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Inside The Huskies

Husky Basketball Continues to Seek an International Footprint

Paul Mbiya, a 6-foot-11 African big man, reportedly is drawing attention from eight schools, including the UW.
Dan Raley|
Paul Mbiya has drawn recruiting attention for the UW.
Paul Mbiya has drawn recruiting attention for the UW. | Mbiya

Mike Hopkins simply couldn't make the international basketball player work at the University of Washington -- in particular, those coming to him from Africa -- and it likely was one of the reasons he lost his job.

It seems Danny Sprinkle, Hopkins' coaching successor in Montlake, isn't about to make the same mistake.

On Wednesday, On3 reported that the UW is one of eight schools taking a concentrated look at Paul Mbiya, a 6-foot-11, 260-pound big man from the Republic of the Congo, someone who's just 19 and reportedly has a 7-foot-4 wing span.

Other supposed suitors for this particular African teenager are Georgetown, LSU, Oregon, Santa Clara, Seton Hall, Syracuse and Texas Tech.

While he has suffered with a last-place Big Ten team (13-15 overall, 4-13 league) his first time out, Sprinkle already has got more games in a season -- 11 -- than Hopkins out of the inherited but oft-injured 6-foot-11, 253-pound center Franck Kepnang, who's originally from Cameroon.

The first-year Husky coach has brought in 6-foot-8, 190-pound forward Dominique Diomande, who calls France home, but has played in the past for Africa's Ivory Coast U16 national team. Diomande currently is redshirting after enrolling in January.

Sprinkle similarly is awaiting the arrival next season of another Frenchman, 6-foot-11, 190-pound Mady Traore, currently playing for a Texas JC team after earlier stops at Maryland and New Mexico State.

That's a lot of heavily accented players who could be dunking and blocking shots at Alaska Airlines Arena as the Huskies continue to rebuild with a global theme.

From Kinshasa, Mbiya began playing basketbal when he was 15, eventually finding his way to the NBA Africa Academy before joining a French pro league team and averaging 16 points and 11 rebounds per game.

If any of that sounds familiar, Hopkins bet on his own NBA Africa Academy product in 6-foot-8, 190-pound forward Samuel Ariyibi from Lagos Nigeria.

However, Ariyibi was injured to the point he appeared in just six UW games over three years and left the program once his coach was fired and Sprinkle took over.

This season, Ariyibi resurfaced at Utah Tech, where he's started 22 of 24 games and averages 7.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game for a 6-21 team.

A year ago, Hopkins was let go after he had three African players on the UW roster who weren't able to play much at all.

Kepnang lasted just 10 games before having knee surgery. Ariyibi, dealing with chronic foot injuries, appeared in just two outings early on the schedule.

Then there was Kabeya Nehemie, a 6-foot-10, 235-pound big man from the Congo, and a transfer from Carson-Newman, North Carolina Central and two JC teams, who appeared healthy enough but was used in just 5 Husky games.

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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