Where Husky Basketball Manpower Stands Going Forward

As the University of Washington basketball team considers what comes next, it realistically has 10 players on the roster, barring anyone's sudden urge to shop himself around in the transfer portal, who could return next season.

Foremost are full-time starting guards Zoom Diallo and Wesley Yates III, who will be juniors after averaging 15. 7 and 12.7 points per outing for a 16-17 team. They started 29 and 25 games, respectively.

Next up are 6-foot-11 grad center Franck Kepnang and 6-foot-7 rising junior forward Bryson Tucker, who couldn't finish out the season for injury or personal reasons, but opened 25 and 14 games, respectively. Also returning is 6-foot-10 rising junior forward Lathan Sommerville, a seven-game starter.

Add to that the recent freshmen class of guards Courtland Muldrew, JJ Mandaquit and Jasir Rencher, plus first-year forward Niko Dzepina. They played 20, 22, 8 and 14 games, respectively, with Mandaquit starting six times and Muldrew once.

Sorry, we just don't see Hannes Steinbach doing anything but trying to become the next Dirk Nowitzki and Germany's latest contribution to the NBA. He needs a better 3-point shot at the next level, but he's got everything else in terms of a feel of the game to become a memorable pro.

To replace him, the Huskies will turn to 6-foot-11, 195-pound junior big man Mady Traore, who missed the entire season after having foot surgery.

Mady Traore and Jacob Ognacevic sat together as injured teammates. | Dave Sizer photo

Sprinkle called Traore the most athletic player on the roster. He briefly started at Maryland and New Mexico State before suffering a knee injury and having the latter program shut down on him in season for teammates' unlawful activity.

Traore was the first UW player to go down amid a never-ending flurry of injuries. He had a screw removed from his foot at the beginning of the month and will begin to work his way back, according to Sprinkle.

He won't necessarily replace Steinbach, because no one rebounds or has the inside footwork lilke the German prodigy.

Gone from this team are senior guard Quimari Peterson and senior forward Jacob Ognacevic, who are out of eligibility, plus senior guard Desmond Claude, who left the team earlier because of an ankle injury, and sophomore forward Christian Nitu, who simply quit.

To supplement the returning cast, whomever that might be considering the players' emboldened propensity for changing schools these days, Sprinkle said he foremost needs to find some shooters. That's plural.

Quimari Peterson (3) and the injured Mady Traore leave the floor after the Seattle U loss. | Dave Sizer photo

For all the good things that Steinbach did inside and Diallo did from the backcourt, the Huskies often were at a disadvantage because they were a poor-shooting team around the perimeter, particularly from 3-point range, where they finished at 31.5 percent.

They'll need to get Yates full healthy and confident again after he broke his wrist in December, came back and slumped late in the year.

Kepnang has the opportunity return after he made it through 27 games before he dealt with more knee issues and had to be shut down.

Mandaquit, Rencher, Dzepina and Muldrew all look like able players ready to assume larger roles should they decide to return to Montlake.

Unfortunately for them, the fifth freshman of the bunch, Steinbach, will be sending them postcards from the big leagues next season.