Busting Brackets
Fansided

Washington Basketball: 2019-20 season review of the Huskies

By Andy Patton

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 18: Head Coach Mike Hopkins of the Washington Huskies reacts in the second half against the Oregon Ducks during their game at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on January 18, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 18: Head Coach Mike Hopkins of the Washington Huskies reacts in the second half against the Oregon Ducks during their game at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on January 18, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 4
Next
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 24: J’Raan Brooks #33 of the USC Trojans (Photo by Cassy Athena/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 24: J’Raan Brooks #33 of the USC Trojans (Photo by Cassy Athena/Getty Images) /

2020-21 Outlook

Assuming the Huskies lose both McDaniels and Stewart to the NBA draft – which is nearly a guarantee – this squad could be in trouble next season. As of this writing, the recruiting class of 2020 is (checks notes) nobody. They have no signed letters of intent, no hard commitments, nothing.

Presently, according to 24/7, UW has three guards they are interested in who are unsigned: Jalen Green (No. 3 overall) Joshua Christopher (No. 10 overall) and Jadon Jones (No. 250 overall).

The interest level from the first two is considered cool, and 24/7 lists them as 0% chance on all three of them. So, this team either needs to jump on some late recruits or find some elite talent on the transfer market if they need to replace both McDaniels and Stewart – as well as backup big man Sam Timmins, who is graduating.

Wichita State graduate transfer Erik Stevenson committed to join the Huskies earlier this offseason, and the Lacey, WA native will help on the perimeter….but not until 2021, as he is a regular transfer who will need to sit out a year unless the NCAA waives the waiting period in light of COVID-19.

The team also gets their first chance to see J’Raan Brooks in action. The six-foot-nine forward transferred from USC after his freshman season, and after sitting out last year he is expected to be a big contributor for coach Mike Hopkins.

Brooks is a Seattle native who was ranked in the Top-100 nationally when he committed to USC, and he averaged 2.0 points per game his first season before transferring.

He’s unlikely to be an immediate replacement for either Stewart of McDaniels, but he will offer this team some much-needed size in 2020, particularly if they cannot find any on the graduate transfer market.

Next. Early top-25 power rankings for 2020-21. dark

Despite the losses, UW will still return guards Naz Carter, Quade Green, Jamal Bey and Marcus Tsohonis, giving them a solid foundation of perimeter players to work with.

If they can find some post help, they’ll be ready to compete for a fairly wide open PAC-12 in 2020-2021, with another shot at an NCAA berth on the line.

Home/Washington Huskies