Huskies Lose Another: 'BPJ' Decides to Transfer, Further Diluting Front Line
The roster churn continues for a last-place University of Washington basketball team, with 7-foot-1 sophomore center Bryan Penn-Johnson the latest to go after announcing his intentions to transfer Thursday on social media.
Penn-Johnson, a player affectionately known as "BPJ," becomes the second player to exit via the portal, joining junior point guard Elijah Hardy who left for Portland State.
While change was inevitable after the Huskies' season bottomed out, the big man from Long Beach, California, was expected to carry much of the front-line load next season, especially with freshmen Isaiah Stewart and Jaden McDaniels departing early for the NBA draft.
At midseason, UW coach Mike Hopkins even had this to say about Penn-Johnson, "He hasn't had a sniff, but this kid can play. He's going to be a great player."
It appears Penn-Johnson became an impatient player. He simply didn't draw many minutes over his two seasons at the UW, which had to bothersome for him. He appeared in just five games as a freshman and six last season as a redshirt freshman. He leaves with 12 points and 9 rebounds.
Hopkins, who spoke about big men Nate Roberts and Penn-Johnson in the accompanying video, simply didn't use him. The coach said there was only so many minutes to go around and he preferred to rely on eight players most of the time.
With that arrangement, the possibility of a Penn-Johnson transfer wasn't out of the question, no matter what the future held. He appeared to be a very good teammate, often seen joking around with others during warm-ups and doing all sorts of ball-handling moves while seated in a chair.
Basketball-wise, he had a 7-foot-7 wing span and seemed mobile enough, yet he had bad hands. More than a few balls bounced off them coming on pinpoint passes. His shooting range also was extremely limited.
The Huskies have lost one senior and four underclassmen now among their scholarship players since the season ended, leaving the with just eight holdovers. Only the 6-10 Roberts and 6-9 incoming transfer J'raan Brooks represent inside players.
In recent weeks, Hopkins has brought in three new players, yet they're all guards -- and just one, Nate Pryor, is eligible to play next season. Wichita State's Erik Stevenson and Michigan's Cole Bajema will have to sit out a year for changing schools.
The Husky coach has his work cut out for him in finding some big men at this late date who can contribute right away.
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