Inside The Huskies

Meah Culpa, Huskies Need to Turn Big Man Into an Inside Force

Next season is probably weighing on this guy's further development.

Dan Raley

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After the University of Washington basketball season ended with a first-round Pac-12 tournament loss, Braxton Meah couldn't wait any longer than 48 hours to express his enthusiasm for playing once more in Montlake.

The school hadn't even reaffirmed Mike Hopkins' coaching return and here was the Huskies' 7-foot-1 center leading the way for everyone on the roster by tweeting out his future intentions.

"Can't wait to run it back with my brothers next year!" Meah posted. 

While all of that hopeful messaging from the team's most improved player was a positive step, it's now up to Meah to take his game to yet another level for any sort of lasting program breakthrough.

If the Huskies are to become a postseason team again — and they've gone without for long four seasons now — plus give Hopkins any kind of coaching security, the big man needs to become far more than just a dunking machine. He needs to continue to expand his game on the offensive end and be taken more seriously.

Yes, Meah led the conference in shooting at a glossy 70.6 percent.

No, he didn't show enough range to make the UW any better than 16-16 and tied for eighth in the conference standings. It was just one two-handed slam after another.

After playing two seasons as a reserve with very limited minutes at Fresno State, Meah became a full-fledged starter over 31 games for the Huskies, averaging 8.8 points and 7.2 rebounds, and was pleased by how things went with his new team.

"I'm really happy that all of my work is really showing," he said near the end of the season.

GOOD HAIR DAY :: Rob Gray/USA TODAY Sports

Braxton Meah looks for an opening at Utah in a game the Huskies lost badly.

ALL HANDS ON DECK :: Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports

The Huskies' Braxton Meah wrestles a St. Mary's opponent for a loose ball at the Wooden Classic in November. 

I'LL BE BACK :: Ron Chenoy/USA TODAY Sports

Braxton Meah tries to maneuver around a Colorado opponent in Boulder. The Huskies played the Buffaloes three times, winning twice.

HOLLYWOOD MOMENT :: Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports

Braxton Meah emphatically dunks one through against UCLA in their game at Pauley Pavilion. 

NIGHT TO REMEMBER :: Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports

Braxton Meah had 21 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks against the Stanford Cardinal at Alaska Airlines Arena.

HAPPY HUDDLE :: Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports

Braxton Meah always seems so positive and upbeat as his Husky basketball career unfolds. 

DUNK SPECIALIST / Skylar Lin Visuals

Braxton Meah led the Pac-12 in shooting this season at 70.6 percent, with most of his field goals coming on dunks. 

HELPING HANDS / Skylar Lin Visuals

Keyon Menifield and Cole Bajema help teammate Braxton Meah off the floor in the Stanford game. 

OLD HOME WEEK :: Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports

Braxton Meah puts up a shot against his former team, Fresno State, in the Wooden Classic.

Meah scored a career-high 21 points against Stanford and 20 more against UCLA. He had double-figure points in seven of his final nine games. He finished with three double-doubles. 

Yet opponents basically ignored this post player because his offensive game remains decidedly limited. Worse yet, his teammates often didn't look for him at all for the very same reason.

Now it's up to Meah this offseason to add a short jumper or a soft hook to his offensive repertoire. He's fully capable of doing something like this, too. This past year, he improved his free-throw shooting from 43 percent over those two seasons at Fresno State to 69 percent in Seattle.

The late UW coach Marv Harshman used to salivate at the prospect of taking a big man such as Meah and turning him into an inside presence and an NBA prospect, which is what he did with James Edwards, Petur Gudmundsson and Christian Welp. With Meah, Harshman would have fed him a steady diet of offseason jumpers and one-handers until he got this part of his game down.

Meah has talented young guards coming back in Keyon Menifield and Koren Johnson and maybe the team's leading scorer in Keion Brooks, as well. He'll get a significant boost with the healthy return of 6-foot-11 Franck Kepnang, coming off his season-ending knee injury.

Still, it's almost all up to Meah and his individual progress to determine whether the UW returns to the postseason any time soon, saves Hopkins' job and and pulls out of the lingering doldrums. 

 

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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