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Pryor First UW Defector to Land Elsewhere, Joining New Mexico State

The point guard agrees to play for WAC school just two days after announcing departure.
Dan Raley|
Pryor First UW Defector to Land Elsewhere, Joining New Mexico State
Pryor First UW Defector to Land Elsewhere, Joining New Mexico State

Point guard Nate Pryor — one of five scholarship players to exit the University of Washington basketball program this past week — needed just 48 hours to find a landing spot, joining New Mexico State.

The 6-foot-3 point guard formerly from West Seattle High School and North Idaho College made the announcement on social media, tweeting out "Go Aggies."

Pryor initially committed to the UW, but academics forced him to make a two-year stop at North Idaho, and then he joined the Huskies. It didn't exactly go the way he planned.

The playmaker looked promising enough but he had what boiled down to a five-game audition before coach Mike Hopkins, with a rotation that seemed to confound everyone involved or watching, sat him down and barely used him. 

Pryor played just 16 games, starting 2, for the 5-21 Huskies, who finished in 11th place in the Pac-12 standings.

Since their season ended following the team's dismal showing, five UW players have entered the transfer portal. Pryor is the first to reveal a new school.

Others seeking somewhere else to play are guards Marcus Tsohonis, RaeQuan Battle and Erik Stevenson, plus big man J'Raan Brooks, most finding plenty of suitors so far.

Seniors Quade Green and Hameir Wright definitely won't be returning and use pandemic eligibility made available, according to sources.

That means 7 of the UW's 10 scholarship players who played this past season are leaving the program, with only Jamal Bey, Nate Roberts and Cole Bajema returning, plus well-used walk-on Riley Sorn. Incoming freshman Jackson Grant and late roster addition Dominiq Penn, who haven't played yet, are also in the mix. None of these players are expected to leave. 

Pryor averaged 4.1 points and 1.6 assists per game, for the Huskies while averaging 17.5 minutes per game when he played. 

He joins a New Mexico State team that finished 12-8 this past season, which included a season split with Seattle University, in the Western Athletic Conference. 

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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.

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