Will the Huskies land Five-Star Recruit, Isaiah Stewart?

Isaiah Stewart set to announce where he’s headed this Sunday.

Isaiah Stewart is a 6’9 center/power forward from Rochester, NY and is currently enrolled in his senior year at La Lumiere High School in LaPorte, IN. He’s ranked as either fifth or sixth highest recruit this summer, and was recently nominated to the McDonalds All American Game along with Husky commit, RaeQuan Battle.

It was reported yesterday via Paul Biancardi of ESPN that Isaiah Stewart will be announcing where he’s headed during halftime of Oak Hill vs IMG on Sunday evening. With tip off set for 7:30p eastern, the announcement should fall right around 5:30p pacific. The five-star recruit has listed his final five schools as Duke, Kentucky, Michigan State, Syracuse, and Washington.

Why Washington?

Coach Mike Hopkins seems to have been on the Stewart bandwagon for quite some time. On August 26th, 2016, Coach Hopkins’ former school, Syracuse, sent an offer to Stewart, who, at the time, was heading into just his sophomore year. Fast forward to June 15th, 2017, and Washington has sent an offer to Stewart themselves – a mere three months after Coach Hopkins accepted the job with the university.

When looking for videos of recruits, it can be sparse. When you find said videos, usually it focuses on one element of the game; an athlete’s ability to defend and get out in transition for fast break points, the ability to play-make and create shots for others, or perhaps just the ability to overpower in the key. Everything in Stewarts’ video implies he can do it all. His height and body make it easy for him to score in the post, but can stretch the floor and knock down threes. He also appears to have the situational awareness to find the open man when he’s doubled. “Good to great”, right, Coach?

Where does he fit?

The Huskies, while already having a couple young post players on their bunch, will be losing their biggest piece with Noah Dickerson graduating this summer. Sam Timmins will also be following Dickerson the next summer, leaving two vacancies in the frontcourt. Freshman Bryan Penn-Johnson hasn’t seen any real meaningful action on the court, and then suffered an ankle injury, causing him to miss six to eight weeks of an already short season. Another freshman, the 7’4 walkon Riley Sorn, has spent his season redshirting, alongside forward Nate Roberts.

Stewart would be the third recruit to announce they’ll be joining the Huskies this fall. Guards Raequan Battle and Marcus Tsohonis have already signed their letters of intent, and will be joining Kentucky transfer Quade Green as new faces in the Washington backcourt.

Along with Stewart, Washington has also taken an interest in a local five-star recruit. Jaden McDaniels is a 6’11 power forward from Federal Way, Washington, twenty five miles south of Seattle. McDaniels, like Stewart, has five offers on the table, but hasn’t made any indication that he’s leaning towards one of the school over the others.