The Ladies of the Lake – UW closes 2023 with a win!
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he Washington women's rowing team closed out the fall season with a successful day at the annual Head of the Lake Regatta. UW won the Championship Eight, Junior Varsity Eight, Four and Pairs races. The Head of the Lake was the final competition of the fall for the UW rowing teams. The 2024 spring season gets underway March 16 with the 123rd annual Class Day Regatta. Washington entered two crews in the top Head of the Lake women's event, the Championship Women's 8+. The crew won the race with a time of 16:22.394, about 12 seconds ahead of the other Husky shell. Washington State finished in third place. In the Women's Collegiate JV8+ event, another two Husky entries finished first and second. An eight coxed by Mia Carter led the entire distance and won with a time of 17:26.898, just seven seconds ahead of the other Husky crew. Visit GoHuskies.com for complete race results and news.
FALL DAWG SPORTS
IN THIS ISSUE
DECEMBER 2023
From the Desk of Coach Michael Callahan . . . . . . . . . 4 The Boys In The Boat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Men's Basketball Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Women's Basketball Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 10 Questions with Keion Brooks Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Fall Sports Round-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 The Shot: Dubs Up! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
GoHUSKIES
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VOLUME 17 / ISSUE 2 / DECEMBER 2023
For information on advertising, please call Brandon Forbis at (206) 695-2562. Go Huskies Magazine is published four times a year by Huskies Sports Properties, in conjunction with the University of Washington Athletic Department.
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Huskies Sports Properties, 2825 Eastlake Ave E. Suite 320, Seattle, WA 98102 All material produced in this publication is the property of Huskies Sports Properties and shall not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission from Huskies Sports Properties and the University of Washington Athletic Department. Please send all address changes to the attention of Tyee Club at University of Washington; Box 354070; 202 Graves Building; Seattle, WA 98195-4070 or by email at huskies@uw.edu. EDITOR: Dick Stephens EDITORIAL SUPPORT: Steve Hamilton WRITERS: Bob Sherwin, Mark Moschetti, Bart Potter PHOTOGRAPHERS: UW Athletics ADVERTISING: Brandon Forbis (206) 695-2562 — brandon.forbis@ HuskiesSportsProperties.com ART DIRECTOR: Robert Becker Football & Men’s Basketball Flagship Radio Station: 93.3 KJR FM Seattle Sports Radio
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FROM THE DESK OF MEN’S ROWING HEAD COACH MICHAEL CALLAHAN
his year, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share our sport, team, and values with the world. I couldn’t be more excited. As many of you know, The New York Times bestselling book “The Boys in the Boat” has been adapted into a feature film directed by George Clooney to be released this December. The story of the 1936 Washington crew team is universal and specific to Washington. It’s the story of an underdog crew that overcomes all odds to beat their Ivy League peers before going on to the Olympics and earning a gold medal against the Germans (and everyone else.) This is a story of grit, humility and perseverance. They left us an incredible legacy to honor. As a coach, I look to the progenitor of Washington rowing values, the 1936 Head Coach Al Ulbrickson, for direction. He showed us that the most successful teams are ones that row for each other. He was quiet, unassuming and extremely competitive. Too often today, leaders can feel pressure to focus on personal branding or charisma. Not Al Ulbrickson, it was never about him. Today, we use four pillars to articulate the values of Washington Rowing: 1) We do the work; 2) We row to win; 3) Brother and sisterhood; and 4) Team
UW Men’s Rowing Head Coach Michael Callahan
before self. I am incredibly proud of the current team we have today. Young men and women come from around the world to be a part of Washington Rowing because they know we have something special. While I strive to ensure that our team embodies quintessential Northwest values, I am repeatedly in awe of how our message and mission resonates globally. Washington Rowing continues to put in the work everyday and we are looking forward to welcoming you to the Montlake Cut this spring to watch us race. Today’s Washington crew strives to honor their legacy today and understands the unique opportunity. The 1936 crew has gifted us this spotlight. Now it is up to us to use it. We hope you’ll join us. Michael Callahan, Men’s Rowing Head Coach
GoHUSKIES
THE INBOYS THE BOAT
Photo Courtesy of University of Washington Library
THE EXCITING BESTSELLER TURNS INTO A MAJOR FEATURE FILM DEBUTING THIS HOLIDAY PAGE 6
GoHUSKIES
F
Photo Courtesy of gohuskies.photoshelter.com
BY MARK MOSCHETTI • FOR GO HUSKIES MAGAZINE
