Portal Power

Title IX • 50 Years

Men's Husky Hoopsters bring in new talent far and wide to bolster a core of talent ready to hit the hardwood

BOB SHERWIN • FOR GO HUSKIES MAGAZINE

Remember all the naysayers who warned in 2005 after the NCAA authorized the ‘oneand-done’ rule, that it would ruin the college game. While the rule, which gave stu dents-athletes the opportunity to declare for the NBA after just one year, has had mixed results over the years, it now might be recalled as the good old days.

The college basketball game still has that rule, but it is utilized annually by just a handful of ‘elite’ programs not burdened by the task of re-engineering a roster every season. The rest of the college programs are less transient. However, since 2018, every program has had to deal with a sort of a bargain one-and-done portal.

The five-year-old NCAA Transfer Portal procedure allows college athletes in any sport to trans fer out for any reason, after any season, after one year, or any year with eligibility remaining. That has had a noticeable impact on the stability and success (as well as failure) of virtually every pro gram in America.

“Where we were a couple years ago, the transfer portal really saved us, saved several programs, too,” University of Washington sixth-year head coach Mike Hopkins said. “You still want balance, getting the right players.”

Two years ago, the Huskies were at an ebb, struggling to a 5-21 record and losing six players to the transfer portal. Understanding that it’s a two-way pathway, Hopkins and his staff went to work. They added four quality trans fers, all former Seattle high school players. Two of the transfer guards, Terrell Brown Jr., and Daejon Davis, both one-time Garfield stars, immediately estab lished themselves as team leaders last season.

Brown led the Huskies and the Pacific-12 Conference in scoring at 21.7 points per game as well as steals at 2.2 per game. Davis was second to Brown in steals and assists. It was just a one-year boon for both, as they used up their eligibility.

Another transfer last season, forward Emmitt Matthews, Jr., was second on the team in scoring at 11.7 points, and second in rebounds at 4.7. But the former star from Tacoma’s Wilson High School was one-and-done in another fashion. He left Montlake, not to the NBA but returned to West Virginia, where he played his first three seasons.

The portal also can whip and whirl back and forth and back again.

Matthews was one of eight players who left the program after the Hus kies 17-15 season. Hopkins and the staff again returned to the portal this past spring to bring in more prominent players, including one each from rivals Or egon and Washington State.

The most noted transfer is 6-7 junior forward Keion Brooks Jr., from Ken tucky, a school that regularly rotates through one-year players faster than the staff can learn their names. Brooks started all 33 games for the Wildcats last season, averaging 10.8 points and 4.4 rebounds.

“He’s one of the highest-profile portal guys,” Hopkins said. “He was a high school teammate with (former Husky) Isaiah Stewart and an All-American out of high school. We lost Matthews. He’s the perfect replacement. He can score, rebound. We love him.”

Another transfer is junior Braxton Meah, a 7-foot-1 center from Fresno State.

“He did not play a ton of minutes, but we believe he’s as good as anyone in the country for his size and athleticism,” Hopkins added.

Seeing eye-to-eye with Meah will be Frank Kepnang, a 6-11 junior center transfer from rival Oregon. He averaged 4.7 points and 3.1 rebounds for the Ducks, playing in all 35 games. Also, 6-5 senior guard Noah Williams trans ferred in from another conference rival, WSU. He averaged double figures in 19 games last season.

The Huskies also added three quality recruits: 6-7 forward Tyler Linhardt (King’s), a prolific 3-point shooter, 6-1 guard Keyon Menifield (Flint, Mich.) and 6-2 guard Koren Johnson (Garfield).

“With that recruiting class and the portal,” Hopkins said, “we’ve upgraded our size, we upgraded our toughness, rim protection and we got really experi enced players, proven at the highest level.”

“With that recruiting class and the portal,” Hopkins said, “we’ve upgraded our size, we upgraded our toughness, rim protection and we got really experienced players, proven at the highest level.”

“Where we were a couple years ago, the transfer portal really saved us, saved several programs, too,” University of Washington sixth-year head coach Mike Hopkins said. “You still want balance, getting the right players.”

He added that the difference between last year’s portal class and this year’s is that he has players with more eligibility beyond this sea son. This will allow his team to develop a stron ger nucleus, growing together so perhaps the por tal won’t be needed as much as an annual lifeline.

Jamal Bey, a fifth-year 6-6 forward, is the only returning starter for the Huskies. He averaged 9.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Hopkins said Bey will be part of his eight- or nine-man rotation. Two past transfers, 6-7 senior Cole Bajema (Michi gan), from Lynden, Wash., and 6-4 guard P.J. Fuller (Texas Christian) also will vie for minutes.

“They all could be starters. We might be better when the subs come in,” he said.

The Huskies’ biggest non-conference test will be Gonzaga in Spokane, sitting prominently in the middle of their schedule (Dec. 9).

“We have a lot of talent. We have one of the deepest teams we’ve had since I’ve been here. We have good rim protection. Defense should be at a high level. I really like our team,” Hopkins said. “We’re going to go through growing pains. That’s part of the journey. But we have maturity, kids who have been in it, done it.”

The Pac-12 also has kids who have been in it, done it. The conference returns a record 14 allconference players this season. UCLA, two years removed from its Final Four appearance, is once again considered the favorite, just ahead of peren nial power Arizona. The Huskies open conference play with Oregon State (Dec. 1) and Colorado (Dec. 4), ahead of the Gonzaga matchup.

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