Previewing UW basketball’s 2017-18 roster
By Cody Tyo
With nearly four months before the 2017-18 season tips off for Washington basketball, the UW roster is set for the upcoming year. In head coach Mike Hopkins’ first year in Seattle, here’s a look at what he has assembled since taking over in March.
The Washington Basketball team is looking to turn things around this season. After a dreadfully disappointing season where the team finished 9-22, the powers that change was overdue for the program.
Despite success at recruiting, the team could not translate that incoming talent into wins. At the conclusion of the 2016-2017 season, the team faced a true dilemma: change direction and brace for the challenge of rebuilding the program on a new direction. Or the team could do nothing, hope for the best, and face the challenge of another disappointing season.
New direction
In the end, the team dismissed Lorenzo Romar, hired on new head coach Mike Hopkins away from the University of Syracuse, and changed direction of the program. That resulted in the expected attrition from some players and commitments.
But the coaching staff worked hard to fill the openings in the roster as they occurred. In the end, when the team surprised everyone by recruiting highly sought after small forward Hameir Wright to commit to the class of 2017, the class returned to full strength.