or Washington rowing fans, Olympic sports buffs, or even those who just want to celebrate a Pacific Northwest legend, Christmas Day can’t come soon enough. That’s the release date for “The Boys in the Boat,” a new film about the Husky men’s rowing team, which won the gold medal at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. It will be released by MGM Studios and make its official debut in theaters across the country. (At press time, it was not yet known which theaters in the Seattle area will be screening the movie.) The movie is based on the 2013 book by Daniel James Brown, which reached No. 1 on The New York Times Best Sellers list for non-fiction. It is directed by Academy Award-winning actor and filmmaker George Clooney and co-produced by Grant Heslov. The movie, rated PG-13, revolves in large part around one of the rowers, Joe Rantz, who was left to fend for himself at a very young age. That role is played by British actor, and model, Callum Turner. Joel Edgerton stars as UW coach Al Ulbrickson, and Peter Guinness plays the role of famed race boat designer, and builder, George Pocock. Washington rowing is known today as a top-caliber program. It has won 19 Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) national championships and six different eight-man titles at the world-renowned Henley Royal Regatta. But the 1936 group — a gritty bunch of working-class kids whose parents were ship builders, loggers, and farmers — had to work its way up the rankings. Those Huskies did work their way up, eventually winning the school’s fourth IRA title. Along the journey, they built the kind of camaraderie that is unique to rowing, where every movement, every twitch, and every breath — by every rower — impacts each of the others. Even in winning the collegiate title, those Huskies had an underdog nature about them, and that was certainly true when they headed to Adolf Hitler’s Germany for the Olympics, where they would face the likes of the host country and Italy, amongst others. In the race for the gold medal, on a day when Germany had already won multiple races, the Huskies powered through the final strokes to win by about 10 feet. Filming of the movie began in March 2022 and concluded in July of that year. It took place in several locations, primarily in Berkshire, England. Other filming locations included London, Berlin, and Los Angeles. A limited number of scenes were shot in Seattle, including at the UW. Along with the Dec. 25 premiere of the movie, Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) has an exhibit “Pulling Together: A Brief History of Rowing in Seattle” opening the day after Thanksgiving, Fri., Nov. 24. The exhibit will include artifacts and the history of the 1936 team. In addition, guided tours of Washington’s Conibear Shellhouse are being offered on weekends. The tours, which last approximately 90 minutes, include a stop at the 1918 World War I airplane hangar which served as the ASUW Shellhouse for the legendary Olympic competitors. Numerous items from the team are on display. The tours were the brainchild of former Husky rower Melanie Barstow (Class of 2016) and are led by current and former UW rowers.
THESE SITES ARE MAKING WAVES MOHAI mohai.org/exhibits/ pulling-together-a-briefhistory-of-rowingin-seattle/ GoHUSKIES
The Boys Of 1936 Boathouse Tour
Official Movie Website
washingtonrowing.com/ history/tours/
mgm.com/movies/ the-boys-in-the-boat
Director George Clooney’s THE BOYS IN THE BOAT An Amazon MGM Studios film Photos: Laurie Sparham © 2023 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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UW MEN TAKE HEAD OF THE LAKE IN FINE FASHION
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he Washington men’s rowing team wrapped up the fall season with a sweep of wins at the annual Head of the Lake Regatta, winning all five races in which it competed. The Huskies won all three men’s collegiate eights races, the championship fours and the single sculls. “Strong racing across all boat classes,” commented head coach Michael Callahan. “We've made a lot of progress this autumn with team depth, and I believe we showed that today on the course.” The Head of the Lake is an annual head race (time trial) that covers a three-mile race course that begins in Lake Union, moves through the Montlake Cut into Lake Washington, and then turns back into Union Bay before finishing near Conibear Shellhouse. The UW men opened the morning with a win in the Ben Porter Cup – the Men's Collegiate/Open 8+ race. The Huskies bested a field of five, winning the race with a time of 14:33.800. Oregon State finished second and Washington State was third. Right behind those crews, in the Men's College JV8+ competition, the Huskies' second eight won, beating six other college crews, with a time of 14:43.376. OSU was again second, with an eight from the University of Victoria (B.C.) taking third. In the Men's Collegiate 3V8+ race, Washington had three entries, one crew of veteran UW rowers, one of freshmen and one with a mix of the two. They finished in the top three spots, in that order, with the Huskies' third varsity eight completing the race in 14:45.911, well ahead of the other seven boats in the event.
