Inside The Huskies

5 Years Without a Draft Pick, UW Basketball Could Have 2 Next Season

ESPN projects a notable Husky breakthrough in the 2026 NBA talent dispersal.
Dan Raley|
Wesley Yates III (6) handles the ball against the Maryland Terrapins.
Wesley Yates III (6) handles the ball against the Maryland Terrapins. | Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

Another NBA Draft has come and gone without a University of Washington basketball player being selected

Five consecutive drafts -- nothing.

Washington State had three players chosen in that time.

The Huskies, zip.

Imagine the TV ratings coming out of the Seattle area for this annual basketball talent dispersal. In the tank. Non-existent.

Well, according to ESPN and Jonathan Givony of Draft Express, this particular Northwest basketball dry spell is about to change for the Huskies.

In 12 months, Givony projects the UW's incoming 6-foot-10 German forward Hannes Steinbach and 6-foot-4 shooting guard Wesley Yates III will be taken 26th, late in the first round, and 51st, or midway through the second round, respectively.

Montlake draft picks at last.

Brandon Roy, Isaiah Thomas and Detlef Schrempf all just rose to their feet and said thank you to Danny Sprinkle, the second-year UW coach and determined pursuer of high-level basketball talent.

This weekend, the highly mobile and physical enough Steinbach finds himself in Lausanne, Switzerland, to play for Germany in the U19 FIBA World Cup before reporting to the UW for what appears to be a brief but intriguing whirl with the college game.

Yates, who has all of the shots in his offensive arsenal, soon will be pulling on a Husky uniform for the second time in three years after spending last season at USC. He was an injured UW player in 2023-24 and never got in a game before transferring out after Mike Hopkins was fired. His Alaska Airlines Arena unveiling as a home player has been long overdue.

Hopkins, in his seven seasons in Montlake, had just four players drafted.

They included 6-foot-5 guard Matisse Thybulle (2019, first round, No. 20, Boston Celtics), 6-foot-4 guard Jaylen Nowell (2019, second round, No. 43, Minnesota Timberwolves), 6-foot-8 forward Isaiah Stewart (2020, first round, No. 16, Detroit Pistons) and 6-foot-9 forward Jaden McDaniels (2020, first round, No. 28, Minnesota Timberwolves).

Finally, someone is about to join them at the next level.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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