UW Still Getting to Know Brazilian Newcomer

As this University of Washington basketball team gets better acquainted, the players hopefully will learn they don't know each other as well as they might think.

Take Wini Braga, for instance.

To a man in practice, these Huskies call him "Win-EE" whereas the Brazilian newcomer's first name actually is pronounced "Vinnie."

As in My Cousin Vinnie.

Or my Power Forward Vinnie.

The 6-foot-9, 207-pound Winicuis Braga likewise has been referred to as another Hannes Steinbach, with some people comparing him to the departed UW power forward now in the NBA, which Danny Sprinkle doesn't hesitate to correct.

"He's not Hannes," the Husky coach said flatly. "I don't want him to be compared to that; he's not even close. He is a good player."

Braga, who speaks minimal English, comes to the Huskies as a 21-year-old from the community of Altamira in the northern part of the country.

He brings a background of Brazilian pro basketball and international play, which does't resemble the Big Ten and its more bunched-up and physical brand of push and shove.

"The style of play they play in Brazil is entirely different than college basketball," Sprinkle said. "It will be an adjustment."

For reasons the coach chose not to spell out but didn't seem none too pleased about, Braga couldn't get into school at the UW until Sept. 30. That put him well behind the rest of the team by as much as 12 to 14 weeks in learning all of the nuances.

"We have to go back and teach him the little things before practice and not overload him," Sprinkle said.