Yates Will Need to Put Miss-Consin Game Behind Him

Wesley Yates III amazed everyone when he left the University of Washington basketball team and returned a year later.

He did this once more when he broke a bone in his shooting hand against Seattle U in December, had surgery and was back playing 26 days later.

And Yates left people slack-jawed yet again on Saturday -- though in most unflattering terms -- when he couldn't hit the broadside of Alaska Airlines Arena, going an unfathomable 1 for 17 from the floor in the Huskies' 90-73 loss to Wisconsin.

No records readily exist, but it might have been the worst single shooting performance by a UW basketball player.

A couple of questions immediately came to mind after watching all of Yates' wayward shots bounce off the rim or miss everything completely.

It that hand OK?

And how was he able to keep putting up shots when it became so abundantly clear the ball wasn't going in?

No one questions Yates' basketball skill set. After all, shouldn't he be a reasonably accurate marksman behind the line considering he has the Roman numeral III in his name?

To be sure, he returned to Seattle with very solid offensive credentials after shooting 47.8 percent from the field and 43.9 percent from 3-point range for USC in 2025.

It appears there 's nothing overtly wrong with the 6-foot-4 sophomore guard from Beaumont, Texas, though in the Wisconsin game he resembled someone at the blackjack table who kept calling for cards even after losing hand after hand after hand.

"No, [it was] a lot of bad shots in the first half, just forcing it," Sprinkle said of Yates. "There are times when he forces it and good things happen. Tonight, out of his 17 shots, probably two of them were good shots."

Wesley Yates III tries to make a move against Wisconsin. | Dave Sizer photo

Yates went 1 for 10 in the opening half, connecting only on his eighth shot of this Big Ten outing, a 3-pointer from the left side that pulled the Huskies (14-15 overall, 6-12 league) within 29-19.

That was his one and only make. Otherwise it was clank, clank, clank, except when he sort of randomly threw up a scoop shot that missed everything.

Wesley Yates III lets fly with a shot against Wisconsin. | Dave Sizer photo

His worst outing at USC was 0 for 7 against St. Mary's. His worst previous Husky showing was 3 for 15 against Baylor.

Yates, who averages 13 points per game on 38.1 percent shooting, has at least three games to straighten himself out and forget his horror of shooting horrors before the season concludes.

"He kept putting pressure on himself," Sprinkle said. "But he's got to be able to trust his teammates to get him shots because it's not good offense when he does that. It kills your transition defense when you take crazy shots."

Some shooting sanity would be most welcome.