During her short tenure, Washington Huskies head coach Tina Langley has experienced multiple roster changes.
Recently, the Washington Huskies women’s basketball program lost six players from the 2021-22 roster to the NCAA transfer portal.
The entire 2021 freshman class of recruits (ranked #17 by ESPN) has now left Washington — i.e., in order, Avery Van Sickle, Olivia Pollerd, Marisa Davis and Jess Finney all entered the transfer portal.
(Shortly after UW’s hiring of Langley, the 5th member of the 2021 recruiting class, A.J. Marotte, left UW and landed at Oregon State via last year’s 2021 NCAA transfer portal.)
This freshmen exodus was followed by the departure of redshirt freshman Alexis Whitfield.
Our research and investigation revealed the recent mass transfers from the last-place Washington Huskies were (primarily) tied to a lack of past playing time and appearance of bleak future prospects within the Tina Langley-led program
The proverbial (negative) cherry on top is that the focal point of the Dawgs’ efforts last season, Nancy Mulkey, exhausted her college eligibility and is now seeking a pro career.
The current Huskies’ roster is reduced to eight returning players and three incoming freshman for the 2022-2023 season.
Let’s take a look at the status of the frontcourt bigs, the most glaring need of the Washington Huskies.
BIGS
Returning: Darcy Rees, Senior
Incoming: None
Transfer Priority: High
With the loss of 6’9″ Mulkey, 6’2″ Whitfield and 6’2″ Davis-Jones, the Dawgs have shrunk their roster in more ways than one.
The lone legitimate big on roster is Aussie Darcy Rees.
After having an outstanding sophomore season, when her stats mimicked those of ex-Oregon great Satou Sabally (in efficiency and productivity, not total numbers), Rees has endured a leg injury the past two seasons.
As we previously noted, in an article examining Jordyn Jenkins as a UW transfer target :
Washington Needs an Effective Post Centerpiece
The Washington Huskies face an upcoming 2022-23 season without center Nancy Mulkey as the centerpiece.
Mulkey’s biggest and (most eye-catching) contribution “down-low” was on defense as a shot-blocker.
UW Head Coach Tina Langley’s offense mostly positioned Mulkey at the high post and (straightaway) beyond the three-point arc.
However, Mulkey was efficient around the basket — 66.7% shooting within four feet of the rim and 41.2% on shots in the paint.
Langley’s offense does not necessarily require a low-post bruiser, but paint efficiency is sorely needed.
As a team, UW made only 36.6% of their shot attempts in the paint.
Unfortunately, when Alexis Whitfield recently transferred from the program, she took her offensive paint efficiency with her — 50% shooting in the paint and 52% at the rim — and left UW thin in frontcourt players.
Currently, Darcy Rees is UW’s only option at center.
Rees is at her best when playing both inside and outside offensively, incorporating her three-point shot (50% at the right wing) , as well as, posting up occasionally (77.8% shooting within four feet of the rim, but only 25% in the paint).
Besides Rees, Haley Van Dyke is the only other frontcourt player, although she plays mostly at wing on offense — she shoots 62.5% within four feet of the rim and 30.8% in the paint.
