Inside The Huskies

UW's Harris to Withdraw from NBA Draft -- Who Knew He Was Entered?

The Portland transfer has played just one season of college basketball.

Dan Raley

Tyler Harris was in the NBA Draft but withdrew.
Tyler Harris was in the NBA Draft but withdrew. / UP

Well, we've learned that Tyler Harris is an exceedingly confident basketball player.

On Saturday, unbeknownst to most if not all University of Washington media and fan followers, the Portland transfer revealed to CBS Sports he not only has his name entered in the NBA Draft, he will withdraw it soon in order to play for the Huskies.

Heady stuff for a guy who played just two-thirds of a season last winter for his WCC team as a freshman with ankle issues.

"I always wanted to be an NBA player," Harris said in an Instagram post while at Portland.

The 6-foot-8, 190-pound Harris is one of 10 roster newcomers for the UW under new coach Danny Sprinkle, though the school hasn't released his name yet as a team addition, which it has with several others.

From Hayward, California, Harris, with his size and skill set, very well could become an NBA player in some day.

When he wasn't limping, Harris proved to be a talented performer, especially at the beginning of his college basketball career. He was the first Portland player to debut with a double-double, picking up 17 points and 12 rebounds in a 78-73 win over Long Beach State and, two games later, he did it again with 22 points and 12 rebounds in a 76-65 victory over UC Riverside. 

He averaged 12.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game for the 12-21 Pilots, missing 11 outings with ankle issues that stretch back to his high school days in the Bay Area.

For 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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