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Many of those same rowers who competed in eights moved into fours or singles and raced again. Washington took the top-three spots in the Championship Men's 4+ sponsored by Pocock Racing Shells, with the first-place four finishing in 16:40.283, about five seconds ahead of the second-place crew. In the William Tytus Cup, for Men's Single Sculls, UW freshman Giuseppe Bellomo took top honors in a field of eight, finishing in 18:48.915. He was followed by Husky teammate Henry Ramstad in second. “We need every oarsman and coxswain to elevate themselves and each other to become a championship level team,” Callahan said. “I’m looking forward to the next steps and I know the crew is committed to that mission.” The Head of the Lake was the final competition of the fall for the UW rowing teams. The 2024 spring season gets underway March 16 with the 123rd annual Class Day Regatta.
GoHUSKIES
SLEEPING
GIANTS 23-24 BASKETBALL Preview PAGE 10
GoHUSKIES
With 11 new players, the Huskies are poised to surprise the Pac-12
BRAXTON MEAH
BY BOB SHERWIN • FOR GO HUSKIES MAGAZINE
T
he 2023-24 season is a clean sheet for the University of Washington men’s basketball team and with many exciting new additions to the roster — hope springs eternal. UW Coach Mike Hopkins understands the areas needing focus and retooling from last year’s performance and on the stat sheets, and there are a few getting a lot of attention from the coaching staff. “We were 11th or 12th in the Pac-12 in assists-to-turnover ratio,” Hopkins explained, “and we were 11th or 12th in three-point percentage shooting.” The Huskies finished 10th in assists-to-turnover with an 0.82 ratio (368 assists while losing the ball 448 times) which they are working hard to improve on. The team’s three-point shooting percentage was 11th overall, just 31.3 (209 of 668) percent. Only two Huskies ranked among the conference’s top 25 three-pointer shooters, Cole Bajema (14th at 36.0 percent) and Keyon Menifield (24th at 33.0). Both have since transferred. Last season’s performance resulted in a middle-of-the-pack 16-16 record (8-12 in the Pac-12), and the Huskies closed out the season with seven losses in their final 10 games with no postseason appearance for the third straight year. Hopkins, who has used the NCAA-sanctioned transfer portal effectively in his previous six seasons at Montlake, is encouraged that this year’s inbound talent will boost the program. He and his staff brought in 11 new players (seven via the portal) to address the areas of focus.
Continued on page 12 GoHUSKIES
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PAUL MULCAHY
MOSES WOOD
NATE CALMESE PAGE 12
Two fifth-year senior transfers, Sahvir Wheeler (from Kentucky) and Paul Mulcahy (from Rutgers) will be the team’s distribution center. Wheeler led the SEC and was ranked among the top 20 players in the nation last season, with 5.6 assists per game. His 656 assists are the fifth-most in SEC history. Mulcahy finished his career ranked fourth on the Rutgers career assists list. He averaged 4.9 a year ago for the Scarlet Knights. “Two guys who were at the top in their leagues in assists now on one team (UW),” Hopkins said. “That’s exciting.” Hopkins hopes the Wheeler/Mulcahy combo will find the skilled hands of another transfer, Moses Wood, a 6-foot-8 Graduate Senior forward expected to be the team’s three-point shooting upgrade. Wood comes to the Huskies from Portland (he also played for UNLV and Tulane). He shot 40 percent for the Pilots from beyond the arc last season (45.4 percent in WCC play) and 44.2 percent two years ago. “The three-pointer is the most dangerous element in the game,” said Hopkins, unwilling to let his team be at the wrong end of that statistic this season. Whether it’s inside or outside the arc, however, the majority of passes again will be delivered to Graduate Senior Keion Brooks Jr., a 6-7 forward. Brooks, who transferred in from Kentucky before last season, finished third in the Pac-12 with a 17.7 scoring average and 6.7 rebounds per game. He is a Pac-12 preseason first-team selection and the core of the Huskies offense. Brooks had the option of declaring for the NBA draft a year ago but decided to return. Hopkins added that Brooks’ attitude “is to leave things better than when he came. He wanted to leave a legacy.”
GoHUSKIES
SAHVIR WHEELER KEION BROOKS JR.
