UW's Hopkins Plans to Field Smaller Basketball Lineup of Multi-Taskers

Mike Hopkins says his next University of Washington basketball team will be "position-less."

What that means is the fourth-year Husky coach plans to send a group of modestly sized players onto the floor whenever a Pac-12 season resumes and ask this guard-oriented group to be multi-taskers.

Creators and shooters.

Playmakers and scorers.

No restrictions.

The Husky coach received a huge boost when junior point guard Quade Green, the one-time Kentucky transfer, became academically available again this summer. He's someone Hopkins calls "one of the best guards in the country."

To really make this work, though, Hopkins will need a transfer, Wichita State junior shooting guard Erik Stevenson, to receive an NCAA waiver enabling him to play this season rather than sit out.

Stevenson brings something to the Husky backcourt that was sorely lacking once Green was lost 15 games into the season — an experienced guard who plays with confidence and an edge, and has legitimate 3-point range.

"He's been a proven guy at the highest level," Hopkins said. "He can really, really shoot it. He's got a toughness that rubs off on the others."

Without prodding, the Husky coach also talked up another transfer, 6-foot-9 sophomore J'Raan Brooks, a local player who began his career at USC and sat out last season.

"He's a guy who in the last five or six weeks I believe has taken a step forward in his development," Hopkins said of the former Garfield High School player.

With Green, Stevenson and Brooks as players to likely be used as building blocks, the coach could pair them with senior swingmen Naz Carter and Hameir Wright, who started much of last season.

Hopkins also could turn to junior Jamal Bey and sophomores Marcus Tsohonis and RaeQuan Battle, each who have drawn past starts, to fill the open slots.

Or he could tap two more newcomers and guards in 6-7 Michigan transfer Cole Bajema and 6-4 North Idaho College transfer Nate Pryor.

That leaves 6-10 sophomore post player Nate Roberts as the lone returning big man after four others left for the NBA draft, transfer or graduation.

"There's a lot of positive energy," Hopkins said.

That's a step up from the team that closed out last season, without Green, by losing 13 of is final 17 games, including nine consecutive.

That was a different kind of position-less.

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