Husky Roster Review: Sommerville Regressed at UW

A year ago, Lathan Sommerville was the first of eight transfer portal players to commit to the University of Washington basketball team during a roster overhaul, going coast to coast from Rutgers to give the Huskies some help up front.

The 6-foot-10, 260-pound big man had been a 15-game starter in 32 outings as a freshman for the Scarlet Knights, which included having a solid showing against the UW in his team's 89-85 overtime victory in Seattle.

Unfortunately for him, Sommerville's career took a step backward this past winter, notably when an in-season knee injury sat him down for nine contests. limiting him to a 22-game season.

So now what?

Lathan Sommerville grabs a rebound against Seattle U. | 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.

Sommerville went from a half-time starter at Rutgers to opening just seven games for the UW, including the final six.

He went from an 8.2 scorer and 4.1 rebounder for his New Jersey team in 2025 to 4.3 and 2.6 for the Huskies this past winter.

He finished as a 50.6 percent shooter for the Scarlet Knights compared to 43.8 for the UW.

He had a season-high 17 points for Rutgers against Michigan while his best for the Huskies was 11 against Denver.

He had 10 double-figure games at his previous stop compared to three for the Huskies.

Lathan Sommerville is all bandaged up for the Huskies. | Dave Sizer photo

While knee injuries are not to be taken lightly, Sommerville was cleared to return at the end of January after missing nearly six weeks of games. He no doubt was tenative getting back into the mix.

If there was a quibble over his game late in the season, UW coach Danny Sprinkle said the forward needed to rebound more considering the minutes he was pulling.

Lathan Sommerville works down low for a shot against UCLA. | Dave Sizer photo

In 2025, Sommerville was one of three top 100 recruits brought in by Rutgers, along with guard Dylan Harper and forward Ace Bailey, who were one-and-done players and now suit up for the San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz, respectively.

With the Scarlet Knights basically starting all over, the Peoria, Illinois, product left to play for the UW after visiting and liking what he heard was Sprinkle's plan for going forward.

"It just struck me the way they run things and the way they're trying to improve the program," Sommerville said in the fall.

Besides, Sommerville had played solidly against the Huskies at Alaska Airlines Arena, coming up with 8 points and 4 rebounds before fouling out with 3:41 left in regulation play before his team won that night in the extra session.

In this day and age of transient players, the big thing with Sommerville will be to see if he's comfortable enough to spend another season at the UW or just keep moving.