Inside The Huskies

Diallo, Kepnang Indicate They're Returning to Husky Basketball

UW coach Danny Sprinkle reveals these developments in radio interview.
Dan Raley|
Zoom Diallo brings the ball up the floor against Maryland.
Zoom Diallo brings the ball up the floor against Maryland. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Guard Zoom Diallo and center Franck Kepnang have signed agreements to play next season for the University of Washington basketball team, giving the Huskies at least two returning starters, Danny Sprinkle revealed in a Seattle radio interview.

On Friday, the UW coach told KJR 93.3 that he will regain the services of the 6-foot-4 Diallo, who started 22 of 31 games as a freshman, and the 6-foot-11 Kepnang, who overcame a knee injury to open 8 of 14 games and will become a sixth-year senior.

"That's a great start right there," Sprinkle said.

While the transfer portal is set to open next week and available names begin to circulate, the Husky coach said his staff will look to add as many as six veteran players.

Huskies center Franck Kepnang reacts to a play at Iowa.
Huskies center Franck Kepnang reacts to a play at Iowa. | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

In recent days, 6-foot Iowa guard Brock Harding, 6-foot-3 North Dakota guard Jacari White and 6-foot-6 Southern Illinois swingman Kennard Davis each have indicated on social media they have drawn interest from the Huskies.

"We didn't have the players to play fast," Sprinkle told the Chuck and Buck Show. "We didn't shoot well all season. We had no size without Franck. I do want to play a lot faster and shoot 3-pointers."

Hardly intimidated by the physical Big Ten as a first-year player, Diallo finished as the Huskies' third-leading scorer at 11.1 points per game and shot 47.3 percent from the field.

A local player from Tacoma, he'll remain someone Sprinkle builds his team around he he tries to move past a last-place Big Ten finish (13-18 overall, 4-16 league).

Kepnang, an explosive player inside, injured his right knee for the third consecutive year and missed 17 games before making a midseason return. In14 outings, he averaged 6.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and nearly 2 blocks per game.

"Losing him for [17] games really hurt us," Sprinkle said.

Since the season ended 12 days ago, redshirt freshman forward Christian King and freshman guard Jase Butler have left the Huskies and entered the transfer portal, opening up two more spots.

King appeared in 20 games, Butler 18, as two of the least utilized players on the roster.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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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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