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Inside The Huskies

Former UW Guard Desmond Claude Reportedly Enters Transfer Portal

The senior guard was injured and played just 12 games for Danny Sprinkle's team.
Dan Raley|
Desmond Claude surveys the floor in a Husky home game.
Desmond Claude surveys the floor in a Husky home game. | Dave Sizer photo

Desmond Claude, who personally shut down his lone season with the University of Washington basketball team in the middle of January to the consternation of the coaching staff, is entering the transfer portal, according to On3.

Which is all very interesting because it raises the specter of what exactly were the motives behind his in-season departure?

Clearly, the 6-foot-6 guard from New Haven, Connecticut -- who was considered the Huskies' top portal addition for last season -- suffered a severe ankle sprain before the games began that forced him to miss the first four outings and limited his effectiveness.

In a social-media posting announcing his departure, Claude detailed the extent of his injury and said he played until he could go no longer deal with the discomfort, and appeared in just 12 games.

Yet he made the decision on his own to no longer play, not the UW medical staff, which seemed to be a source of frustration for the coaching staff.

"Obviously everybody saw his post last night where he says he's injured," coach Danny Sprinkle told media members at the time. "At the University of Washington, we have elite student health care. It's one of the tops in the entire world." 

All of which raised the question of did Claude simply stop playing after 12 games with the Huskies to insure another season of eligibility?

While he's certainly entitled to protect his health and his basketball interests, Claude was paid to play basketball in Montlake, which no doubt carried certain stipulations for him regarding his obligations to Sprinkle's team.

Either way, Claude apparently is now seeking a fourth team after playing for Xavier, USC and Washington. He would have had to receive a medical waiver to obtain eligibility for a fifth college basketball season.

Desmond Claude fight his way through a crowd.
Desmond Claude fight his way through a crowd. | Dave Sizer phot

He has the height and the corresponding skills at guard -- he averaged 13.3 points per game as a nine-game starter for the Huskies -- to make him an NBA prospect.

Claude becomes the fifth UW player since the season ended to turn to the transfer portal, following sophomore guard Zoom Diallo, freshman guard JJ Mandaquit, freshman guard Courtland Muldrew and sophomore forward Christian Nitu.

Diallo, according to various reports, visited Kentucky over the weekend, where he presumably met with Wildcats coach Mark Pope, a former Husky player himself.

Pope, who grew up in Bellevue, Washington, was a forward who was selected as the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year in 1992. He transferred to Kentucky following the next season because Husky coach Lynn Nance was fired.

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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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