Inside The Huskies

Huskies' Trojan Horse Consists Of Two Highly Capable Transfers

Wesley Yates III and Desmond Claude have mirrored each other with two teams now.
Dan Raley|
Wesley Yates III and Desmond Claude both went from USC to the UW.
Wesley Yates III and Desmond Claude both went from USC to the UW. | UW

Wesley Yates III and Desmond Claude are used to doing things together, such as playing basketball side by side at USC, leaving the Trojans at the same time and transferring to the University of Washington in tandem.

They were in constant consultation with each other while changing schools, with Yates having played for the Huskies once before and sharing his Montlake insights.

"It made it better, seeing that he trusted coach Sprinkle and the rest of the coaches on the staff," Claude said. "Him talking to me about it and me calling him out of the blue asking questions. It was part of the decision."

However, their shared floor time at the UW likely will be delayed. On Friday at the Huskies new practice facility, the 6-foot-4 Yates was an active presence throughout and staying well after the workout ended to work on free-throw shooting.

Claude?

Dealing with an ankle sprain, the 6-foot-6 senior guard at one point grabbed a snack and walked up and down the sideline to eat it, keeping himself preoccupied.

They might not make it on the floor together for Monday night's opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, but eventually they'll team up at the UW when everything counts and give Danny Sprinkle's second team a significant boost.

According to the experts, in this case On3, Yates and Claude are two of the Big Ten's top 12 transfers for the coming campaign, ranked sixth and 12th on this list.

Three teams have more than one player grouped in this dynamic dozen, with Indiana placing three guys and Iowa joining the Huskies with a pair of players.

What's intriguing about this talent duo is Claude and Yates are the only ones who transferred from one Big Ten roster to another, possibly making them more battle-ready for the rigors of the conference than the others.

Claude averaged 15.8 points per game, which ranked him 12th in the league, and scored 20 points or more 11 times, with a season-best 31 points against Illinois.

Yates, who spent the 2023-24 season at the UW but didn't play because of a foot injury, averaged 14.2 points per outing with the Trojans and had seven games with 20 or more, topped by 30 against Purdue. He was the Big Ten's top freshman scorer in conference games.

Among the other transfers singled out here, Michigan's 6-foot-9 Yaxel Lendeborg comes to Ann Arbor from Alabama-Birmingham, where he averaged 15.8 points and 11 rebounds over two seasons.

Wesley Yates III tosses up a shot for USC while Purdue's Raleigh Burgess tries to stop him.
Wesley Yates III tosses up a shot for USC while Purdue's Raleigh Burgess tries to stop him. | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Iowa's 6-foot-4 Bennett Stirtz and 6-foot-10 Alvaro Folgueiras arrived from Drake and Robert Morris, respectively. Stirtz was a 17.6 scorer last season, Folgueiras a 14.1 point-producer.

UCLA added 6-foot-2 Donovan Dent from New Mexico, where he averaged 20.4 points per game, and Illinois picked up 6-foot-7 Adrej Stojakovic from California, where he was a 17.9 scorer.

Purdue has a new post player in 6-foot-11 Aussie Oscar Cluff, who averaged 17.6 points, 12.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists for South Dakota State last year, and played the season before at Washington State.

Trojans guard Desmond Claude shoots the ball over Purdue's Caleb Furst.
Trojans guard Desmond Claude shoots the ball over Purdue's Caleb Furst. | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Wisconsin has a new guard 6-foot-3 Nick Boyd, who was a a 13.4 scorer at San Diego State.

Indiana restocked with 6-foot-7 Tucker Devries from West Virginia, where he played just eight games before suffering a shoulder injury. The Hoosiers also have 6-foot-10 Reed Bailey, formerly of Davidson, where he scored 18.8 points per game, and 6-foot-6 Lamar Wilkerson, a 13.9 scorer from Sam Houston State.

Yates and Claude should do well when they put their talents up against the others. Once they're both healthy.

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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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