NCAA Basketball: 10 sleeper teams to watch heading into 2023-24 season
Washington Huskies
Coming off of a mediocre 16-16 season that prolonged Washington’s NCAA Tournament drought to four years, Mike Hopkins was retained by Washington AD Jen Coehn with hopes that this upcoming season might be different than the past four.
Entering his seventh year at the helm, Hopkins returns two core players in last year’s leading scorer Keion Brooks and PAC-12 All-Defensive team honoree Braxton Meah.
From the portal, Mike Hopkins was able to land six players, including the likes of Rutgers transfer Paul Mulcahy, Nebraska transfer Wilhelm Breidenbach, Tulane/UNLV/Portland transfer Moses Wood, Georgia/Kentucky transfer Sahvir Wheeler, Fresno State transfer Anthony Holland and Lamar transfer Nate Calmese.
What is interesting about this transfer class is that not all transfers are out of eligibility after next season. Nate Calmese, who averaged over 17 points per game at Lamar, is only entering his sophomore year. Wilhelm Breidenbach is only entering his junior year. This gives Hopkins a bit of a building block to work with if he is indeed retained after the 2023-2024 season.
Next. Top 25 impact freshmen players for 2023-24. dark
Mike Hopkins’ portal haul alongside the returns of Keion Brooks and Braxton Meah should help Washington become much more skilled on the offensive glass and in terms of offensive efficiency. Although there are questions as to how these pieces will fit (a high dependency on guards), the talent and upside remain distinctively present and the Huskies could certainly be in the mix of a successful season in 2023-2024.