Braeden Smith and LeJuan Watts' ties to Seattle could land them in the Pacific Northwest
The Washington Huskies men's basketball team is coming off a disappointing 16-17 overall record this past season, including a 7-13 mark in Big Ten play.
Washington completely rebuilt the roster last season. Thirteen of the 15 players on the team to begin the season were newcomers.
Even with the completely rebuilt team, the Huskies were plagued with injuries that forced them to dress just seven-to-eight scholarship players for several different games.
Washington looks to be in a better position this year, at least when it comes to the number of positions the team needs to fill.
The Huskies two best players from last season, forward Hannes Steinbach and guard Zoom Diallo, are no longer with the squad. Steinbach is expected to enter the 2026 NBA Draft and Diallo entered the transfer portal (although he's keep option the option of returning to Washington).
With those, and other departures, Washington has seven players currently listed on its 2026-27 roster: sophomore guard BJ Roy; sophomore forward Jasir Rencher; junior guard Wesley Yates III; senior center Franck Kepnang; senior forward Mady Traore; junior center Lathan Sommerville and sophomore forward/center Nikola Dzepina.
New Mexico freshman forward Mady Traore handles the basketball during a game against Cal Baptist on Jan. 7, 2023, at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, N.M. | Meg Potter/Las Cruces Sun-News.That leaves eight roster spots for the Huskies to fill and there are several routes available.
UW has two players in the portal that previously committed to head coach Danny Sprinkle when he was at Utah State: guard Kase Wynott (Washington State) and guard Terrence Hill Jr. (VCU).
If Washington doesn't go with either Wynott or Hill, there are two players with ties to Seattle the team could pursue.
Senior Gonzaga guard Braeden Smith has entered the transfer portal. The Seattle native attend high school at Seattle Prep. Instead of staying home with the Huskies, he played 2022-24 with Colgate in Hamilton, N.Y. Smith was named the Patriot League Player of the Year with Colgate in 2024.
After two years on the east coast, Smith returned to his home state to play with the Gonzaga Bulldogs in Spokane, Wash., ahead of the 2024-25 season. He redshirted in '24 before seeing the court for the first time this past season.
The 6-foot, 170-pound guard played 35 games with the Bulldogs in '25-26 and started 18. He averaged 5.1 points per game on 46.7% shooting, 3.6 assists per game and 2.2 rebounds per game.
The second player with ties to the Emerald City the Dawgs could acquire is junior Texas Tech forward LeJuan Watts.
The Fresno, Calif., native didn't grow up in the Pacific Northwest but his brother, Huskies defensive tackle DeSean Watts, transferred to UW from Sacramento State this offseason.
LeJuan Watts averaged 11.8 points per game on 43.3% shooting in 33 games (28 starts) this past season with the Red Raiders. He also pulled in six rebounds and dished 2.4 assists per game.
LeJuan Watts has experience playing in Washington. He began his career in Cheney, Wash., with Eastern Washington ('23-24). The next year, he headed to southeast Washington to play with Washington State in Pullman, Wash. ('24-25).
LeJuan Watts' familiarity with the state and his brother currently residing in Seattle could provide the Huskies one of the better pitches among teams who'd pursue him in the portal.
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