Washington 2022 Roster Preview - It's Gonna' Be Ugly

CHANGES

Keion Brooks transfers from Kentucky

Jamal Bey has not announced if he will return.

From Wilner:

Rising: Washington basketball



The Huskies snared one of the top transfers on the market this week with a commitment from Keion Brooks,



A former five-star recruit who spent two seasons at Kentucky, Brooks might emerge as Terrell Brown Jr. 2.0.



(Or would that make him Terrell Brown Jr. Jr.?)



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If you’ll recall, Brown saved Washington’s season — and perhaps coach Mike Hopkins’ job — when he produced 22 points per game in 2021-22 after arriving from Arizona.



Brooks could have a similar impact, elevating an otherwise flawed roster to a respectable level and prolonging the Hopkins era.



The 6-foot-7 forward was a double-digit scorer for Kentucky and led the Wildcats with 27 points in their mid-season blowout of eventual national champion Kansas.



Combine Brooks’ arrival with those of center Franck Kepnang (from Oregon) and wing Noah Williams (from WSU), and the Huskies have rebuilt their front line through the portal.



If the backcourt play is merely average — and that’s hardly guaranteed given the current roster — Washington should hold its ground in the middle of the conference.



Escaping that purgatory will be a next-level challenge, however.
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Next are the 5th-7th place Washington Huskies.   The surprising emergence of Terrell Brown Jr. provided enough offense to keep Mike Hopkins in his job for another season.  

Here is Mike Hopkins record in Seattle.  


Despite a decent conference finish, Washington was not a very good team last season, particularly early in the season.  Their two best wins were over Washington State and San Diego State, but they had losses to Northern Illinois, Winthrop, Nevada, and Utah Valley.

In spite of Terrell Brown's efforts and Mike Hopkins bringing in new assistants, the Huskies continued their record of offensive futility. Here are a few of their national rankings:


That is terrible offense. 

They didn't offset this by being a defensive juggernaut.  They were #103 in defensive efficiency.

It's hard to see that Mike Hopkins job is particularly secure going into this season.  I am surprised he still has his job.

GRADUATING


Brown burst on to the scene to lead the Pac-12 in scoring and steals after a mediocre season in Tucson.  He also led the Huskies in assists.  He managed to lead the league in scoring, in spite of only shooting 20% from the arc.  He also led the team in A/TO ratio.  He carried the team.

Nate Roberts could have returned for the fifth year, but chose not to.  They will miss his 8 rebounds.  He also led the team in blocks.  He had some talent, it never seemed to quite gel.

Between the two, the Huskies lose their team leader in scoring, rebound, assists, steals, and blocks.

Davis came over from Stanford, where he never quite seemed to realize his potential.  He kept not realizing his potential in Seattle.  However, he was their second best ball-handler.  With the departure of Brown and Davis, the Huskies lose everyone on the team with an A/TO ratio above 1.0.   

IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO


TRANSFERRING OUT

Player	Games	Starts	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Destination
Emmit Mathews Jr	31	31	32	12	5	1	West Virginia

Emmit Mathews is following the Both Gach model.  After 3 seasons at West Virginia, he transferred to Washington.  I guess he missed Morgantown, because he is on his way back to West Virginia for his last season.  He will need a waiver from the NCAA to play next season.

Mathews is a significant loss.  He was their 2nd leading scorer, and looked like a good all-around player.  

Thus, this offensively-challenged team loses their two leading scorers.  Yikes!

RETURNING

Note about classes:  With the extra year of eligibility, there is no clear way to label players.  If a player is in his 4th season, but will have another year of eligibility after this year, I am calling him "Jr 4".  

Player	Games	Starts	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	FG%	3Pt%	A/TO	Class	Recruiting  Stars	Recruiting Rank
Jamal Bey	31	31	30	9	4	1	34%	32%	0.6	Sr 5	4	105
PJ Fuller	32	7	22	7	2	1	40%	32%	0.6	Jr 4	4	76
Cole Bajema	32	1	20	5	2	1	33%	34%	0.7	Jr 4	4	112
Langston Wilson	28	2	9	3	3	0	42%	38%	0.4	So		#2 Juco
Riley Sorn	15	0	6	2	2	0	83%		0.3	So 3		Unranked
Jackson Grant	25	0	6	1	2	0	38%		0.4	So	4	67

The returning roster is a mess.  First I would direct your attention to the A/TO column.  There is NOBODY returning who shows the slightest hint of being a good ball-handler.  

They are only returning 1 starter and three players who played over 10 minutes per game.

They weren't great at scoring.  They aren't returning anyone who shot that well except for 7'5" Riley Sorn, who shot 18 times all last season.  The behemoth can dunk the ball.

Jamal Bey is their leading returning scorer.  Two years ago, he led the Pac-12 in 3-point shooting, hitting over 50%.  Last season, he lost his touch.  For the Huskies to have a chance of scoring much this season, he will have to find it again.

They rest of the Huskies are a bunch of guys with potential, who haven't produced a lot.  To be a decent team, they will need several guys to take a big leap forward.

RECRUITS

Washington fans see Oregon and Washington State as their biggest rivals. It's a bit unusual for them to get transfers from each.

These guys look like MHKGs.  Mike Hopkins Kind of Guys.  Tall and long.  They will all a good fit for his zone.  The question is whether they are going to help with his offensive woes.

With Sorn, that have three BIG men. Kepnang looked like a quality center at Oregon. In addition to being an inside threat, he blocked 1.2 shots per game.  In limited minutes, Meah had 0.4 blocks per game.


Clearly the jewel of this class is Keion Brook, an experienced full-time starter for Kentucky with a 5-star pedigree.   Husky fans may worry about his poor 3-point shooting.  However only around 10% of his shots for Kentucky were from behind the arc, less than one per game.   

Husky fans may also worry about Noah Williams' 3-point shooting.  He never was a great shooter for WSU, but after a decent second season, his numbers really fell off in his third season.  It's hard to see how he is the answer to the Huskies scoring woes.

Is he the answer to their ball-handling woes?  Williams had a 1.2 A/TO ratio at WSU.  That's a poor number, but it still makes him the leading candidate for Husky PG.  This is not the answer for a team that can't score.

CONCLUSION