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Inside The Huskies

UW Basketball Goes to Big Ten Media Day as Unknown

Danny Sprinkle largely has a revamped roster for his third Husky season.
Dan Raley|
Ryan Beasley and Lathan Sommerville were the UW players who went to Big Ten media day.
Ryan Beasley and Lathan Sommerville were the UW players who went to Big Ten media day. | Big Ten

Big Ten basketball media day was held in the Chicago suburbs on Thursday and people probably came away knowing no more about Danny Sprinkle's third University of Washington team than they did going in.

Sprinkle has mostly a revamped roster, which leans heavily on international players, which means nobody will really know if these newcomers are any good until the Huskies send them in the exhibition and non-conference games.

Left to guess at the talent level in Montlake, voters for the Columbus Dispatch Big Ten preseason poll picked the UW to finish 15th among the 18 teams.

Speaking to the talking heads in Rosemont, Illinois, Sprinkle said he had two players poised to have breakout seasons: returning forwards Lathan Sommerville and Nikola Dzepina.

The 6-foot-10 Sommerville attended the Big Ten media event, which was not that far from his home in Peoria, Illinois. After beginning his career at Rutgers, the forward returns for his second UW season after appearing in 22 games and starting seven, with injuries causing him to miss a third of the previous schedule.

"He's finally healthy, he's in better shape, he's actually in great shape for him," Sprinkle said of Sommerville. "And he's playing with a lot of confidence."

The 6-foot-10 Dzepina from Serbia is back for a second UW season after joining the team last December. He appeared in 14 games, all in a reserve role.

"He's made huge strides," Sprinkle said. "His body, he's grown a little bit. He played for Serbia, for the national team this summer, and he has a lot more confidence."

The Huskies have just one full-time starter returning in 6-foot-4 guard Wesley Yates III, who averaged 12.7 points per game in spite of injuring a wrist that caused him to miss six games and greatly affected his shooting.

If the UW was to play today, Sprinkle might send out a starting lineup of 6-foot-9 Brazilian big man Wini Braga-Silva, who arrived at the UW just last week; 5-foot-11 point guard Ryan Beasley, a USF transfer who likewise represented the team at media day; 6-foot-8 forward LeJuan Watts, an 11.8-point scorer and 4.6 rebounder for Texas Tech; Sommerville and Yates.

Sprinkle has five international players among his 15 on the roster in guard Harun Zrno (Bosnia), a Rutgers transfer; guard Tristan Devers (Australia); 6-foot-11 returnee Mady Traore (France), who sat out last season after having foot surgery; Braga-Silva and Dzepina.

In nine days, the Huskies face Boise State on the road in an exhibition game before returning home to play Washington State in another no-counter on Oct. 25. The season begins on Monday, Nov. 2, with a home game against Colgate.

BIG TEN PRESEASON BASKETBALL POLL

1. Illinois, 498 points, 18 first-place votes

2. Michigan State, 483, 9 first-place votes

3. Michigan, 436, 1 first-place vote

4. UCLA, 375

5. Nebraska, 369

6. Purdue, 347

7. USC, 340

8. Ohio State, 324

9. Indiana, 292

10. Iowa, 264

11. Wisconsin, 240

12. Maryland, 203

13. Minnesota, 168

14. Oregon, 147

15. WASHINGTON, 116

16. Northwestern, 88

17. Rutgers, 68

18. Penn State, 35

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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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