Kepnang Made Huskies Totally Different Team at Penn State

As the new University of Washington basketball coach, the last thing Danny Sprinkle needed was to lose Franck Kepnang to a knee injury in their second game together.

He was the Husky heartbeat and his absence made the team look like it could flatline at any moment.

Without the 6-foot-11, 250-pound African import, opponents could double up on Great Osobor inside and throw the UW offense into jumbled mess.

With him unavailable, this forced Husky guards who weren't necessarily accurate 3-point shooters to let fly from behind the line and the results often weren't good.

All of this probably cost the Huskies (13-12 overall, 4-10 Big Ten) a good five wins in their initial tour of the conference.

On Saturday, Kepnang dunked, blocked, flexed, mugged and helped will his team to a 75-73 victory over Penn State, showing everyone what the UW has been missing nearly the entire season.

"His activity and energy around the rim was phenomenal," Sprinkle said after the exhaustive outing.

Franck Kepnang throws down this big dunk and draws the and-1 😤#B1GMBBall x @UW_MBB pic.twitter.com/iK26u9KUVM
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) February 15, 2025

For weeks, Sprinkle has talked about his team often showing up without the proper energy to tangle with these Big Ten bullies, which describes most of the teams in the league. This isn't your overly polite Pac-12. The officiating crews tend to let everyone bump, slap and foul each other without limitations.

At Penn State, the Huskies again looked a little passive coming out of the gate and the coach quickly inserted Kepnang as if he were a battery-charger. The pace picked up immediately. After falling down by 13, the UW got back in the game.

Franck Kepnang looks the part of intimidator at Penn State. | Big Ten Network

By the time he was done, Kepnang had played 27 minutes, six more than his previous season best against UCLA; he scored 14 points, including 10 in the opening half, which was four more than his earlier season high; and he blocked five shots, two more than his prior season standard.

"He's one of those guys that his activity on the court and aggressiveness and fleixing and all that, it just adds another dimension we missed for the first 20 some games of the season," said Sprinkle, who didn't have Kepnang at all for 17 outings, more than twice as many as he's played. "You can see the difference he makes,"

His dunks and blocks were the stuff of a player possessed. He was downright scary with his point-making and point-preventing ways.

Kepnang was so emotionally into it, he flexed, stared and scowled. He had everyone duly inspired on his end and maybe a little rattled on the other.

His presence enabled Osobor to play a much different game in which he came up with a rare double-double that didn't involve scoring, with the 6-foot-8 power forward instead grabbing 13 rebounds and handing out 10 assists.

An inspired and intimidating Kepnang might have the Huskies thinking, hey, this regular season might not be a lost cause after all, with their conference tournament hopes revitalized for now

Plus, the UW is going to do everything it can to apply for medical redshirt and get it approved for Kepnang so the Huskies can have this big man for an entire season in 2025-06 for the first time.

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