Brooks will be joined by Braxton Meah as the other returning starter. Meah, a 7-1 senior center who transferred from Fresno State a year ago, set a single-season Husky record of 70 percent shooting. “A culture is set with older players,” Hopkins said. “We have these two-year players that are a significant measure of a healthy program.” Franck Kepnang, a 6-11 center in his second season after transferring from Oregon, was a major, but short-term contributor to the Huskies a year ago. He played the first seven games (with one start) as the Huskies began 6-1 but injured his knee on Dec. 1 against Oregon State and missed the remainder of the season. The Huskies went 10-15 the rest of the way. “He’s (Kepnang) a true leader who gives 110 percent in everything he does,” Hopkins said. “He’s all about the right stuff. He’s the perfect example of selflessness.” Meah — who has been slowed by a preseason ankle injury — and Kepnang, who might be tentative early in his recovery from his surgery, do have a Plan B in the middle, with 6-10 junior Wilhelm Breidenbach, a transfer from Nebraska. That’s one of the hallmarks of this year’s team: it has the luxury of depth. Koren Johnson, a sophomore guard out of Seattle’s Garfield High and Utah’s Wasatch Academy, had 34 steals and a 6.8 scoring average off the bench last season. He is a strong defender and scoring guard that can play alongside Wheeler and Mulcahy. Nate Calmese, a sophomore guard transfer from Lamar, has the potential to be instant offense off the bench. He averaged 17.6 ppg for the Cardinals, among the highest averages in the nation for a freshman. He reached double figures 26 times with
FRANCK KEPNANG
KOREN JOHNSON
Continued on page 14 GoHUSKIES
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ANTHONY HOLLAND
WILHELM BREIDENBACH
CHRISTIAN KING
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a pair of 30-point efforts. He shot 37 percent from three-point range, and 48 percent overall. Another veteran with a long-range shooting eye is Graduate Senior guard Anthony Holland, who arrives through the portal from Fresno State. Holland shot 43.7 percent from behind the arc with 14 double-digit games last season. Four-star freshman guard, Wesley Yates III, hails from Beaumont, Texas. He was the 37th ranked player in ESPN’s top 100. The Huskies have a pair of 6-8 forwards with unknown, untapped potential. Sophomore Samuel Ariyibi, a sophomore from Nigeria who redshirted with an injury all last season, is back at full strength. Also on the roster is Seattle Prep three-star Christian King, who could contribute as a freshman. Christian is the son of former Seattle Supersonics center, Rich King. “We got better shooting, better ball-handling, we’re older and we definitely have more depth,” Hopkins said. He added that the Huskies summer trip to Paris and Barcelona allowed the coaches “to get to know people on a deeper level. We have a lot of first-year guys. We got to see how each of them ticks.” Hopkins knows the future of the UW program has already begun. The school is set to begin playing in the traditionally more physical Big Ten Conference next season. His team will have solid front-line size and experience next season and he plans to play more man-to-man defense in anticipation of adapting to the conference move. At Pac-12 Preseason Media Day — weeks before the season openers — the Huskies were picked to finish ninth this season. However, which statistics or measures does it take to rate a team with 11 newcomers? “We have a really good team that people are kind of sleeping on a little bit. I’d rather be that way. I’d rather wake some people up and surprise them,” Brooks Jr. said. “I think we’re going to surprise some people, how well we play together, our talent level.” GoHUSKIES
In her Third season, Head Coach
Tina Langley
is building on last season’s growth and creating a culture of excellence
BY BART POTTER • FOR GO HUSKIES MAGAZINE
N
umbers — points and rebounds, wins and losses — tell part of the story about the rise of the Washington Huskies women’s basketball team. It’s a pretty good story: The Huskies, in their second season under Coach Tina Langley in 2022-23, improved their win total to 19 after winning seven games the year before. Washington advanced to the Fab 4 of the Women’s NIT, the program’s first appearance in the postseason since 2016. This edition of the Huskies begins Pac-12 Conference play Dec. 10 in Pullman against Washington State in the opener of the Boeing Apple Cup Series. Last December, the Huskies similarly opened conference play against the rival Cougars and scored a rousing 82-66 victory over the eventual Pac-12 tournament champions. Last March, the Huskies made a national statement in the WNIT, defeating San Francisco, New Mexico, and Kansas State in early rounds before downing Pac-12 rival Oregon in the semifinals and falling to Kansas in the Fab 4.
Continued on page 18
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Ris GoHUSKIES
Lauren Schwartz
ising! GoHUSKIES
PPAGE AGE 17
NUMBERS ON THE RISE: • They outrebounded opponents last season by 7.7 rebounds a game. • They reduced their turnovers from 18 a game in 2021-22 to 16.3 last year.
