UW's McDaniels Needs to Hear the Robert Upshaw Story

A tall, talented player joins the Washington basketball team. He has first-round potential and even lottery-pick ambitions stamped all over him, but he couldn't make it happen.

This big man fritters away his college opportunity and becomes a hoops vagabond, squandering millions of dollars in the process. He disappears from the limelight.

This was Robert Upshaw five years ago.

Could this be Jaden McDaniels, now in the Huskies' doghouse?

On Jan. 26, 2015, the UW announced that the 7-foot Upshaw was dismissed after 19 games for "violating team rules." At the time, he led the nation in blocked shots with 4.5 per game while averaging 10.9 points and 8.2 rebounds an outing.

He originally signed with Kansas State, but requested his release from the Big 12 school after it changed coaches. Playing for his hometown Fresno State, he was banished for missteps and resurfaced at Washington.

Upshaw seemed like a decent enough guy. He walked into the stands before games at Alaska Airlines Arena to sign autographs for starstruck youngsters. Yet failed drug tests brought his time in Seattle to an end, according to ESPN and other news outlets at the time.

McDaniels, who averages 12.5 points and 6 rebounds per game in 22 outings, likewise has enormous talent that's been dulled by his actions, though by on-court behavior rather than off. He's put his pro basketball future at risk.

Yet he, too, seems to have a soft side. As he went through warmups before the Arizona State game, McDaniels gladly slapped hands with little kids lined up along the sideline.

When the game began, McDaniels was not in the starting lineup for the Sun Devils game, which never would have happened if he'd had his head on straight.

"He's as talented of a player as I've ever been around," UW coach Mike Hopkins said. "There's no getting around that.''

He has no guarantee he winds up in the NBA. McDaniels doesn't know how to play at a more physical level. He doesn't get much done over extended minutes. He's frustrated by this.

He's drawn five technical fouls, including one in the above photo for taunting Arizona players after dunking on them.

McDaniels took a bunch of ill-advised shots against the Sun Devils, including a 3-pointer that doomed him. The ball hit a few feet left of the rim and he drew an immediate hook with 12:35 left in the second half. He never played again that night.

Meantime, Upshaw, 28, has wandered through the desolate pro basketball outposts of the NBA D League, Estonia, Lebanon, Venezuela, Poland and Turkey. While he's no doubt made a reasonable living, he has never stepped foot in an NBA game. He must have regrets.

McDaniels projects as a lottery pick in many of the mock drafts and it is widely assumed he will leave the UW after this season for the NBA, no matter how unrefined his game is.

The question is: Will he ever get there?