Husky Roster Review: Muldrew Finally Accepts His Role

His coach talked early on about turning Courtland Muldrew into a defensive player and a disruptor, that the University of Washington freshman guard was on all on board with this, that this was a perfect role for him.

Yet more than once, the Arkansas product was inserted into Husky games and immediately launched an ill-advised and off-target 3-pointer, and sat down.

As easy as the conversion sounded, you just don't take the offensive mindset out of a kid who came to Montlake as Arkansas' all-time leading high school scorer.

No, it took the better part of the season for the 6-foot-3 backcourt player to figure this out and prioritize his responsibilities.

And guess what?

Muldrew found that by totally committing to defense, it helped him put points on the board.

"His energy is contagious," Sprinkle said. "Even when he screws up, he's flying around. He makes things happen. And we need that."

Courtland Muldrew confers with UW coach Danny Sprinkle. | Dave Sizer photo

This is one in a series of articles -- going from 0 to 16 on the Husky basketball roster -- examining what each scholarship and walk-on player did this past winter and whether he lived up to expectations.

In the final five games of the season, Muldrew played 25 minutes an outing, more than double his season average.

In that handful of games, he averaged 8.4 points per game, again more than double his season average.

"Probably bad coaching on my part," Sprinkle acknowledged. "I should have been playing him over a lot of people earlier."

Courtland Muldrew goes to the basket against Minnesota. | Dave Sizer photo

Yet in 14 of his first 15 games, Muldrew didn't have a steal, nothing to show for his new basketball identity.

Finally, in a 91-72 home victory over USC, he pilfered the ball three times and combined with fellow freshman Nikola Dzepina to score 14 of the UW's final 16 points to turn a close game into a rout.

He scored all 9 of his points, tying a career best, over the closing five minutes.

Muldrew, who appeared in 20 of the UW's 33 games and started once, always plays hard, it just took him awhile to get under control and emphasize his game-night approach. The shots will come. The steals just have to show up, too.

"We need Courtland to continue to play well," Sprinkle said. " When guys pressure him, he's going to go right by you. He's cat quick. That's why he's going to be a helluva player for a long time here.