Inside The Huskies

Wesley Yates III, the Almost Husky, Faces UW Again

The talented guard has had a successful year after sitting out an entire season in Montlake with an injured foot.
Dan Raley|
Wesley Yates III has had a breakout season for USC.
Wesley Yates III has had a breakout season for USC. | John Jones-Imagn Images

Wesley Yates III occupied a front-row seat at Alaska Airlines Arena, watching his University of Washington teammates warm up. In this stationary position, he effortlessly and cleverly dribbled a basketball through his stationary legs.

That was a year ago, and the then-freshman guard from Beaumont, Texas, certainly looked like he could be a player of note just sitting there.

Yet because of a foot injury that wiped out Yates' entire season, no one would ever see him pull on a UW uniform and enter a game.

He became the almost Husky.

On Wednesday night, Yates will face his old college basketball team for the second time this season when his new one, USC (14-15 overall, 6-12 Big Ten) hosts the UW (13-16, 4-14) at 7:30 p.m. at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.

Just three of his former Husky teammates remain on the roster in center Franck Kepnang and forwards Wilhelm Breidenbach and Christian King.

Fully healed, Yates' debut college season has gone very well for him. Starting 20 of 29 games for the Trojans, he averages 13.9 points per game, second on the team, while shooting 47.6 percent from the field, 41.1 from 3-point range.

In early December, the redshirt freshman drew his first start of his career, ironically against the Huskies, and scored 19 points in USC's surprisingly easy 85-61 victory in Seattle, connecting on 7 of 11 shots, 3 for 6 from behind the line.

Yes, as advertised, he can play.

However once the Husky coaching change took place -- from Mike Hopkins to Danny Sprinkle -- Yates wasn't going to continue at the UW.

With the job open, Yates went on social media and lobbied for long-time Husky assistant coach Will Conroy to be promoted, a plea that wasn't heard.

USC guard Wesley Yates, the former Husky, drives to the basket against Rutgers.
USC guard Wesley Yates, the former Husky, drives to the basket against Rutgers. | John Jones-Imagn Images

Yates would meet with the newly hired Sprinkle and they seemed to get along well, but it wasn't long before he announced his transfer to USC. He was following Quincy Pondexter, his cousin and another Hopkins assistant, and Conroy to the Trojans.

Southern California seems to suit this smooth shooting and dribbling guard who was a Husky for a Montlake minute, though there will never be any game-night proof of that.

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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