23-24 UW Men’s Basketball Preview

Sleeping Giants

With 11 new players, the Huskies are poised to surprise the Pac-12

BY BOB SHERWIN • FOR GO HUSKIES MAGAZINE

The 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.

Braxton Meah

Paul Mulcahy

Moses Wood

Nate Calmese

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.”

Keion Brooks Jr.

Franck Kepnang

Sahvir Wheeler

Koren Johnson

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 a pair of 30-point efforts. He shot 37 percent from three-point range, and 48 percent overall.a pair of 30-point efforts. He shot 37 percent from three-point range, and 48 percent overall.

Anthony Holland

Wilhelm Breidenbach

Christian King ( No. 31 )

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.”