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Washington Huskies coach Danny Sprinkle is no stranger to going into the transfer portal to build his roster, but things might be different going into his third season in Seattle.
Sprinkle certainly will have to use the portal to reload his squad for the 2026-27 season, with only six scholarship players on the current roster from last season, but the funding might not be the same as it was for this past season, which means the Huskies coach may have to get creative.
With three guards—freshmen JJ Mandaquit and Courtland Muldrew, along with sophomore Zoom Diallo—off the roster from last season, each of whom has announced their intentions to enter the portal, one former local product could be an option to replace one of the trio in Gonzaga redshirt junior Braeden Smith.
Smith, a two-time Metro League Athlete of the Year and four-year starter at Seattle Prep from 2019-22, began his college basketball career at Colgate and started all 35 games at point guard as a freshman and led the Patriots to a 26-9 overall record.
The 6-foot guard earned All-Rookie-Team honors, scoring 11.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.9 assists as Colgate made its third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, clinching the Patriot League regular season crown and winning the conference tournament before losing in the first round to Texas.
Smith came back again as a sophomore and started another 35 games, improving on his numbers in all three categories while leading the entire conference, averaging 5.6 assists per game in 2023-24 and earning Patriot League Player of the Year and All-Patriot First Team honors before transferring back closer to home to GU.
He used the 2024-25 season as a redshirt year before playing a more reserved role for Bulldogs' coach Mark Few this past season. Smith made 18 starts and played in 35 games total while averaging 5.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in his second-to-last year of eligibility.
Ideally, the Seattle native is likely looking for a role closer to what he had his first two years at Colgate, which at this point in time Sprinkle can offer, unless Diallo elects to come back to UW for a third season after he stated he will keep the door open when he announced his decision to transfer last week.
Junior Wesley Yates III is the only guard listed on UW's 2026-27 roster with legitimate experience, though he's more of a shooting guard, whereas Smith would play the one, and the one-time USC Trojan would play the two for Sprinkle.
Given that Smith has only one year of eligibility remaining, he would give the third-year UW coach a veteran option to lead the offense, and a guard who can hold up defensively, having proven so as the Patriot League leader in steals as a sophomore with 66, something the Huskies didn't possess this past season and it certainly was felt in Big Ten play.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Ex-Gonzaga guard Braeden Smith Could Be Transfer Option For UW MBB
Continue reading...
Sprinkle certainly will have to use the portal to reload his squad for the 2026-27 season, with only six scholarship players on the current roster from last season, but the funding might not be the same as it was for this past season, which means the Huskies coach may have to get creative.
With three guards—freshmen JJ Mandaquit and Courtland Muldrew, along with sophomore Zoom Diallo—off the roster from last season, each of whom has announced their intentions to enter the portal, one former local product could be an option to replace one of the trio in Gonzaga redshirt junior Braeden Smith.
Smith, a two-time Metro League Athlete of the Year and four-year starter at Seattle Prep from 2019-22, began his college basketball career at Colgate and started all 35 games at point guard as a freshman and led the Patriots to a 26-9 overall record.
The 6-foot guard earned All-Rookie-Team honors, scoring 11.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.9 assists as Colgate made its third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, clinching the Patriot League regular season crown and winning the conference tournament before losing in the first round to Texas.
Smith came back again as a sophomore and started another 35 games, improving on his numbers in all three categories while leading the entire conference, averaging 5.6 assists per game in 2023-24 and earning Patriot League Player of the Year and All-Patriot First Team honors before transferring back closer to home to GU.
He used the 2024-25 season as a redshirt year before playing a more reserved role for Bulldogs' coach Mark Few this past season. Smith made 18 starts and played in 35 games total while averaging 5.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in his second-to-last year of eligibility.
Ideally, the Seattle native is likely looking for a role closer to what he had his first two years at Colgate, which at this point in time Sprinkle can offer, unless Diallo elects to come back to UW for a third season after he stated he will keep the door open when he announced his decision to transfer last week.
Junior Wesley Yates III is the only guard listed on UW's 2026-27 roster with legitimate experience, though he's more of a shooting guard, whereas Smith would play the one, and the one-time USC Trojan would play the two for Sprinkle.
Given that Smith has only one year of eligibility remaining, he would give the third-year UW coach a veteran option to lead the offense, and a guard who can hold up defensively, having proven so as the Patriot League leader in steals as a sophomore with 66, something the Huskies didn't possess this past season and it certainly was felt in Big Ten play.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Ex-Gonzaga guard Braeden Smith Could Be Transfer Option For UW MBB
Continue reading...
