In a bit of an upset, five-star big man Jaden McDaniels has chosen Washington Basketball for the upcoming season. Could the Huskies have the top frontcourt now?
Jaden McDaniels is one of the last remaining five-star recruits in the 2019 recruiting class left, with a handful of finalists. One of them was Washington Basketball, who seemed to be the favorites to land him towards the end of this past season. With him being from the west coast in the state of Washington, it looked like the perfect fit, especially since his olden brother Jalen was leaving San Diego State (another finalist) was leaving for the NBA Draft.
But a program who regularly takes in five-star prospects was once again in the thick of things in the Kentucky Wildcats. They were always in the running but things really started to heat up between them and McDaniels this offseason. Recruiting analysts even started predicting that he would end up with John Calipari and Kentucky, like many star recruits before him.
But to the recruit’s credit, it was a quiet process compared to others. That explains why he committed at 1:00 am on the east coast to Washington Basketball. For Huskie fans though, it doesn’t matter when he makes the announcement – just that he’s coming to the Pac-12 next season.
— Jmac (@Jmcdaniels7) May 22, 2019
The pickup of McDaniels now brings Washington up to a top-10 recruiting class overall according to 247sports. He joins another five-star frontcourt player Isaiah Stewart, a 6’9 center ranked No. 3 overall. Four-star shooting guard RaeQuan Battle along with Kentucky transfer Quade Green are also coming aboard to replace the massive amount of production graduating from the program.
The Huskies will lose four key senior rotation players (Matisse Thybulle, David Crisp, Noah Dickerson and Dominic Green) and could very well lose leading scorer Jaylen Nowell to the NBA Draft. His name is in there and the feeling is that the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year is staying in, with no perimeter replacement ready to take the scoring load. But even if the guardline is a question next season, the Huskies will have a premier frontcourt for 2019-20.
For those who watched the older brother Jalen at San Diego State, Jaden has a similar game. He’s a power forward who can spread the floor, rebound and play quality defense on the other end. The difference between the two is the elite athleticism that the younger McDaniels possesses which overcomes any potential weaknesses he may have. Coach Mike Hopkins will love his nearly 7’0 wingspan for the 2-3 zone defense in particular, while getting a massive recruiting victory against powerhouses.
This pickup puts the Huskies back into the top-tier of the Pac-12 for next season, with a real shot at competing for both a conference title and another trip to the NCAA Tournament. But more importantly, it’s a step in the right direction for Washington Basketball to become a go-to spot for western-based prospects. It’s one thing to land a five-star player; it’s another to develop them into a star that have others wanting to follow suit. Let’s see where the Huskies go from here.