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Inside The Huskies

Rutgers Big Man Becomes Huskies' First Portal Pick-Up

Lathan Sommerville, who started 15 of 32 games as a freshman, will join the UW basketball team.
Dan Raley|
Lathan Sommerville of Rutgers reacts to a play in the Big Ten Tournament against USC.
Lathan Sommerville of Rutgers reacts to a play in the Big Ten Tournament against USC. | Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After watching three players go out the door one after the other on Monday, Danny Sprinkle finally held it open and welcomed someone inside to join his rapidly evolving University of Washington basketball team.

Even better news, the newcomer was another Big Ten player no less in 6-foot-10, 260-pound former Rutgers freshman center Lathan Sommerville, who won't find conference play such a shock to his system as so many of Sprinkle's transfers did this past season.

Sommerville, who has three seasons of eligibility remaining, is the first new face for Sprinkle's staff after 11 of 13 UW scholarship players from this past season either used up their eligibility, medically retired or hit the portal.

Only 6-foot-11, 250-pound grad center Franck Kepnang and guard Zoom Diallo, the Huskies' third-leading scorer at 11.1 as a freshman, are returnees left over from Sprinkle's first team.

Rutgers center Lathan Sommerville (24) shoots over USC guard Desmond Claude (1).
Rutgers center Lathan Sommerville (24) shoots over USC guard Desmond Claude (1). | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Originally from Peoria, Illinois, Sommerville not only visited Montlake over the weekend, he played at Alaska Airlines Arena in February and shared in Rutgers' 89-85 victory over the Huskies.

That night, he scored 8 points and grabbed 4 rebounds before fouling out with 3:41 left in regulation play. It was a typical outing for him -- he averaged 8.2 and 4.2 over the course of the season.

He started 15 of 32 games and was just one of three players to appear in every outing on a freshman-laden Rugers team that included projected lottery picks Dylan Harper, who declared for the NBA on Monday, and fellow big man Ace Bailey.

Sommerville was accomplished enough that he also was pursued by Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Texas A&M and USC among others.

To get the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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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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