For UW, Ihenacho Will Be Effective Attacking the Hoop, Not Shooting 3s

Unfailingly a nice guy, Mike Hopkins still proved almost rude in doling out minutes as the University of Washington basketball coach. He rarely used more than eight guys in his game-night rotations, leaving capable players such as RaeQuan Battle, Marcus Tsohonis and most recently Nate Calemese to waste away on the bench and leave the team.

Danny Sprinkle, Hopkins' replacement, it seems will dig deeper into the roster when the ball gets tossed up as the Huskies enter the more physically demanding Big Ten, which tends to wear down players at more of an accelerated rate.

Hence, the new UW coach is bringing in 10 additional players to go with three holdovers, likely needing to show good faith with playing time while bringing in new faces from the East Coast, Midwest and the West.

One of the new arrivals is North Dakota transfer Tyree Ihenacho -- dare anyone call him Nacho? -- who fits the Sprinkle mold for backcourt duty, that, at 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds, as an oversized playmaker. He's the last of the 10 new players to commit to the new UW coach.

"He is a big, athletic guard, which fits the Big Ten," Sprinkle said. "His versatility and defense will greatly impact our team."

Interestingly, a YouTube scouting video of Ihenacho showed him fearlessly driving the lane and making a variety of difficult shots in traffic while clanking a lot of 3-point tries. His strengths and weaknesses are fairly apparent.

Last season, Ihenacho played in 22 games for North Dakota, missing 10 with an upper-body injury, and averaged 14.5 points, 5 rebounds and 3.9 assists an outing for an 18-14 team. He was a 40.1-percent shooter overall, but just 28.8 percent from behind the line.

His game was a little reminiscent of former UW guard Terrell Brown, who made things happen while attacking the hoop, not so much in firing from 3-point range.

Ihenacho began his career with a season at North Dakota, played two seasons for James Madison, played another year at North Dakota and was signed and committed to Wyoming this spring until Cowboys coach Jeff Linder up and quit.

The following was Linder's assessment of Ihenacho's game: "Tyree is a skilled playmaker with a lot of 'pop' to his game. He's a proven guard who has already had a successful four-year run in college. Tyree's ability to get downhill and put pressure on the defense will add great value to our backcourt."

In Seattle, Ihenacho will contend with five other new guards, among them Butler transfer DJ Davis, Rice transfer Mekhi Mason, Rhode Island transfer Luis Kortright and touted incoming freshmen Zoom Diallo and Jase Butler.

It will be curious to see how Sprinkle puts them all to work and who gets what in terms of playing time.

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