Delayah Daniels
• They return five of their top seven scorers from last year, led by junior forward Delayah Daniels (11.3 points a game, along with 6.7 rebounds). They’re positive numbers, indicative of a program making its case in the Pac-12 and nationally. Numbers, however, are not the whole story. Words — words to play by, words to live by — tell the bigger tale about this team and this program. Lauren Schwartz, a senior forward from Union, Ky., knows the words after five years with Tina Langley as a mentor. Words like, “Be where your feet are.” It means, Schwartz said, not getting ahead of yourself, leaving the bad plays behind, doing what you can in the present moment. Or words like, “Fight for the mind, fight for the body, fight for the soul.” Schwartz knows the Langley culture better than anyone, having been recruited by then-head coach Langley to Rice University in Houston. Schwartz played three seasons for Langley’s Owls, after which she worked through the NCAA transfer portal to enroll at Washington for the 2021-22 season. Langley, by then the head coach on Montlake, was able to plug the versatile 5-foot-11 Schwartz into the starting lineup for all 37 Husky games over the past two seasons, including a team-leading 30.3 minutes a game in 2022-23. Last season, she averaged 8.7 points, second to Daniels among returning players. She’s an 88.5-percent free-throw shooter in her career at Washington. Schwartz has become a top defender, Langley said, guarding anyone from off-guard to post. She can bring the ball up court, if needed.
Lauren Schwartz Jayda Noble
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GoHUSKIES
Elle Ladine
Sayvia Sellers
She can post up. Most of all, Langley said, she appreciates Schwartz the person. She’s humble, a core program value. She’s a uniter, another Husky core value. She has a “growth mindset,” yet another embedded value on this team. Langley said, “to have someone like Lauren in your program is an incredible blessing.” The pairing of Schwartz with the 6-4 Daniels down low presents opponents with a formidable frontcourt. Daniels, a homegrown Husky from Seattle’s Garfield High School, played two seasons at the University of California before transferring to Washington. Langley said Daniels was a dominant defender in the post last year and is working to expand her shooting range before she eventually moves on to play forward in professional basketball. Jayda Noble is another “whatever it takes to help my team” piece on this tight-knit squad. The 5-11 junior guard is the defensive heart of the Huskies (1.65 steals per game) and hits the boards hard (5.6 rebounds a game, second only to Daniels last year). “That’s just the effort part of the game,” Noble said. “I think I thrive in those roles because it’s just effort.” Noble checked in with 4.6 points a game in 32 starts in ’22-23. According to her coach, she is a more-than-capable offensive player with a pure shooting stroke who is just as likely to make the extra pass to a teammate as take the shot herself. Langley loves Noble the warrior. “You know when she’s on your team that you’re going into battle with the best,” she said. “She’s going to fight for every single possession every single moment. That’s something you can’t teach.” Two sophomore backcourt players are assuming larger roles for the Huskies alongside Daniels, Schwartz and Noble in the Husky starting lineup. Elle Ladine, 5-11 from San Francisco, earned Pac-12 and USBWA National Freshman of the Week honors in February after she scored 21 points off the bench in the Huskies’ win over No. 2 Stanford. She averaged 6.1 points per game in 16 minutes a game.
Hannah Stines
Continued on page 20 GoHUSKIES
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Ari Long
Olivia Anderson
Chloe Briggs
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Hannah Stines, 5-11 from La Mirada, Calif., averaged 6.8 points, fourth on the team, in 21.6 minutes a game last year. She also averaged 1.6 assists a game and had 24 steals. The Huskies lost six seniors from the 2022-23 squad (including 9.4-point/5.3-rebound stalwart Haley Van Dyke) but restocked with four highly regarded freshmen in a recruiting class ranked in the top 20 nationally. In-state recruit Olivia Anderson, a 6-6 forward from Ellensburg, was named No. 1 on PrepHoops’ Washington prospects list after averaging 22 points and 7.1 rebounds in a career at Ellensburg High School that included two Class 2A state championships. She brings length to the Huskies along with shooting touch and a willingness to learn the game at the college level. “I love how she works,” Langley said. “She’s like a sponge. She has the ability to have a great impact for us.” Sayvia Sellers, a 5-7 guard, finished her career at Anchorage Christian School as the all-time leading scorer (2,651 points) in Alaska state history. Chloe Briggs, a 5-11 guard from Ontario, Calif., averaged 28.2 points, 10.8 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 3.3 steals over four years at Ontario Christian High School. In her final high school game, she scored 32 points to pass all-time great Cheryl Miller as the leading career scorer (3,458 points) in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section. Ari Long, a 6-foot guard from Moreno Valley, Calif., averaged 28 points, 4.4 assists, 12.4 rebounds, 4.1 steals, and 2.0 blocks for her career at Valley View High School. She ended her senior season with games of 61, 54 and 52 points. Langley looks at her assemblage of talent, young and older, and sees a team that might “take off at any moment” given a commitment to daily disciplines and the Husky process. “The ceiling is pretty high for this group, but we’ve got to put a lot of work in,” Langley said. “I think we’re going to be dynamic and fun and play really hard, learn from what we don’t get right and celebrate what we do.’’ GoHUSKIES
