UW Won't Deserve Menifield If It Doesn't Make NCAAs Next Year
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Amid all the University of Washington basketball negatives — 16 losses, key injuries, coach Mike Hopkins receiving an ultimatum rather than a firing — Keyon Menifield Jr. provided hope, a certain amount of flair, reason to keep watching.
Unlike a lot of recent UW newcomers, among them Jackson Grant, Langston Wilson, Tyler Linhardt and Samuel Ariyibi, the 6-foot-1, 150-pound guard from Flint, Michigan, came in ready to play big minutes, averaging 28.6 per outing.
Menifield was the only player on the roster to appear in all 32 games this past season, starting 21 of them.
One national broadcaster described him as the fastest guard in college basketball.
Whether or not that was true, Menifield certainly was one of the most fearless and entertaining.
Should veteran forward and leading scorer Keion Brooks choose not to return, the Huskies need to build this team around this ultra-quick, extra-skinny guard from the upper Midwest.
With or without Brooks beside him, and this guard's fully expected learning-on-the-job, turnover-filled freshman year behind him, Menifield has every opportunity now to run the floor in his vision and be great.
A SEASON OF MENIFIELD
While a 10-point scorer to begin, this kid who wears Michael Jordan's number will take a decided step back if he doesn't add five more points to his scoring average, plus get everyone on the floor involved at all times.
Menifield probably is reason enough to give Hopkins and his staff another basketball season to see if they can build something more sound and successful in Montlake.
Hopkins, specifically Husky assistant coach Will Conroy, saw something special in this particular kid when no one else did.
Think Michigan or Michigan State wouldn't want Menifield running the floor for them in Ann Arbor or East Lansing right now? This is a Tom Izzo type of player.
Yet Menifield is a West Coast guy now. Last we heard, his hometown had serious water issues. You don't want to drink it if you don't have to.
For all of Hopkins' noted shortcomings, such as too many recruiting mistakes, lingering game-management issues and general player development, Menifield is one of his triumphs.
The coach and the player need each other to put Husky basketball back on the map, maybe back in the NCAA Tournament.
It always seem so unfair when March Madness takes over and the UW has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Menifield, with all of the entertainment value he brings to the college game, belongs in the Big Dance. If he and his Husky teammates don't get there next year, and everything isn't done to make this happen, maybe coaching heads should roll and transfer portal papers be filed.
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