Washington Basketball: Can the Huskies win the Pac-12 title in 2019?
Washington Basketball returns all the team’s key plays from last season. Do the Huskies have the goods to win the Pac-12 in 2018-19?
The Pac-12 had its share of defections to the NBA draft. That means a new team could ascend to the top of the conference in 2018-19. One team that could make that ascension is the Washington Huskies.
The Huskies finished last season at 21-13 and finished sixth in the conference with a 10-8 record. Coach Mike Hopkins and his team flirted with an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament in the last weeks of the season, but two losses to Oregon State, one of which came in the Pac-12 tournament dashed those hopes. As a result, they landed in the NIT, losing in the 2nd round to St. Mary’s.
The Huskies have three seniors returning who also happen to be three of their top four scorers from last season. Guards David Crisp and Matisse Thybulle return along with forward Noah Dickerson giving coach Hopkins a solid foundation to build upon. Also returning is the team’s leading scorer, guard Jaylen Nowell who will be just a sophomore. The 6-4 Seattle native led the team with 16 points per game last season. Nowell along with the trio of seniors accounted for 54 of the Huskies’ 75 points per contest last season. In addition to the quartet of scorers returning, Hopkins also returns every player that averaged double-digit minutes, meaning his entire eight-man rotation returns.
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All four of the returning rotation players give the Huskies depth in the area they may need the most help, the frontcourt. Both Nahziah Carter and Dominic Green are 6-6, while Hameir Wright is 6-9 and Sam Timmins is 6-11. The depth in the backcourt is a different story however, that took a big hit when Carlos Johnson, Michael Carter III, and Bitumba Baruti all decided to transfer. That leaves junior Jason Crandall who saw seven minutes of action last season as the only returnee that can back up Nowell, Crisp, and Thybulle.
While nothing the Huskies did during their 2017-18 campaign stood out statistically, they did struggle in two areas. Their 23 defensive rebounds per game ranked them 307th nationally and the 11 assists they registered was good enough for 306th. As ironic as it is that the team struggled so mightily on the defensive glass, that is where they have the most depth on the roster and they do return the conference’s leading rebounder, Dickerson at 8.4 per game.
Hopkins’ first recruiting class should help alleviate some of the thinness of the backcourt. Three-star recruit Elijah Hardy should be able to take over the backup point guard role. Hardy is a 6-2 guard that excels in the transition game and is a solid distributor. Jamal Bey is a 6-6 small forward who can score at all three levels on the floor and despite only averaging 1.9 assists last season, he looks comfortable with the ball in his hands and is a competent passer for his size. Both frontcourt recruits, Bryan Penn-Johnson is a 7-footer and the 6-11 Nate Roberts should help the Huskies’ rebounding issues.
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If Washington can avoid the injury bug and their freshman can help improve in their biggest areas of need, rebounding and assists, it would not surprise me to see them fighting for the top spot in the Pac-12 next season.