Washington Huskies Men’s Basketball 2021-22 Player Preview
Herb Nightengale
|
Freshmen
After losing so many players from the 2020-21 squad, the Washington Huskies had to reload via the transfer portal. Washington added six from the portal as well as a couple of junior college players. Hopkins also landed a prime recruit, who comprises the best part of Washington’s two-man freshman class.
The star of Washington’s incoming class will be an immediate impact player. Six-foot-ten, Jackson Grant, out of Olympia High School, was ranked 44th in the nation by ESPN and 77th by 24/7. He committed to UW as a junior and should be ready to go from day one.
In his senior year, the dynamic forward averaged 22.9 points and 11.2 rebounds a game. Grant’s outstanding season led to him becoming a McDonald’s All-American and Washington’s Gatorade Player of the Year.
The other frosh is 6-8 small forward is Samuel Ariyibi from Nigeria. There isn’t a lot of information about him other than he’s a product of the NBA Africa Academy and in 2019 he was named MVP of a tournament called “Basketball Without Borders.” Hopkins wasn’t shy about using Ariyibi in the exhibition game so he might get some minutes fairly early this year.
JUCO’s
One of the junior college players is Langston Wilson out of Philadelphia, PA who played last year at Georgia Highlands College. One of the top JUCO players in the country, he averaged 10.1 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Originally Wilson committed to Alabama but decided to use the transfer portal to look elsewhere.
The second junior college player to come into the program is Anthony Iglesia. Originally from Rochester, NY, Iglesia made his way to Washington playing for two years at Skagit Valley College. Anthony averaged 14.7 and 3.5 assists in his two years at Skagit Valley. A point guard which the Huskies need, but inexperienced in big-time college basketball. It will be interesting to see how much playing time he gets.