Inside The Huskies

What Wesley Yates' Return to Seattle Means for Husky Basketball

His renewed presence in Montlake sends a powerful message for the direction of the program.
Dan Raley|
Wesley Yates III is headed back to the UW after a season at USC.
Wesley Yates III is headed back to the UW after a season at USC. | John Jones-Imagn Images

At times, last season's University of Washington basketball team was extremely difficult to watch on game night. Players in Husky uniforms repeatedly threw the ball away, couldn't hit 3-pointers, couldn't guard anybody and looked beaten as soon as the ball was tossed up.

Full disclosure, some of us media types at Alaska Airlines Arena often had our stories written by halftime this past winter, where all you had to do was put in a final score and update the stats when it ended. The outcome was pretty clear all along.

No game fit that bill more than the UW-USC matchup in Seattle on December 7, when the visiting Trojans had their way from the opening tip, raced to a 51-25 lead by intermission and walked into the night with an 85-61 victory.

Making it worse was the fact that former Husky guard Wesley Yates III had his coming-out party in Montlake that night for USC, drawing his first college basketball start and scoring 19 points in 38 minutes of action.

More than one UW fan left the arena wondering what if Yates had never left town?

Team followers felt cheated on three counts: 1) that this highly regarded player had hurt his foot and never played a minute for the Huskies the previous season; 2) that he had a big hand in beating Sprinkle's UW team so badly that Saturday night; and 3) that the guys replacing him had rolled over in such a profound manner.

On Thursday, Yates gave the Sprinkle's program great hope for the future with the news that he had reversed his career path and agreed to return to the UW.

This was bigger news than that of Great Osobor 12 months earlier turning down offers from a lot blue blood programs in order to follow Sprinkle to Seattle.

Wesley Yates III looking forlorn as he sat out another UW game in 2024.
Wesley Yates III looking forlorn as he sat out another UW game in 2024. | Dan Raley

This meant that the UW likely is still paying Osobor money -- seven digits minimum -- in NIL compensation to make the basketball program far more competitive in the Big Ten.

Yates wrote on social media that this was "unfinished business." It's also big business and he just scored a hefty dividend. In today's college basketball, you have to invest heavily to play with the big boys.

Incredibly so, Yates also felt comfortable in his own skin to come back to a team that had underperformed with him on the roster and fired his coach in Mike Hopkins, and then finished in last place in the Big Ten without him.

While the ultra-competitive Sprinkle didn't waste any time jumping into the transfer portal to revamp his team, the question always persists: Can a guy make the big jump to the demanding Big Ten from a lesser conference and go chest to chest with those playing for the likes of Purdue and Michigan State?

This past season, the answer for the most part was no.

Not to pick on DJ Davis over and over again, but he was a 34-game starter and first-team All-Big West player for UC Irvine and a 33-game starter and 13.5-point scorer for Butler, but he opened just seven games and averaged 8.7 points per outing for the UW.

While everyone will have to wait and see whether new Husky additions Quimari Peterson and Jacob Ognacevic -- the respective Southern and Atlantic Sun Players of the Year -- can transfer their accolades and production levels to the Big Ten, Yates is a proven talent.

Wesley Yates III (6) tries to get a shot over Purdue forward Raleigh Burgess.
Wesley Yates III (6) tries to get a shot over Purdue forward Raleigh Burgess. | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

As a redshirt freshman, he started 24 games for USC, with all but three coming in Big Ten conference play.

He averaged 14.1 points an outing and turned in a high game of 30 points at Purdue and had 27 more against Ohio State.

He shot 43.9 percent for the season, making 8 of 11, and 4 of 5 from behind the line, in a game against Iowa alone

Unlike other portal pick-ups, there is absolutely no mystery to what the Huskies have in Wesley Yates III.

Again.

To get 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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