Washington's Men's Basketball Needs to Rebuild Again. Here’s Where to Start.

Seven portal targets that fit what UW needs most heading into Danny Sprinkle’s Year Three.

The college basketball offseason is here, and unfortunately for Washington men’s basketball coach Danny Sprinkle, it looks like another offseason of rebuilding.

The departures started last week. Sophomore guard Zoom Diallo — 15.7 points per game, a Tacoma kid who had been in the program since Sprinkle’s first day — entered the portal (keeping open the option of returning). Freshman point guard JJ Mandaquit also announced he was hitting the portal after a single year at Washington. So did freshman guard Courtland Muldrew. Add Hannes Steinbach, likely heading to the NBA Draft, a few seniors exhausting eligibility, and Sprinkle is building from close to scratch heading into Year Three of his tenure. With the core of the backcourt effectively wiped clean, Sprinkle needs bodies to survive the Big Ten next season.

The needs are not complicated to diagnose. UW needs a creator at the point of attack to replace Diallo’s ability to get to the paint. It needs perimeter shooting — a persistent weakness that Big Ten opponents exploited consistently. And it needs frontcourt size, with Steinbach likely gone. The portal window opens on April 7. Here are the seven names Sprinkle should be prioritizing when it does.

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Jackson Shelstad

G · 6’1” · Oregon → Portal · 2 years eligibility (pending medical redshirt)

Shelstad is from West Linn, Oregon — he committed to the Ducks three years ago and now he’s leaving Eugene, and UW is the closest Power Four program.

Before a hand injury ended his season in late December, Shelstad was averaging 15.6 points and 4.9 assists in 12 games, on pace to be one of the best guards in the Big Ten. He led Oregon to two straight NCAA Tournament appearances, earned Third Team All-Big Ten honors in 2025, and is applying for a medical redshirt that, if granted, gives him two years remaining. 247Sports ranks him No. 8 in the portal.

He solves both backcourt losses simultaneously — Diallo’s scoring, Mandaquit’s playmaking. Every program with a guard need will give him and his representatives a call. Sprinkle needs to call first.

Terrence Hill Jr.

G · 6’3” · VCU → Portal · 2 years eligibility

The one detail worth knowing about Hill is that Sprinkle recruited him at Utah State. When Sprinkle left for Washington in 2024, Hill reopened his recruitment and followed coach Ryan Odom to VCU instead. Now Hill is back on the market. Sprinkle gets a second chance.

This season Hill averaged 15.0 points per game on 46.6% from the field and 37% from three coming off the bench — earning First Team All-A10, Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player, and A10 Tournament MVP. Then March happened: 34 points against North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament, 7-of-10 from three, including the go-ahead three in the final minute of a 19-point comeback win in overtime. He is a Portland native fromRoosevelt High School, 45 minutes from the Washington border.

Hill has two years of eligibility and would bring first Team all-conference production to the Huskies.

Legend Smiley

G · 6’5” · San Francisco → Portal · 3 years eligibility

Could Smiley return home? The 6-5 guard went to Garfield High School in Seattle’s Central District. There, he won a 3A state championship as a sophomore and was named tournament MVP. For his senior year, Smiley left for Link Academy in Missouri and signed with USF as a four-star recruit.

In 33 WCC games as a true freshman, Smiley shot 42% from three and averaged 8.1 points per game. UW’s perimeter shooting was a problem this season. Sprinkle has a hometown pitch no other program on the market can make.

Tyrone Riley IV

G/W · 6’6” · San Francisco → Portal · 2 years eligibility

The more proven of the two USF guards available, Riley earned Second Team All-WCC honors after posting 12.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game on 47.2% from the field. Riley would fill the perimeter scoring void Diallo leaves — Riley at 6-6 can create off the dribble, defend multiple positions, and produce in a featured role.

Tijan Saine Jr.

G · 5’10” · Weber State → Portal · 2 years eligibility

Saine is an intruging name for the Huskies. The 5-10 guard is from Everett, Washington — 25 miles north of Seattle. He walked on at Division II Western Washington with no scholarship, averaged 17.3 points and 4.0 assists as a sophomore, and Portal Report ranked him the No. 6 D-II transfer in the country.

At Weber State in his first D-I season, he led the Big Sky in conference-play scoring at 20.8 points per game and earned First Team All-Big Sky. Sprinkle’s staff tracked him throughout. He has at least two years of eligibility remaining. The competitive trajectory — walk-on to All-Conference in one D-I season — reflects a player who finds ways to make it work. He may bethe most achievable name on this list, and the one where UW has a edge.

Andrew Meadow

F · 6’7” · Boise State → Portal · 1 year eligibility

Meadow started every game for Boise State this season, averaging 12.1 points on 51% from the field and 38.6% from three in the Mountain West, scoring in double figures in his final six consecutive games.

He is a one-year rental, and programs will factor that in. But for a team that needs frontcourt spacing immediately and has Andrew Meadow available at 6-7 shooting 38.6% from three, the fit is clean.

LeJuan Watts

F · 6’6” · Texas Tech → Portal · 1 year eligibility (confirm) · Testing NBA Draft

The caveat first: Watts is simultaneously testing the NBA Draft. Return to college is the expected outcome given his 2025-26 numbers, but nothing is confirmed. If he comes back, UW’s positioning is as strong as any program in the field.

Washington assistant coach Quincy Pondexter led UW’s recruitment of Watts out of WSU last spring. Watts’ best college season came at WSU: 13.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game, shooting 55% from the field and 42% from three. The Texas Tech year was a regression — 32.1% from three in the Big 12 — but the underlying profile of a versatile 6-6 forward who can pass, rebound, and shoot remains intact. His brother DeSean Watts is a current UW football player, transferred from Sac State. The family connection, the Pondexter relationship, and the Big Ten platform are a coherent pitch.

ALSO WATCHING

• Joel Foxwell — Portland 15.6 PPG and 6.5 APG as a WCC freshman. If Shelstad goes elsewhere, Foxwell is the next call at point guard. Four years of eligibility.

• Isaiah Johnson — Colorado Broke Colorado’s freshman single-season scoring record tallying 540 total points and averaging 16.9 PPG in the Big 12. The highest-upside guard in the portal, and likely one of the most expensive.

• Kyle Evans — UC Irvine Led the nation in blocks at 3.3 per game. Big West Defensive Player of the Year.

• Keanu Dawes — Utah 6-9 forward, 12.5 PPG and 8.8 RPG in the Big 12. At least one year of eligibility.