UW Basketball Transfer Portal evaluations

may the pain pls end? thanks!!!

I’m a huge college basketball fan. I also am a current UW Alum. These two interests often go in conflict, as UW basketball has been painful to watch over my four years as a student. Regardless, I try to find as much hopium as I can each year.

Next year’s team is surprisingly being hyped up thanks to a great recruiting class. Hannes Steinbach looks like a great young big man while JJ Mandaquit is a very nice get at the guard position. Zoom Diallo showed some flashes as a freshman that could make him an intriguing piece of the future. Franck Kepnang is a decent veteran when healthy.

Otherwise, this team is pretty much starting from scratch. The two best players in Tyler Harris and Mekhi Mason are gone. So is $2 million man Great Osobor. Other who were involved in this great exodus were Tyree Ihenacho, Christian King, Jase Butler, D.J Davis, Luis Kortright, Wilhelm Breidenbach, and KC Ibekwe.

After going long and hard in the portal, UW found 8 new players for their team next year in Quimari Peterson, Jacob Ognacevic, Desmond Claude, Wesley Yates III, Lathan Sommerville, Bryson Tucker, Christian Nitu, and Mady Traore. This helped get us all the starters and depth we need for next year.

When it comes to transfer portal evaluations, I try to prioritize analytics. The two analytics I’ll primarily use are BartTorvik and KaliDrafts. I will also look at any film I can get. I personally don’t believe counting stats to be that useful. I also don’t care about how the mainstream analysts rank these players, so don’t be surprised if I have a player much higher or lower than consensus.

Players will be listed in order based on KaliDrafts.

Here are the links to BartTorvik and KaliDrafts. Both are free and easily accessible:

https://kalidrafts.com/college-basketball

https://barttorvik.com/playerstat.php?link=y&year=2025&start=20241101&end=20250501

Quimari Peterson(GUARD):

Previous school: East Tennessee State

Years of eligibility remaining: 1

Kalidrafts portal rating: #102 of 1485

2025 BPM: 7.5

Evaluation: Quimari Peterson is a speedy veteran guard coming off an excellent season for ETSU. He’s a versatile offensive guy who hits a high rate of his threes(42.3% 3PT on 201 attempts) off the catch and dribble, can drive to the rim, and makes smart, timely passes(25% AST, 1.6 A/TO). On defense, he does a great job getting lots of steals(3.5% steal rate). The main concern with him is his size at 6’1” 175. As he moves up conferences, he will have to face bigger and longer players, which could impede his game. He’s also only had one good season, which is another red flag. The good news is that he’s not a one-trick pony like DJ Davis. Overall, I believe that this was a pretty good get for the Huskies and Danny Sprinkle to improve at point guard.

Grade: B+

Jacob Ognacevic(FORWARD)

Previous school: Lipscomb

Age:

Years of eligibility remaining: 1

Kalidrafts portal rating: #113 of 1485

Evalaution: Jacob Ognacevic is a scorer through and through. In the post, he uses his combination of size, craft, moves, and touch to get lots of easy baskets at the rim(73% FG on 148 attempts) He’s also an elite midrange shooter(53.4% on 133 attempts) who will jab and pull up over anyone. He’s even improved his three pointer to where he’s now hitting 41.2% of his 112 tries. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about his defense, which has been atrocious(negative DBPM last 3 years) throughout his career. I’m worried that it could become unplayable against tougher, more athletic competition. I think that he will have an impact on the team, but I’m unsure if he’s able to start on a Power 5 caliber team.

Grade: C+

Desmond Claude(GUARD)

Previous school: USC

Kalidrafts portal rating: #384 of 1485

2025 BPM: 0.7

Years of eligibility remaining: 1

Evalaution: Desmond Claude is one of the most overrated transfers in the portal. There’s a reason why it took so long for him to find a home, as he massively overplayed his hand.

Claude is a big, crafty guard who excels at getting to the rim(183 attempts), hitting tough mid-range shots,(47.7% on 109 attempts) and making nice passes in the pick and roll(25.5% AST). He’s also good at drawing fouls. Unfortunately, there’s a lot Claude struggles with in his game. He’s a slow processor, leading to turnovers(22%). He doesn’t take(75 3PA) or make any jumpers from deep.(30.7% 3P) His defense is iffy due to limited vertical athleticism and foot speed, and he doesn’t generate stocks(1.7%) stock rate). This move honestly felt like going for a big name instead of getting the best player available, unless Sprinkle can get Claude to improve his shot diet and cut down his turnovers. It was a waste of money and NIL for the Huskies.

Grade: D

Wesley Yates III(GUARD)

Kalidrafts portal ranking: #456 of #1485

2025 BPM: 3.8

Years of eligibility remaining: 3

Evaluation: I can see why Nick isn’t high on Wesley Yates III. His jumper release is low and his shooting(43.9% from three on 129 attempts) could’ve been a mirage this year. He’s also not the best defender or playmaker, so his game is a bit one dimensional.

