Husky Basketball Adds Promising Young Portland Forward

Tyler Harris becomes the eighth new player for Danny Sprinkle's UW roster.

Tyler Harris comes to the UW after a season at Portland. / Twitter

If only his troublesome ankle or ankles will behave, Tyler Harris could be a bonus pick-up for Danny Sprinkle's changing-by-the-hour University of Washington basketball team.

On Friday night, the 6-foot-8, 190-pound Harris, a sleek forward from Portland who made the All-WCC Freshman team, announced he would be joining the UW through the transfer portal -- the Huskies' eighth roster addition and second of the day.

He also becomes the second Pilots forward to transfer to the UW in as many years, following 6-foot-8 Moses Wood, who became a 32-game starter and 11.9-point scorer this past winter in his lone season in Montlake.

As for those flat tires, here's what this Portland kid has faced.

Harris averaged 12.1 points and 7.3 rebounds a game in his first year for the 12-21 Pilots, but missed a third of the season, 11 games in all, with ankle issues.

While sharing in a CIF NorCal championship at Granada High School in the Bay Area, he saw his recruiting fall off while slowed by persistent ankle issues throughout the 2022-23 season. As a junior, he missed nearly the entire season for Salesian College Prep.

Husky trainers, get on your marks.

When he wasn't limping, Harris was a very good player, especially at the beginning of his college basketball career. He became the first Portland player to debut with a double-double, picking up 17 points and 12 rebounds in a 78-73 win over Long Beach State and, two games later, he did it again with 22 points and 12 rebounds in a 76-65 victory over UC Riverside.

Harris connected on 46 percent of his attempts from the field and looked for his 3-point shot for the first time in his career, knocking down 19 of 53 tries.

"I came here actually not really shooting threes at all," Harris told the Portland Tribune. "I was mostly just rim-running, mid-range and floaters. I realized I needed to expand my game. ... I remember in the summer, I was on a shooting machine almost every day [and] getting like 500 shots up."

Harris committed several hours after the UW picked up a commitment from Rhode Island guard Luis Kortright.

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