Future Husky Basketball Front Line to Consider

Mady Traore, playing at a Texas JC, should be in the middle of everything.

Mady Traore will join the Huskies for the 2025-06 season. / UW

One guy is playing in Texas, another in California and a third just got out of the University of Washington athletic infirmary.

Mady Traore, Niko Bundalo and Franck Kepnang, each currently operating in a different basketball universe, could form a Husky front line to strongly consider for the 2025-26 season.

Traore was just named the nation's No. 2 junior-college player, Bundalo received a McDonald's All-American Game invite and Kepnang finally received clearance to play again after missing 17 UW games.

A touted JC player, an elite high schooler and a Montlake masher.

They are a most intriguing trio.

7 foot Forward Mady Traoré 🇫🇷 (Franck Phillips JUCO) made a big impact in the victory against Western Texas 🇺🇸

17 points
11 rebounds
3 blocks

Mady had a strong performance on both ends of the floor. He was dominant in the paint, got to the line often, and went a perfect… pic.twitter.com/6AKefSKJrv

— Scouting lab (@scouting_lab) January 31, 2025

Each has an international background, with Traore originally from Paris, France, Bundalo lacing up with the U18 Serbian national team at times and Kepnang listing his hometown as Yaoundre, Cameroon.

The 6-foot-11, 195-pound Traore, who averages 17.4 points and 9.2 rebounds an outing for a 17-4 Frank Phillips College team in Borger, Texas, is a willowy player who can handle the ball, dunk with emphasis, shoot 3-pointers even shoot 3-pointers.

Once he gets to Montlake, he won't be in awe of his surroundings either after previously playing Division I basketball for New Mexico State and Maryland.

A left-hander, the 6-foot-10, 210-pound Bundalo from Uniontown, Ohio, and playing his senior year for a 20-5 Prolific Prep team in Napa, California, ranks as ESPN's No. 25 player nationally. He was pursued by all of the college blue bloods, but couldn't find a good fit during his recruitment until interacting with Danny Sprinkle's UW staff.

From international to select team play, Bundalo typically averages close to 14.5 points and 5 rebounds per game.

Add Trarore and Bundalo to the 6-foot-11, 250-pound Kepnang, who is expected to receive NCAA clearance to return for a sixth season in 2025-26 and maybe more depending on medical allowances, and the Huskies could have a front line as towering as any.

While Kepnang would be considered a veteran player, he's practically still a college newcomer after having each of his past three seasons interrupted by early season knee injuries. He's played in just 22 UW games since transferring after two years and 42 outings at Oregon.

When healthy, Kepnang is an explosive, physical presence inside. For the UW, he averages 8.3 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks per game in his shortened career with the Huskies (10-10 overall, 1-8 Big Ten), and will be determined to play a full season for Sprinkle at some point. On Saturday, he'll be ready to go again against Minnesota (11-10, 3-7} in a 9 a.m. PT road outing.

Franck Kepnang shows some emotion during pre-game warm-ups for the Huskies. / Skylar Lin Visuals

The UW, of course, has others with varying degrees of experience looking to pull future minutes up front, foremost 6-foot-8, 190-pound sophomore Tyler Harris, who's started 17 of 20 games this season, ranks as the Huskies' second-leading scorer at 11.5 and rebounder at 5.1, and won't easily give up his time to a younger player.

If one Frenchman wasn't enough, the Huskies recently welcomed Dominique Diomande to the roster, supplying interesting basketball credentials.

He's a 6-foot-8, 190-pound forward from Tours, France, southwest of Paris, who's played in his country's pro level as an amateur and for the Ivory Coast national team. He's already been carefully vetted by NBA scouts. Joining the Huskies in January, he only recently began practicing with the UW and hasn't appeared in any games yet.

Given plenty of opportunity to get on the court this season has been Christian King, the 6-foot-8, 215-pound son of former Seattle Sonics center Rich King and a perimeter shooter. Appearing in 15 games, he's made 39.1 percent of his attempts from 3-point range.

Finally, there's the 6-foot-9, 221-pound Chris Conway, who transferred in from Oakland's 2024 NCAA Tournament team only to have to sit out this season with knee issues. He's experienced enough with 66 career college starts, including opening all 35 games for his former team a year ago.

Whether Conway chooses to try again to play for the Huskies in 2025-26 is up to him, but he remains with the team right now.

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