Inside The Huskies

Huskies Suspend Guard Luis Kortright Indefinitely

The Rhode Island transfer had played in 18 games and started three times.
Dan Raley|
Luis Kortright (12) has been suspended by the UW basketball team.
Luis Kortright (12) has been suspended by the UW basketball team. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Earlier in the season, Danny Sprinkle, the University of Washington basketball coach, talked about guard Luis Kortright "being in his doghouse."

This was a loose reference to the Rhode Island transfer not playing in an efficient manner that was expected from him, namely committing careless turnovers as a floor leader and not shooting well at all.

On Saturday, the situation took on entirely new connotations as Sprinkle suspended Kortright indefinitely hours before the UW (11-11 overall, 2-9 Big Ten) hosted Northwestern (13-10, 4-8) for not meeting program standards, according to a UW spokesperson.

As is always the case, no specific reason was given for the disciplinary action.

Kortright, a 6-foot-3 senior from Manhattan, New York, had missed the past two Husky games against Minnesota and Nebraska after spraining an ankle at the end of a practice.

Overall, he has appeared in 18 contests and started three. He averages 4.9 points per game, with a season high of 10 against Illinois and UMass Lowell. He has suffered greatly as a perimeter shooter for the Huskies, hitting a dismal 21.4 percent of his 3-point attempts (9 of 42).

Described as a tough New York City kid by his coach, Kortright came to the UW from Rhode Island, where he was a 31-game starter last season with averages of 10 points and 3.7 assists per game. He played three seasons for Quinnipiac prior to that, appearing in 71 games and starting 12.

As much as anyone among the newcomers to the program, Kortright has had difficulty getting comfortable with the higher level of competition in the Big Ten.

Luis Kortright drives to the basketball against Maryland.
Luis Kortright drives to the basketball against Maryland. | Skylar Lin Visuals

While the ankle sprain made him miss the past two Husky outings, Kortright earlier sat out home games against Eastern Washington and Washington State in December because he wasn't playing well.

Counting Northwestern, the Huskies, who are last in the Big Ten standings, have just nine games left on the schedule. Currently, they're in danger of missing out on the conference tournament, with the field limited to 15 of the 18 teams.

For 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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