Brown Waits to See If He'll Get Drafted

While the Huskies probably won't have a selection for the second consecutive draft, Seattle will be well represented with a number of homegrown players drawing the spotlight. 

Paolo Banchero, Tari Eason and MarJon Beauchamp each are projected as first-round draft picks.

All of these guys were once pursued by the UW, but took their talents elsewhere.

The 6-foot-9, 235-pound Banchero, who spent a lone season with a Final Four-bound Duke team and was a second-team All-America selection after leaving Seattle's O'Dea High School, has been singled out late in the process as the first name that will be called.

His mother, Rhonda Smith, was the UW women's all-time leading scorer when she graduated in 2000 and his father, Mario, was a Husky walk-on tight end, but the 5-star recruit wasn't staying home to make his basketball dreams come true.

The 6-foot-8, 216-pound Eason, expected to go in the latter half of the first round, played for Garfield and Federal Way high schools in the Seattle area. Former UW and NBA standout Brandon Roy was his coach at the first school and former UW and current Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels was his teammate at the other school.

Eason collegiately played a season at Cincinnati and another at LSU, bypassing UW opportunities each time. He started just four of 33 games for the Baton Rouge basketball entry, but was selected first-team All-SEC.

The 6-foot-6, 175-pound Beauchamp is a native of Yakima, Washington, who's played no higher collegiately than two-year Yakima Valley College. He considered coming to the UW at one point, but the pandemic ultimately affected his health and basketball choices. 

Instead, Beauchamp has earned a fairly significant basketball reputation while playing on the AAU level and for four high schools, including Seattle's Nathan Hale, Garfield and Rainier Beach. He could be a second-round pick.

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