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Inside The Huskies

Bryson Tucker's NBA Draft Early Entry Seems Misguided

The 6-foot-7 forward turns to the pros after starting just 14 college games at the UW and Indiana.
Dan Raley|
Bryson Tucker gets in a defensive stance against Oregon.
Bryson Tucker gets in a defensive stance against Oregon. | Dave Sizer photo

In somewhat of a head-scratcher of a move, University of Washington forward Bryson Tucker announced his intentions on Tuesday to try his luck with the NBA Draft.

The 6-foot-7 sophomore forward from Bowie, Maryland, will seek one of the 60 draft positions made available in June.

Truth be told, Tucker, a former McDonald's All-American who first played for Indiana before spending 21 games with the Huskies this past winter, was not even considered one of the top 60 players in the Big Ten this past season.

His departure brings the Husky roster to six remaining scholarship players and a walk-on, among them guard Wesley Yates III, center Franck Kepnang, center Mady Traore, swingman Jaris Rencher, forward Lathan Sommerville and forward Nikola Dzepina, plus non-scholarship guard BJ Roy.

Although he has made no official pronouncement regarding his plans, freshman forward Hannes Steinbach currently is no longer listed among the remaining players for the UW online, with his NBA ambitions expected to be revealed publicly fairly soon.

Over 44 career games with his two college teams, Tucker started just 14 outings

He averaged 5.7 points and 3.9 rebounds for the UW this past season.

That's not exactly readymade NBA draft material.

UW coach Danny Sprinkle took Tucker on as a reclamation project and put him in the starting lineup to begin the season. He had an effective mid-range jumper and plenty of hops for taking backdoor lob passes and dunking them through in an explosive manner.

He was doing OK until he severely sprained an ankle against Baylor, had to be helped off the floor and missed several games.

He returned to the team only to get banged up again and then have his season abruptly end with five games remaining.

Bryson Tucker launches a mid-range jumper against Michigan.
Bryson Tucker launches a mid-range jumper against Michigan. | Dave Sizer photo

Sprinkle said the forward was dealing with personal issues without providing any detail.

It's safe to say Tucker could have used a full season at the college level before going the professional route.

At Indiana, he was kept on the bench for the final six games of the season with the Hoosiers ready to fire coach Mike Woodson because many of his players had underperformed during a 19-13 season, with Tucker one of them.

Bryson Tucker slams home a dunk after taking a lob pass.
Bryson Tucker slams home a dunk after taking a lob pass. | Dave Sizer photo

Turning to the UW, Tucker was ready for a fresh start but twice had to sit down with his injury and personal travails.

The NBA, no two ways about it, just seems like a real reach for Tucker at this particular juncture of his basketball career.

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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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