QUES TIONS BY BART POTTER • FOR GO HUSKIES MAGAZINE
K
eion Brooks Jr., the 6-foot-7 forward for the University of Washington basketball team, enters his fifth and final collegiate season as a preseason All-Pac-12 first-team selection. That’s just another notation on his esteemed resume, which already includes a national championship and recognition among the best players in the country. Keion won the AAU national championship as an 11-year-old fifth grader. He went on to develop his game to the point where, in 2019 as a senior in basketball-impassioned Indiana, he was among the top recruits in the nation. Brooks elected to play for eight-time national champion Kentucky, playing all 31 games his freshman season, serving as a team captain as a sophomore and averaging 10.8 points his junior year, while starting all 33 games. The Huskies star’s bio has infinitely more space for even more prestigious entries as he embarks on his final season, his second with Washington. After transferring from Kentucky last season, he averaged 17.7 points per game for the Huskies, third best in the Pac-12. He also averaged 6.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, earning Pac-12 second team honors. Brooks has come a long way from Fort Wayne, a city located in northeast Indiana near the Ohio border. His parents, Keion Sr. and Sarita, raised four boys. Keion, the second oldest, “tried to beat my brothers in everything we did, all healthy competitions.” Keion said his father is his “superhero.” Keion Sr. played at Wright State and graduated as the school’s second alltime leading scorer. He taught his sons the game and coached Brooks’ fifth-grade team all the way to that national title. “He’s always been my favorite player, and still is,” Keion said of his father. Keion Jr. now finds himself in the same situation as Keion Sr. was in at Wright State, a senior team leader attempting to guide his squad to the NCAA Tournament. As Keion Jr. says in this 10-question format, “the better I can be, the better the team can be. I’m all about winning. Whatever I can do to help us win. I think we’re going to surprise some people, how well we play together, our talent level.” Here’s Keion Jr.’s 10-question snapshot for the 2023-24 Huskies.
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THE KEYS TO
KEION GoHUSKIES
With strong roots to his family and Hoosierland, Keion Brooks Jr. shows maturity beyond his years as a Husky hardwood mainstay
What stands out for me from your past is, as a fifth grader, your AAU team won the national championship. What’s that all about? “Growing up, the national AAU tournament was a really big deal. You try to get the best kids in your state (Indiana) and go wherever it’s held. The years before, we’d always finish fourth, couldn’t get over the hump. My dad became the head coach, and we went to Cocoa Beach, Fla., and we won. I played pretty well. They (South Carolina) made a little push at the end, but we never let them come all the way back.’’ Growing up in Fort Wayne (Indiana), was there someone you patterned your game after, either high school, college, or the pros? “That guy for me was always and will be my dad (Keion Brooks Sr.). My dad was like a superhero for me, and still is. That’s where I get my work ethic from. Even beyond being a basketball player, how he dealt with his kids and teaching us how to be men, taking care of his family. And when it comes to basketball, you couldn’t tell me Michael Jordan was better than my dad. He’s just a natural leader.’’ Indiana is one of America’s most passionate states for college basketball. Did you feel that? “When you’re in Indiana, you don’t really understand how much people love it, because you’re in it. It’s just how everybody is. You’re just so accustomed to it. Every driveway has a basketball hoop. Everybody’s dribbling up all around, you’re just thinking that’s how everybody is. Indiana is special in how much they (Hoosiers) love basketball.’’ Did you have the opportunity or pressure to play for the Hoosiers? “I did not feel pressure from anybody, no. My parents always taught me, you are free to do whatever you want. Don’t let any outside pressure try to influence you one way or another. Obviously, Indiana is a prestigious school with a lot of history and a lot of great players went there. I am familiar with the legacy that Indiana basketball has, but at no point was it like, ‘OK, I’m feeling pressure to go to Indiana.’ I had to find the best suit for me. I think I put myself in a good position to make the decision I made (Kentucky).’’ As a sophomore at Kentucky, you were one of just 11 Division I men’s basketball student-athletes selected to serve on the National Association of Basketball Coaches Player Development Coalition that provided a perspective and feedback on college basketball issues. How was that two-year term for you? “Coach Cal (John Calipari) selected me to be part of that coalition. It was about giving players more empowerment. Coach Cal was big on that. We give so much to the university but (sometimes) the players don’t get the recognition that they deserve. Also, basketball is something that we do, it’s not who we are. It’s not our identity. The thing I got out of it the most is once you take the competitiveness element out, you can talk to other athletes, share our thoughts, and see we’re all going through the same stuff.’’ GoHUSKIES
