Inside The Huskies

Huskies Lose Another: Kepnang Ruled Out at Rutgers

The big man had played in every game this season after a checkered UW career filled with injuries.
Dan Raley|
Franck Kepnang and Bryson Tucker keep their eye on the ball.
Franck Kepnang and Bryson Tucker keep their eye on the ball. | Dave Sizer photo

And then there were just two.

Down to just four regular-season games, a continuously bruised and battered University of Washington basketball team will go without center Franck Kepnang for the first time this season in Tuesday's game at Rutgers.

The 6-foot-11, 250-pound Kepnang, a sixth-year starting senior from Cameroon, was ruled out after appearing in all of the previous 27 UW games, according to the Big Ten availability list released a few hours before the 3:30 p.m. PST tipoff.

He had experienced recent leg soreness that had prevented him from practicing and then went crashing to the floor awkwardly against Maryland in Saturday's 64-60 loss, putting him into question on multiple fronts.

Kepnang's absence will mean that only guards Zoom Diallo and Quimari Peterson will have played in every game once the Rutgers match-up begins in Piscataway, New Jersey, , a situation that has effectively ruined what was once appeared to be a promising season for the Huskies (13-14 overall, 5-11 Big Ten).

For Kepnang, he had made great strides with his health after suffering three consecutive season-ending knee injuries for the UW, appearing in only 8, 10 and 14 games since transferring from Oregon.

While Kepnang is one of five players listed as out on the Big Ten availability list, sophomore forward Bryson Tucker seemingly is available, but likely not in great shape.

The 6-foot-7 Tucker, nursing an injured thumb, returned to the starting lineup against Maryland over the weekend, but he didn't long. He pulled just 13 minutes while taking and missing a pair of 3-point shots.

That leaves the UW with just eight other scholarship players in reasonable shape to face the Scarlet Knights (11-16, 4-12).

Others ruled out are senior guard Desmond Claude, who's been done for nearly six weeks since reaggravating a foot injury; freshman guard JJ Mandaquit, who had foot surgery; freshman swingman Jasir Rencher, who undersent a heart rhythm procedure; and junior center Mady Traore, who's missed the entire season since injurying a foot and having surgery.

it will be interesting to see what sort of staring lineup Husky coach Danny Sprinkle sends on to the floor at Rutgers.

A logical Kepnang replacement would be Lathan Sommerville, a 6-foot-10 sophomore who's dealing with his own knee injury but still trying to play on.

Sommerville will face his former Scarlet Knights teammates for the first time since transferring to the UW after last season.

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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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