Pryor's UW Debut Came Down to 5 Early Games, Not Much Else

The junior-college playmaker received an early audition and then was cast aside.

Nate Pryor's first season for the University of Washington basketball team basically boils down to a five-game audition as a well-utilized point guard. It was fun for him while it lasted.

In games 4 through 8 on the schedule, Pryor started twice and averaged 30 minutes of playing time per outing.

A transfer from North Idaho College, he reached double figures in scoring in three of four contests over that span — 13 points against Seattle U, 13 against Montana and a season-high 15 against Colorado.

It was hoped the emergence of this heady playmaker would free up senior Quade Green and make him more of a scorer and less of a dish man.

"We can get out and run," Pryor told the press after a 74-49 win over Seattle U. "Quade is a good point guard. Once he gets the ball, he's going downhill and it's hard to stop him. Once we're both doing that, the defense sucks in."

Then Pryor disappeared from view.

With the UW off for 11 days from its regular-season finale to resuming play in the Pac-12 tournament, we're sizing up the play for each of the 11 players who has received minutes with a game on the line. Ten scholarship recipients and 7-foot-4 walk-on Riley Sorn. This is the seventh installment.

As the losses began to pile up nonstop in a humiliating 5-20 season, Husky coach Mike Hopkins resorted to a wildly shuffling his personnel, searching for any combination that could reverse the mounting failure.

Pryor's play had elevated him over sophomore Marcus Tsohonis, yet all of his inroads were wiped out when the veteran guard stepped up his game and reclaimed his role as the first backcourt player off the bench or as a part-time starter. 

The newcomer barely has stirred from his socially distanced seat since the new year began.

Pryor missed the Stanford road game for what Hopkins described "as personal reasons." Overall, he's appeared in just 16 of 25 Husky games. He's provided only 17 points and 11 assists in his nine appearances over the past two months. 

Originally from West Seattle High School, he committed to Seattle U and then UW in 2017, but poor grades forced him to go to a local basketball academy and take the junior-college route through Idaho. 

Pryor seems to have elite quickness in running the floor that's unique to the Husky program over several seasons. He gets the ball to people better than his fellow UW guards, who are just as inclined to launch it as dish it. When squared up, he's got a decent 3-point shot. 

With the graduation of Green and the addition of a big man or two who hopefully can score and rebound to take the pressure off the backcourt, Pryor will can get another audition next year. 

With the pandemic disrupting everything, he can play two more seasons if he chooses. He can start all over again.

Pryor deserves more than five games to show what he can do.

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

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