Huskies Open Basketball Season Against Weber State on Monday Night

Tipoff against the Big Sky Team is at 8 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena.

With practically another total roster shake-up, which is commonplace everywhere in the college game now, Mike Hopkins sends his University of Washington basketball team up against Weber State on Monday night to open the season at Alaska Airlines Arena.

Tipoff is the rather late hour of 8 p.m. and Pac-12 Networks will televise the action. This marks the UW's 112th basketball season, the sixth under Hopkins' leadership. The visiting Wildcats come off a 21-12 season and a third-place Big Sky finish.

Hopkins, after letting everyone play in a 95-64 exhibition win over Alaska Fairbanks last week, will use primarily an eight-team rotation. 

In an era of NCAA basketball where development hardly matters anymore and the portal transfer dictates almost everything, the Hopkins has just one player among his top eight in which he recruited and waited for him to become a major contributor — 6-foot-6 fifth-year senior guard Jamal Bey.

Otherwise, the Huskies welcome four transfers in 6-foot-7 Keion Brooks Jr. (Kentucky), 6-foot-11 Franck Kepnang (Oregon), 7-foot-1 Braxton Meah (Fresno State) and 6-foot-5 Noah Williams (Washington State).

Add to that prior transfers in 6-foot-4 PJ Fuller (TCU) and 6-foot-7 Cole Bajema (Michigan), plus former JC transfer 6-foot-9 Langston Wilson.

"We have eight starters," Hopkins said. "On any given night, it could be different guys."

That said, he will lean heavily to Brooks, his second Kentucky player in three season (Quade Green was the other); Williams, who is trying to become a playmaker after largely filling a scoring role for the Cougars; Kepnang, who didn't start the exhibition because he was out for a good part of a week; Fuller, who likewise is a playmaker; and Bey, who provides the UW with its top 3-point shooter.

While the roster looks like someone's vacation itinerary, the UW does have three new freshman in 6-foot-1 Keyon Menefield, 6-foot-2 Koren Johnson and 6-foot-7 Tyler Linhardt, who will try to enter the rotation.

Others in the mix are second-year players in 6-foot-8 Samuel Ariyibi and 6-foot-10 Jackson Grant, who have been slow to develop.

Here's a breakdown on our projected starting five:

Keion Brooks Jr., F — A 33-game starter for Kentucky, he averaged 10.8 points per game last season. He scored a team-high 19 in the exhibition game. He plays inside and shoots the 3. Brooks appears to be a highly unselfish player.

Franck Kepnang, C — Interchangeable up front with Braxton Meah, the Oregon newcomer provides the Huskies with an inside presence. Expect him to score, rebound and play defense, something the UW hasn't had from a big man in a while.

Noah Williams, G — The Seattle product scored a career -high 40 points for WSU in a game against Stanford, demonstrating his offensive ability. In the exhibition, he showed his versatility by scoring 12 points, dishing out 10 assists and making 6 steals.

PJ Fuller, G  — A tough-minded player and the only one left from last year's four incoming portal transfers, Fuller in his second UW season will supply Hopkins with a little of everything. Three-point shooting. Defense. Assists.  

Jamal Bey, G — When he's not hitting treys from the corner, Bey prefers to play a support role. He could be a much bigger scorer — he averaged 9.4 last season — but he chooses to blend in. He hit 3 of 5 from behind the line against Alaska Fairbanks.

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