I am much higher on Wesley Yates, though. He’s a talented offensive guard with a quick-trigger stroke from deep off the catch or dribble. He’s a solid athlete, and he’s pretty good at creating his own shot. He’s a decent enough passer(11.2% AST) and not a liability as a defender(0.7 DBPM). I’m hoping that with an extra year of development, he can keep the hot shooting going while working on his passing and defense to become a more complete player. This is probably my favorite get by Sprinkle here, as he looks like he could be an impact player in Montlake for a while.

Also, it’s totally weird to see a guy commit to a school, transfer out, and then come back to the school. I can’t say I enjoy the direction college sports is going.

Grade: A

Lathan Somerville(FORWARD)

Previous school: Rutgers

Kalidrafts portal rankings: #692 of 1485

2025 BPM: 0.3

Years of eligibility remaining: 3

Evaluation: Lathan Somerville showed a lot of potential offensively for Rutgers last year. He has nice size, good footwork, and beautiful touch in the post. His touch also expanded to the free throw line, where he hit 86.3% of his shots from the line. With time, I could see him gaining a 3 pointer. However, he doesn’t bring much else to the table. He’s an average rebounder(6.9% OR, 15.9% DR), limited passer(5.3% AST, 0.53 AST/TOV), and a poor, foul-prone defender(0.2 DBPM, 4.8 FC/40). He’s not much of an athlete(5 dunks) and is a positional tweener. I can see this working out, but the risk of this move is much higher than some people think.

Grade: C

Bryson Tucker(GUARD)

Kalidrafts portal ranking: #810 of #1485

2025 BPM: -1.9

Years of eligibility remaining: 3

Evaluation: This is one of the transfer portal moves of all time, for better or worse. Bryson Tucker was god-awful for Indiana this year. He took a ton of bad mid-range jumpers(32.8% on 64 attempts), was mediocre defensively(0.2 DBPM), and barely passed the ball(6.2 AST%). His 3 pointer was nonexistent(20 attempts) and his jumper form is clunky Then, why was UW interested? That’s because he was a 5 star recruit a year ago. He’s pretty athletic(8/24 rim makes are dunks), shot decently from there throw line(72%), and is still young. There is some perceived upside here, but I think that the median outcome is that he’s a bad player. Meh, I’m whelmed.

Grade: D

Christian Nitu(FORWARD)

Previous school: Florida State

Kalidrafts portal ranking: N/A

2025 BPM: -4.8

Years of eligibility remaining: 3

Evaluation: To be blunt, Christian Nitu has a long ways to go until he’s a serviceable starter. The potential is obvious as a fluid 6’11” forward with a nice stroke and solid defensive instincts(3.9% BLK). Unfortunately, he’s extremely skinny, had disappointing shot indicators(24.1% from 3, 68.8% from line at U20 for Romania), and rarely passes the ball(5% AST). If he works on his strength, I can see him turning into a solid rotation player down the line. He has 3 years of eligibility left for us, so I don’t hate the move.

Grade: C

Mady Traore(FORWARD)

Previous school: Frank Phillips College

Kalidrafts portal ranking: N/A

Years of eligibility remaining: 2

2025 BPM: N/A

Evaluation: Mady Traore dominated JUCO after fruitless stops at New Mexico State and Maryland. He played well there, as he led JUCO in blocks(93), was and 9th in rebounds per game, and was 13th in field goal percentage(53.4). He also hit 76.4% of his free throws and had a 0.8 assist to turnover ratio, which shows feel and touch. Watching film, it’s obvious that he’s a fluid athlete with a nice looking jumper. The question is how he will play when he’s not the best athlete on the court. I can’t hate this buy low move, even if his previous D1 play was mediocre at best.

Grade: C

Overall transfer class ranking: #44 of 72 Power 6 schools

Overall evaluation: I thought Danny Sprinkle did a much better job this time around than last year. You can tell that offense was prioritized after last year’s team lacked a go-to guy to get buckets.

Quimari Peterson and Wesley Yates III were my favorite gets. Both are plus offensive players and shooters who have shown that they can score and shoot at a high level. Yates III is especially impressive, as he did so against Big 10 competition.

The rest of the moves were less impressive. Jacob Ognacevic is a nice bucket getter who will fill a starting forward spot, but his poor defense and athleticism could hamper his upside. Lathan Sommerville is a decent post scorer with potential shooting upside, but also struggles to contribute much else to his game.

The most baffling move was getting Desmond Claude. Sure, he’s a big name with a lot of experience, but he’s an inefficient scorer who’s also turnover prone and a poor defender. I am thinking that he starts, which could hinder Drew Peterson’s development. Bryson Tucker was also an awful move, as he his 5 star pedigree doesn’t make up for terrible production and shot selection. There are rumors that his dad is heavily influencing where he goes, which is not good.

To finish off, Washington got forwards Christian Nitu and Mady Traore. Both are skilled players, but lack experience and need to get stronger.

Overall, I understand what they did. They definitely are better than last year. They will also be more entertaining offensively. But I don’t think this portal is great or anything. There are a lot of defensive concerns with the current roster. I also felt like they were too focused on big names. Regardless, the only way we’ll know is time.

Overall grade: B-

Best of luck to the Huskies over the next year. Hopefully they’ll actually have the breakout year people are thinking instead of sucking yet again. Thanks to everyone who read the article for your time and effort. It means a lot, as I put a ton of effort and time into good writing.