Class 3A in 2023 and playing for the East in the 2024 Kansas Shrine Bowl.
Finn Dunshee (33), who helped 12-1 Hayden post a runnerup Class 3A state finish in 2023, is back on the football field after a two-year absence with hometown Washburn University. [File photo/TSN]
But even though he had gone on to run Division I track at Texas Christian University after winning six state titles for the Wildcats, Dunshee never completely lost his love for the gridiron.
And as time went on, that love got stronger, prompting Dunshee, named the TopSports.news Shawnee County Male Athlete of the Year in 2024, to leave TCU and accept the opportunity to play football for the hometown Ichabods.
"I'd been thinking about it, maybe not my freshman year, but that summer going into my sophomore year I had been down there at those Texas games and Texas football's a little different,'' Dunshee said. "Everybody's going crazy and I was like, 'Man, I miss football.'
"I started to get the itch again. I went through my sophomore (track) season and I came home and I ended up hitting the portal and I was like, 'Hey, you guys interested?' ''
When Washburn reached out, Dunshee said it was a relative easy decision to come home.
"I have a big family here in Topeka and I've got all these nieces and nephews and I love them to death, so I was like, 'Why not Washburn?' '' said the 5-foot-10, 175-pounder, who is projected as a wide receiver and returner for WU.
"They were interested in me in high school and just reached out. They were like 15 dudes over their limit, but they ended up giving me a spot, so I was pretty excited.''
Dunshee, a three-time state champion in track as both a junior and senior, joined Washburn for summer workouts to get re-acquainted with the game of football before opening up fall camp this week.
"I was probably like two weeks late, just waiting for stuff to get cleared and what not, but I was here for most of the summer,'' Dunshee said. "It's definitely been a challenge.
"College playbooks are different and I did not know how different it was going to be, but I've just got to study as much as I can and get everything down.''
While adjusting to college football is an ongoing process, Dunshee said it feels good to be home.
"I'm so familiar with this place,'' he said. "I had been on campus many times back in the day and I used to come to these games. There were foxes that lived under that 'W' over there and I remember that from when I was a kid.
"It just feels like home and it's pretty awesome.''
The Ichabods will open the 2026 season on Aug. 29, going on the road to face former MIAA foe Truman State (6 p.m.).
The Ichabods will make their home debut on Sept. 5 at Yager Stadium with a non-conference tilt against Colorado School of Mines (12 p.m.).
