Around a week ago, the Washington Huskies men's basketball team released a preliminary list of the roster for the 2026-27 season.

That initial roster has already changed.

The only player who was still with the program from head coach Danny Sprinkle's first year, graduate senior center Franck Kepnang, entered the transfer portal after being listed on the initial roster.

The Huskies also landed two players via the portal: senior wing Steele Venters (Gonzaga) and senior shooting guard Parker Friedrichsen (Davidson).

One of the players from last year's team who was on the first '26-27 roster, soon-to-be junior center Lathan Sommerville, officially confirmed his return Washington on Thursday.

Sommerville, who transferred to the Pacific Northwest last offseason after playing his freshman year ('24-25) with Rutgers, served as the Huskies' primary backup to Kepnang at the center position.

Unfortunately, Sommerville missed a significant chunk of the season due to a knee injury.

The 6-foot-10, 275-pound center suited up for 22 games (started 7) and averaged 4.3 points and 2.6 rebounds while shooting 43.8% from the floor. His field goal percentage, games played (and started), rebounds and points were all down from his freshman season with the Scarlet Knights.

The hope is that Sommerville, who will likely get significantly more minutes with the departures of Kepnang and starting freshman forward Hannes Steinbach (2026 NBA Draft), will be able to get back to his usual form and remain healthy.

Sommerville will likely be joined by another returning player from last year who dealt with his own injury concerns.

Soon-to-be-junior guard Wesley Yates III commented on Venters' post on IG announcing the latter was joining the Huskies.

Yates simply commented: "Let's work."

Yates was a player who originally committed to UW coming out of high school. After missing his freshman season due to an injury and taking a medical redshirt, he transferred to Southern California ('24-25). After one year with the Trojans, Yates returned to Washington ahead of last season but dealt with injuries again.

Yates broke a bone in his hand and underwent surgery for it, which kept him out for several contests. Even after his return, he had to wear a brace on his shooting hand.

Yates averaged 12.7 points across 27 games (25 starts) on 37.1% shooting in addition to 3.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.3 assists.

The Huskies were plagued with injuries beyond Sommerville and Yates last year. There were several games where UW was down to seven or eight scholarship players.

If Washington is able to get the best (and healthiest) versions of Yates and Sommerville, career-years for either player wouldn't be out of the question.

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