Inside The Huskies

Huskies Reach Out to Final Four Player from Auburn in Transfer Portal

Jahki Howard is a 6-foot-6 swingman who appeared in 21 games for the 32-6 Tigers team.

Dan Raley

Auburn forward Jahki Howard (3) passes the ball against the Missouri Tigers in January.
Auburn forward Jahki Howard (3) passes the ball against the Missouri Tigers in January. / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The University of Washington basketball team didn't get anywhere close to the Final Four, let alone the NCAA Tournament for that matter, but the Huskies are considering bringing a slice of it to Montlake if possible.

They've been in contact with former Auburn forward Jahki Howard, a 6-foot-6 freshman who was deep in Bruce Pearl's rotation for his Final Four qualifier, but someone with enough potential to draw a flurry of transfer portal attention.

Howard appeared in 21 games for the 32-6 Tigers, which included a pair of early round NCAA tourney games that resulted in decisive wins over Alabama State and Creighton.

He sat and watched Auburn play in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight and advance to San Antonio and a 79-73 loss to eventual national champion Florida in the semifinals.

While drawing limited minutes, he averaged 4.2 points per game and shot 53.6 percent overall and 40.9 percent from 3-point range. He had a season-high of 13 points in this third college game against Richmond, hitting 5 of 9 shots in 20 minutes of action.

That was enough for Arkansas, Grand Canyon, Illinois, Memphis, North Carolina State, Ole Miss, Seton Hall and the Huskies to make contact.

The attraction to Howard is his athleticism. He won the Hawaiian National Slam Dunk Championship in Phoenix, which made him the nation's top high school dunker.

While he lists Boston as his home, he attended three different high schools, two in Georgia and another in California

At Auburn, nine different players started games, but Howard wasn't one of them as Pearl had a veteran team. The coach preferred to develop the younger player, who's just 19.

However, the swingman apparently wasn't willing to wait around, which now has him talking to all of these interested schools, including the Huskies.

To get the latest 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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