Inside The Huskies

Wesley Yates Earns Spot on Jerry West Award Watch List

The Husky guard is one of 20 players to receive this sort of recognition.
Dan Raley|
USC guard Wesley Yates III, back with the Huskies, is on the Jerry West Award watch list.
USC guard Wesley Yates III, back with the Huskies, is on the Jerry West Award watch list. | John Jones-Imagn Images

Wesley Yates III and Jerry West probably just missed each other as these two dedicated basketball shooters from different generations taking up residence in Los Angeles.

West, the former Lakers icon who was considered one of the NBA's greatest players, was 86 when he died on June 12, 2024.

At that time, Yates was in town for just a few months, joining USC after leaving the University of Washington basketball program once coach Bob Hopkins was let go.

On Tuesday, they were formally introduced to each other with the Jerry West Award -- which is given to the nation's top shooting guard -- including Yates on its 20-player watch list, which was released by the Naismith Hall of Fame.

Jerry, meet Wesley.

They likely would have got along famously with their mutual interest for putting the ball in the basket however they could.

The 6-foot-4 Yates seems like a natural choice for West Award consideration after shooting 47.7 percent from the floor, including 43.4 percent from behind the 3-point line, as a redshirt freshman for the Trojans.

He was a 14.2-point scorer for a 17-18 team, with his 14.1 average in Big Ten games only leading all freshmen.

He scored in double figures 25 times, reaching 20 or more points seven times, for USC during the 2024-25 season.

Yates had a season-high 30 points against No. 7 Purdue on the road, along with 4 rebounds and a pair of assists.

Yates is one of three Big Ten players named to the watch list with Kylan Boswell of Illinois and Wisconsin’s John Blackwell.

Wesley Yates III and Desmond Claude both went from USC to the UW.
Wesley Yates III and Desmond Claude both went from USC to the UW. | UW

The Beaumont, Texas, native began his career at the UW the year before, but missed all 32 games after suffering a foot injury in the preseason and then re-injuring himself when he tried to come back at the middle of the season.

After a year with the Trojans, Yates reversed himself and returned to the Huskies to play for coach Danny Sprinkle in the coming campaign.

He'll be a focal player for a nearly completely rebuilt UW roster that also includes another former USC guard in 6-foot-6 Desmond Claude.

The only Husky who played with Yates during his first Montlake tour and is still on the roster is 6-foot-11 senior center Franck Kepnang.

Yates and the Huskies will open the regular season next Monday, on Nov. 3, by hosting Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 8 p.m..

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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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