How did you get from Kentucky to Washington? “I had a previous relationship with Isaiah Stewart back in high school when they (Huskies coaches) were recruiting him. So, I was familiar with Coach Hop (Hopkins) and Coach (Will) Conroy. Then I came here on my visit and fell in love with the place — the people more than anything. The vision that Coach Hop had for me aligned with what I had as a player. So, after that, where do I sign?’’ What do you note as the differences, how the game is played or the atmosphere, between the SEC and the Pac-12? “The biggest thing is that they are both extremely competitive, well coached, and really good teams. I just think the style of play is different. The SEC is a more explosive conference as far as the athletes are concerned, guys are super-fast, super strong, jumping out of the roof. You’re coming across top tier athletes every single game. Here (in the Pac-12) is more of a faster-paced game, more skill, more free flowing, not as physical. As far as venues or atmosphere, it depends on who’s playing against you and what kind of (successful) team you’re playing at that time.’’ What are your expectations from this season, for yourself and your team? And how much does your leadership and experience, as a preseason Pac-12 first-teamer, figure into those expectations? “I’m excited. We have a really good team that people are kind of sleeping on a little bit. I’d rather be that way. I’d rather wake some people up and surprise them. My teammates are amazing — really good dudes. The coaching staff is amazing. On a personal level, I just want the team to grow and get better. The better I can be, the better the team can be. I’m all about winning. Whatever I can do to help us win. I think we’re going to surprise some people, how well we play together, our talent level. I’m excited to get it going.’’ You were granted one extra (COVID) season, and this is it. With UDub set to join the Big Ten next season, wouldn’t you love just one more season to be able to play back in that Midwest atmosphere in places such as Indiana? “I’m ready to go. I’ve done my time in college. But it will be interesting to see how it works out, the travel and all that. They pay people a lot of money to figure that stuff out. That’s not on my plate. I do think it will be interesting. It’ll be new and take some time to get used to. But I think it’ll be cool. You’ll see some matchups that you normally don’t get to see, contrasting styles. Seeing schools from out here (West) going to the Midwest, I think will be really cool.’’ Where do you go from here? What kind of input have you gotten on your prospects of being drafted and playing in the NBA? “I don’t think about that at all. I’m so locked in on bringing UDub back to a place where people are excited about the possibility of what we can do. So, I haven’t thought too much about my pro career.’’
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Women’s XC closes Pac-12 history book as champions — Husky volleyball and soccer teams conclude conference play with their own exclamation points
W
BY MARK MOSCHETTI • FOR GO HUSKIES MAGAZINE
hile this might be the last season for the Pac-12 Conference, Washington’s Director of Track & Field and Cross Country, Maurica Powell, figures the Huskies just might remain No. 1 indefinitely. “If it goes down as the last one in Pacific-12 women’s cross-country history,’’ she said, “then the Washington Huskies will go down as the last No. 1 in Pac-12 women’s cross-country history.’’ Sophie O’Sullivan, Chloe Foerster, and Julia David-Smith all ran to top-10 finishes, and the 19thranked UW women had four finishers among the top 15, just enough to help them edge Stanford by two points for the conference crown Oct. 27 at Chambers Creek Regional Park. O’Sullivan, a junior, placed sixth. Foerster, a sophomore, was just four-tenths of a second behind O’Sullivan in seventh, and the Huskies finished with 58 points. Stanford, ranked No. 5, finished with 60. Both schools were well ahead of third-place Colorado’s 87. O’Sullivan completed her six kilometers in 19 minutes, 33.80 seconds; Foerster clocked 19:34.20. The meet came down to sophomore — and No. 3 finisher — Julia David-Smith, and senior No. 4 India Weir. David-Smith was 10th overall, seven spots ahead of Stanford’s No. 3, and Weir 14th, one spot ahead of the Cardinal’s third and four places ahead of their No. 4. That ultimately made the difference in the final score. It was the first Pac-12 crown for the Washington women since 2009, and fourth overall. “They did exactly what they needed to do,” Powell said on GoHuskies.com. “They were tough and competitive, and once they realized they could win with a lap to go, nobody gave an inch the last part of the race.” The Washington men, led by second-place Luke Houser, gave Stanford a serious, competitive run for that team crown. With Houser and Nathan Green both in the top five, three in the top 10, and all five scorers in the top 20, the Huskies finished with 50 points, nine behind the Cardinal’s winning total of 41. Houser completed eight kilometers in 22:51.80. Green and Stanford’s Cole Sprout tried to outkick each other sprinting toward the finish line, and both were clocked in 22:56.50; although Green was determined to have gotten to the wire just ahead of Sprout for the third-place points.
