A Husky Basketball Starting Lineup to Consider

Here's what you do when your basketball team finishes last in the Big Ten.

Gut almost all of it.

Find players who fit your personality.

Who are all in on winning.

And bring them to Montlake.

Following a lackluster University of Washington basketball season (13-18 overall, 4-16 league) filled with players with vacant stares and no answer when things really got tough, Danny Sprinkle and his staff have put on a somewhat dazzling display of transfer portal recruiting.

To bounce back, Sprinkle will bring in a dozen players -- seven through the portal, four from the high school level and a JC transfer.

He'll have players with Big Ten experience, size and shooting ability.

The hard part, with so many veteran players coming on board, will be choosing a starting lineup. Here's a stab at picking out a top five, with no knock on Zoom Diallo, but he's going to need a 3-point shot to keep up.

Hope you like offense.

DESMOND CLAUDE

This All-Big Ten honorable-mention selection brings a 15.8 scoring average with 3.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game to his senior season in Seattle. A 33-game starting guard, he shot 47.8 percent, 30.3 from 3-point range for USC. The 6-foot-6 Claude had two 30-point games, topped by 31 at Illinois.

WESLEY YATES III

This former and current Husky guard comes back to Montlake with three seasons of eligibility after averaging 14.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per outing for the Trojans. He shot 47.8 percent, 43.9 from 3-point range. The 6-foot-4 guard had a high game of 30 points against Purdue.

QUIMARI PETERSON

The Southern Conference Player of the Year brings a 19.5-point scoring average while collecting 4.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists a game for East Tennessee State. The 6-foot-1 guard, who will be a senior, shot 46.7 percent, 42 percent from behind the line. He had a pair of 30-point outings, topped by 31 against Chattanooga.

JACOB OGNACEVIC

The Atlantic Sun Player of the Year checks in with 20-point and 8-rebound per game averages. The now 6-foot-8, 220-pound senior forward shot 57.5 percent, 40.2 from 3-point range. A 35-game starter, he had five 30-point games, topped by 32 against both Middle Tennessee and Bellarmine.

FRANCK KEPNANG

There could be any number of players in this fifth spot, but we'll go with the Huskies' most pure center candidate. The 6-foot-11, 250-pound senior comes off a half season shortened by early knee problems, one in which he started eight of 14 games. He averaged 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds an outing. He shot 55 percent, but didn't attempt a 3-pointer. His high game was 14 points at Penn State.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: