Big roster turnover in the Washington Huskies basketball program
Assistant Coaches
The Washington Huskies replaced two assistant coaches who left the program after the season. Cameron Dollar, a two-time Husky assistant, decided to leave. Right now, he isn’t pursuing another coaching position. The other assistant coach leaving was Dave Rice, He spent time at Utah State, BYU and Nevada before coming to Washington. Rice was also the head coach at UNLV. He did a good job recruiting players to Washington from Nevada, like Jamal Bay, who will be a senior this coming season.
— Dave Rice (@CoachDaveRice) April 15, 2021
Erik Stevenson
A 23-game starter from last season, Erik Stevenson transferred to South Carolina. Last year was his only season at UW after transferring in from Wichita State. The local player from Lacey must have felt disappointed with his homecoming season. Stevenson averaged 26.5 minutes, 9.3 points, and 3.6 rebounds per game.
He left Wichita State because he didn’t have a great relationship with head coach Gregg Marshall. The same happened with UW’s Hopkins.
Hameir Wright
A three-year starter at forward for Washington, Hameir Wright decided to transfer out. His college eligibility would have run out, but the NCAA added an additional year for athletes due to COVID-19. In four seasons, Wright played in 122 games for UW, scoring 508 points with 400 boards.
On a podcast with former teammate Noah Dickerson last month, Wright said he wished he had transferred after his sophomore season. He felt Hopkins put him in a limited role, and if he turned back the clock two years, he would have left the same time as Dickerson.
Marcus Tsohonis
Hailing from Portland, OR, Marcus Tsohonis should have redshirted his freshman season of 2019-20. Once the university suspended Quade Green for academic reasons, Tsohonis became the primary point guard. As a freshman, he scored 7.3 points and added 2.2 assists in 19 games.
Last year with Green on the team again, Tsohonis was a somewhat forgotten man early on. He rallied to average 20 minutes per game and was the Huskies’ second-leading scorer (10.4 PPG). A consistent shooter, Tsohonis hit 44.7 percent of his shots from the floor, including 37.0 behind the arc. Next season, he’ll play for Virginia Commonwealth.
Nate Pryor
Nate Pryor, another local transfer (North Idaho College), got off to a good start in purple and gold. Eventually, his shortcomings cost him playing time as the Huskies continued to lose games. He played in 16 games averaging 4.1 points on 35.7 percent shooting. Pryor heads to New Mexico State, where head coach Chris Jans says they have been big fans of his since his time at North Idaho College.
RaeQuan Battle
Going into last season, expectations were high for RaeQuan Battle. He was supposed to provide instant help off the bench. It never happened. In fact, Battle only played in 14 games.
A big reason for Battle’s decline in playing time had to do with his poor defense. Several times during the season, Hopkins appeared exasperated with his play. Additionally, his outside shooting was an abysmal 20.4 percent from three-point range. Battle took his basketball skills to Montana State.
J’Raan Brooks
J’Raan Brooks is the sixth member to transfer away from Washington and heads to UC-San Diego. Another local, Brooks, transferred to the Huskies from USC. After sitting out a season due to previous transfer rules, the goal was for him to be the primary front-court player off the bench. Instead, sophomore walk-on Riley Sorn beat him out. Brooks only played in 14 games.
Only Cole Bajema, a native of Lynden, Washington, is the only transfer (Michigan) from last year to stick around for another season.