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Luke Houser
Sophie O’Sullivan
Chloe Foerster
Julia David-Smith
Nathan Green
GoHUSKIES
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SOCCER Late Season Surge For UW Women On The Pitch Hailey Still
Kelsey Branson
Postseason hopes were still to be determined as the calendar flipped from October to November, but the Washington women made the most of what was within their control, to keep those hopes alive. That meant getting a result every time the Huskies stepped onto the field, and those results came in the form of a late-season, six-game unbeaten streak (3-0-3). Included in that stretch of solid performances were a pair of ties against teams in the national top 25: 1-1 at No. 2 Stanford, and 1-1 at home vs. No. 18 Colorado. Sophomore midfielder Kelsey Branson got the goal against the Cardinal, and senior forward Hailey Still scored against the Buffaloes, getting the equalizer less than three minutes after Colorado had taken the lead on a penalty kick. Also figuring into that six-game run were road wins at Arizona (4-3) and Oregon (1-0), and a home victory against Utah (3-1). Along with that six-gamer, the Huskies forged a five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1) to wrap up the non-conference portion of their schedule. Heading into the final week of regular season play with an 8-5-5 record, Washington featured a very balanced scoresheet, with four players — Branson, Still, Ioanna Papatheodorou, and Tatum Thomason — with four goals apiece.
Men Thrive Vs. Top-25 Soccer Opponents Charlie Kosakoff
Sam Fowler
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Even during a season when not all the results have gone the way they wanted, the Washington men have been at their best when taking on the top soccer teams in the country. In six games, the Huskies have found themselves on the field against national top-25 opponents. They got a result in five of those, going 3-1-2 against those teams. The first was on the road with a 1-0 victory at then-No. 3 Indiana. Freshman forward Charlie Kosakoff got the goal, and senior goalkeeper Sam Fowler picked up the shutout. Then, two weeks later at No. 1 Stanford, junior midfielder Chris Meyers scored an equalizer late in the first half, and Washington kept it level throughout the second half on the way to a 1-1 tie. In a home match against rival and No. 5-ranked Portland, the Huskies conceded the first goal, but then scored three unanswered, with junior defender Nate Jones, sophomore midfielder Richie Aman, and redshirt freshman forward Nick O’Brien finding the back of the net in a 3-1 rout. Sean Sent, Brian Iliohan, and Kalani Kossa-Rienzi sparked a 3-1 romp past No. 21 San Diego State at Husky Soccer Field. UCLA, ranked No. 25, came to Seattle and put a 4-2 victory into the books. Then in a rematch against Stanford, still ranked — albeit at No. 14 — the Huskies again earned a point, and again with a 1-1 final score. Both men’s and women’s soccer teams concluded their season on a high note and look to the 2024 season to build on their momentum. Go to GoHuskies. com for soccer news updates. GoHUSKIES
Audra Wilmes
VOLLEYBALL New Head Volleyball Coach, But A Familiar Face
Kierstyn Barton
Even before playing its first point this fall, the Husky volleyball team has a new, but familiar look, as Leslie Gabriel takes the head coaching reins. A new coach is always a time of transition, but Gabriel is hardly new to the UW program. She has been affiliated with it for more than 20 years. First, as a player from 1995-98. Then, as an assistant coach and eventually associate head coach, beginning in 2001 under Jim McLaughlin and Keegan Cook. Always regarded as one of the top programs in the country, the Huskies bounced back from a season-opening loss to Texas-El Paso and strung together eight victories in a row during the preseason and finished the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 9-2 record. Washington got off to a bumpy start in the rugged Pac-12, dropping its first three, but then won four of its next five and concluded the first half of conference play with a 4-6 record. Junior Madi Endsley, sophomore Audra Wilmes, and freshman Kierstyn Barton helped power the Huskies through non-conference play and the first half of the Pac-12 season, each of them slamming more than 200 kills.
Madi Endsley
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Photographs by RED BOX PICTURES
DUBS UP!
Olivia Juarez (Junior, Goalkeeper) and Hailey Still (Senior, Forward) celebrate Senior Day with an Apple Cup victory over Wazzu.
To purchase Husky Athletics photography, visit www.HUSKIESPHOTOSTORE.com
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