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Inside The Huskies

Former Husky Nate Calmese Leaves WSU for Portal

The offensive-minded guard played in just 16 games for the UW before transferring.
Dan Raley|
Nate Calmese, playing for WSU and formerly of UW, celebrates an 87-86 win over Pepperdine.
Nate Calmese, playing for WSU and formerly of UW, celebrates an 87-86 win over Pepperdine. | James Snook-Imagn Images

Nate Calmese is on the move again.

The former University of Washington guard, after spending this past season at Washington State, will enter the transfer portal once more, according to On3. He could possibly play for four different schools in as many seasons.

A year ago, the 6-foot-2 Calmese from Gilbert, Arizona, exited the UW immediately following a busted season in which then Husky coach Mike Hopkins wouldn't play him and proceeded to resurrect his career in the Palouse.

He went from appearing in 16 games as a deep reserve in Montlake to a 33-game starter and 15.2-point scorer for a 19-14 Cougars team.

In 2023, Calmese was a 17.6-point scorer for Lamar and was named Southland Conference Freshman of the Year.

This past season, Calmese turned in 10 games in which he scored 20 points or more, topped by 27 against both Iowa and San Diego.

Considered a long-range shooter, he was fairly accurate overall, connecting on 47.4 percent of his shots, but suffered some behind the 3-point line, hitting on just 29.1 percent.

Nate Calmese, then with UW, shoots over Arizona State Sun Devils guard Jamiya Neal in 2024.
Nate Calmese, then with UW, shoots over Arizona State Sun Devils guard Jamiya Neal in 2024. | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Showing some depth to his game, he averaged 4.4 assists for the Cougars, with a high game of 11 against San Francisco.

Calmese actually got a chance to play against the Huskies and their new coach Danny Sprinkle in December. He had left the UW well before Sprinkle was hired.

That night against his old team, he scored 21 points to share game-high honors with the UW's DJ Davis, hitting 8 of 18 shots, in an 89-73 loss in his return to Alaska Airlines Arena.

Wherever he lands, the guard has a lone season of eligibility remaining.

For more 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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