Skip to main content
Inside The Huskies

JJ Mandaquit Reportedly Quits UW, Headed for Portal

The highly regarded point guard makes a surprising departure.
Dan Raley|
JJ Mandaquit sets up a play for the Huskies.
JJ Mandaquit sets up a play for the Huskies. | Dave Sizer photo

Danny Sprinkle better check for his wallet because this college basketball season has taken just about everything else from him.

On Friday, the University of Washington coach appears to ahve suffered an unimaginable blow to his program rebuild when it was revealed his freshman point guard of choice, JJ Mandaquit, reportedly will enter the transfer portal, according to ESPN.

The 6-foot-1 Mandaquit, who played in 22 games and started six before suffering a season-ending foot injury, becomes the second Husky player to bolt in a week, joining fellow freshman guard Courland Muldrew through the exit door.

With 6-foot-11 forward and leading scorer Hannes Steinbach expected to enter the NBA Draft, and swingman Jasir Rencher dealing with a heart issue, Sprinkle's five-player freshman class appears to somewhat gutted.

Only first-year 6-foot-10 forward Nikola Dzepina is without pro plans, transfer plans or injuries. So far.

This past season began with so much promise for Sprinkle, who brought in nearly an all-new team, including those five freshmen. It was envisioned the UW might end its NCAA Tournament absence that has grown to seven years.

A crush of injuries ruined everything for the Huskies coach, who also dealt with a couple of players walking away from his program during the season in senior guard Desmond Claude and sophomore forward Christian Nitu.

Now Mandaquit, a player who seemed to match Sprinkle's hard-nosed personality, is deserting him in the wake of a 16-17 season.

JJ Mandaquit drives to the basket for the Huskies.
JJ Mandaquit drives to the basket for the Huskies. | Dave Sizer photo

The Hilo, Hawaii, product experienced an odd season, if not disappointing one, on multiple fronts.

He became a starter and was handed the keys to the Husky offense at the beginning of the season. After five games, he was yanked from the opening lineup without much of an explanation as his coach seemingly tried to protect him as he struggled at times

Mandaquit started just once more over his final 17 games before he injured his foot and had surgery in New York City to repair it, missing the final 11 outings of the season.

He averaged 5.2 points and 3.1 assists per outing, with high games of 15 points against Michigan and 8 assists against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

It's possible Mandaquit felt his basketball development wasn't where it should be and that's why he left.

Early on, he was considered the face of the program as the only player on campus after arriving in late summer from Europe, where he helped lead the U19 U.S. Junior National Team to a gold medal in Switzerland.

Either way, Sprinkle has to be reeling by Mandaquit's departure.

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
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.

Home/Basketball