Inside The Huskies

Husky Basketball Adds Nebraska Big Man

California native Wilhelm Breidenbach is the UW's fifth portal addition.

Dan Raley

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Wilhelm Breidenbach, making sure to bring his imposing goggles with him, will transfer to the University of Washington basketball program from Nebraska, looking to jumpstart his career, which he revealed on Thursday.

The 6-foot-10, 235-pound forward becomes the fifth transfer portal addition for the Huskies, who had seven players leave once the season ended.

Fancy eyewear aside, this looks like a straight-up trade of Breidenbach for Jackson Grant, two players who suffered mightily on offense in two seasons of college ball and pursued new destinations.

Breidenbach was a 4-star recruit for the Cornhuskers from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California — the same place that counts Husky coach Mike Hopkins as an alum. 

While averaging 3.6 points and 2.7 rebounds over 42 games in two seasons in the Big Ten, Breidenbach shot just 20.9 percent from 3-point range, which hastened his departure from Nebraska. He started two games this past season against Wisconsin and Purdue, going scoreless each time.

The 6-foot-10 Grant, of course, was the McDonald's All-America selection from Olympia, Washington, who now plays for Utah State. He appeared in 39 games for the Huskies, all as a reserve, and failed to make a 3-pointer while averaging fewer than a point per game.

Breidenbach gives the UW another big man to go with returnees in 7-foot-1 junior Braxton Meah and 6-foot-11 senior Frank Kepnang, one-time Fresno State and Oregon transfers, respectively.

The newcomer is the Huskies' fifth incoming transfer, joining Kentucky point guard Shaver Wheeler, Lamar shooting guard Nate Calmese, Portland power forward Moses Wood and Fresno State swingman Anthony Holland.

Add in incoming high school recruits Wesley Yates Jr. and Christian King, and the Huskies should be done with their offseason roster reload.

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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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