Should Quade Green Move On or Return for Another UW Season?

The University of Washington basketball team never had a player transfer in from Kentucky before Quade Green made the move.

Syracuse, Connecticut and Florida, to name a few college basketball blue bloods, previously supplied the Huskies with players, but not the Bluegrass powerhouse.

Green changed all that when he said goodbye to John Calipari and hello to Mike Hopkins at the end of 2018, looking for more playing time and exciting the Husky fan base no end with his arrival.

The 6-foot point guard from Philadelphia next sat out half a season for switching schools, another when he neglected his grades and couldn't play.

Green now finds himself coming to the end of his listed senior year, though pandemic allowances permit him to return for the 2021-22 campaign if he chooses.

Fully engaged in a dismal UW season and recently ill but not with COVID-19, the guard hasn't publicly addressed his future plans.

Green and fellow senior forward Hameir Wright potentially face their final home games against Stanford and California this week, but they haven't discussed their futures in any definitive manner with teammates.

"It's their last little stretch of putting on a Washington home uniform and, as a team, we have to celebrate that," sophomore center Nate Roberts said, "instead of focusing on the future, because you never know what the future will hold."

Yet a quick perusal of the mock drafts out there offers a fairly significant clue to his best option: Green doesn't appear on any of them, first or second round.

Four different Gonzaga players turn up on these masterpieces of guesswork. Not Green. Point guards galore fill up the 60 slots. No Green.

What's a former 5-star recruit turned Wildcat turned to Husky to do?

Considering the UW (4-16 overall, 3-12 Pac-10) should still be in serious rebuild mode, Green logically could move to yet another school as a graduate transfer to try and impress the scouts. Yet considering his academic shortcomings a year ago, it seems unlikely he's in position to accept a diploma soon.

Unless the G-League looks enticing to him, Green likely returns to the Huskies for yet another season, but only after Hopkins promises to bring in a couple of big-men transfers who can score. Rebound without being prodded. Maybe even play a little defense without fouling. Give Roberts some much-needed help.

After sitting out Monday's game at Washington State, Green should return to the lineup against Stanford (13-8, 9-6) on Thursday night at Alaska Airlines Arena. He ranks as the Huskies' leading scorer (15.3) and assist man (3.5), but is guilty of the most turnovers (3.5).

“That’s pretty much been a problem all year,” he said of the mistakes made. “That’s been on me really, poor point-guard skills, turning the ball over way too much.”

While he's always had enough individual talent to land at places such as Kentucky and Washington, the 6-footer needs to convince NBA teams that he can compensate for his lack of height by becoming more of a playmaker than a scorer.

Oklahoma State's Cade Cunningham and Gonzaga's Jalen Suggs currently alternate as the players most talked about going No. 1 in the next NBA draft. Both are point guards. Cunningham stands 6-7 and Suggs 6-4. Another player being talked about is Australian playmaker Josh Giddy. He's a strapping 6-8.

In the Huskies' season opener, Green went head to head with Baylor point guard Jared Butler, a talented 6-3 playmaker talked about as a first-rounder and he didn't fare well.

"Size limits his ability to pass over the top of the defense," DraftExpress.com said of Green. "Tough, pesky defender but figures to struggle with bigger guards,"

NBAdraftroom.com analyzed his game this way: "Green is undersized by today's NBA standards and could struggle on both ends of the floor against NBA length. Doesn't seem like the type of player who will add a lot of muscle."

Unless he can't stomach school anymore, or the Huskies' spate of losing on the basketball court, Green is probably a good bet to be back and try to convince the pros once and for all that he's worthy.

Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven

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