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Inside The Huskies

Huskies Reach Out In Portal to Prolific Stealer

The Wright State guard finished just nine thefts behind the national leader.
Dan Raley|
Wright State guard TJ Burch played in the NCAA Tournament.
Wright State guard TJ Burch played in the NCAA Tournament. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

As everyone takes on the tedious task of sorting through the dozens and dozens of players jumping into the transfer portal, one name that reportedly has drawn the attention of University of Washington's talent seekers is former Wright State guard TJ Burch.

The 6-foot-1 rising junior from Dallas finished third in the nation in steals with 88 and seventh with a 2.59 per game average.

The UW is one of 14 schools that have contacted Burch so far, according to Recruits Zone.

For a 23-12 NCAA Tournament team, Burch finished just nine steals behind national leader Jovantae Campbell of Bowling Green.

Burch came up with a season-high 6 in an 88-73 victory over Oakland at home in Dayton, Ohio, had 5 thefts in five other outings.

Burch initially came off the bench for Wright State before he was inserted into the lineup for the final 23 games as the Raiders won a Horizon League championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where they lost 82-73 to Virginia.

An all-around guard, he seemed to flourish in his enhanced role. He averaged 12.4 points, with a high of 24 against Youngstown, and 3.5 assists per game. He scored in double figures in 21 of his final 23 outings, and reached 20 points or more on four occasions.

As he restocks his roster, UW coach Danny Sprinkle said it was imperative for the Huskies to find some backcourt players who can shoot effectively from the outside, and Burch seems to fit that need.

Wright State guard TJ Burch (22) drives against Virginia's Chance Mallory (2) in the NCAA Tournament.
Wright State guard TJ Burch (22) drives against Virginia's Chance Mallory (2) in the NCAA Tournament. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The Wright State player was good on 45.7 percent of his shots this season, 34.7 percent from 3-point range. In an 85-79 loss at Cleveland State, Burch connected on all four of his 3-point attempts and was 9-for-11 shooting overall.

He's now looking for his third team in as many seasons, with Burch spending his freshman year at Ball State, whre he averaged 4.8 points over 21 games.

The Huskies without question are seeking to add a few guards after having sophomore starter Zoom Diallo and freshmen JJ Mandaquit and Courtland Muldrew each abandon Montlake for the transfer portal.

The UW currently has just seven scholarship players still on the roster, with 6-foot-11 forward Christian Nitu recently declaring he is portal bound.

Initially a Florida State transfer who hails from Canada, Nitu briefly practiced with the Huskies before dropping off the team and sitting out the entire season.

The transfer portal opened on Tuesday.

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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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