Husky Roster Review: UW Awaits Healthy Traore

As the University of Washington basketball season pulled to a close, the injured Mady Traore was just getting started.

After tearing a tendon and having surgery, the 6-foot-11 junior big man from Dracy, France, was set to have a screw removed from his left foot and begin his recovery this month.

Unlike other others on the team who became disabled or disgruntled and disappeared from view, Traore stayed as visible as he could to the Huskies.

In pregame warm-ups, he was the guy dressed in sweats who fed the ball to his uniformed teammates for jumpers.

Once the game tipped off, he sat at the far end of the bench and watched everything intently.

At practice, Traore made sure to get his shots in as he waited for medical clearance.

"It's frustrating for me to watch, because you see at 7 foot [sic] and our most athletic player, and he's out there making 10 3's in a row at times," UW coach Danny Sprinkle said.

Injuries crippled the UW, with Jacob Ognacevic and Mady Traore outfitted in protective boots. | 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.

It is hoped that Traore will help offset the presumed loss of the highly productive Hannes Steinbach, who recently obtained an agent and is expected to make himself available for the NBA Draft in June.

Mady Traore and Jacob Ognacevic sat together as injured teammates. | Dave Sizer photo

While he previously played for two-year Frank Phillips College in Texas in 2025, Traore is not without prior Division I basketball credentials, though they were somewhat limited.

In 2024, he appeared in a dozen games for Maryland and started four times before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

The year before that, Traore drew seven games and started once for a New Mexico State team that was shut down during the season because of hazing and assorted criminal activity by other players.

At Phillips, Traore managed to play in 34 games and he averaged 13.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per outing.

"With his length and athleticism, I think he can be a difference-maker," Sprinkle said.

The coach said Traore, who has a 7-foot, 6-inch wingspan, is capable of playing each of the 3, 4 and 5 positions up front, but seems to fancy himself more as a perimeter shooter.

With all of the interruptions in his basketball career, this Frenchman could have as many as three seasons still available to him at the UW, according to Sprinkle, who will take him for as long as he can.

"He has some fast-twitch and we don't have a lot of fast-twitch on our team, and we're going to change that," Sprinkle said. "We need that in our league."