Inside The Huskies

Ibekwe Reportedly Third from Husky Basketball Team to Enter Portal

The big man appeared in just a dozen games after transferring in from Oregon State.

Dan Raley

KC Ibekwe launches a foul shot for the Huskies and was 5 for 10 for the season.
KC Ibekwe launches a foul shot for the Huskies and was 5 for 10 for the season. / Skylar Lin Visuals

KC Ibekwe, who drew the least amount of game time of any of the University of Washington scholarship basketball players this past season, has entered the transfer portal, according to Verbal Commits.

A 6-foot-10, 287-pound junior center, Ibekwe is the third player to leave the Huskies, joining 6-foot-4 freshman guard Jase Butler and 6-foot-8 redshirt freshman forward Christian King in the portal.

They appeared in just 12, 18 and 20 games, respectively, on Danny Sprinkle's first team.

Originally from Coquitlam, British Columbia, Ibekwe transferred to the UW a year ago from Oregon State, where he played in 52 games and started 25 times.

However, he was never a good fit in Montlake with limited mobility and offensive skills. In fact, he tried to bank in his free throws. He averaged 1.6 points and 1.1 rebounds per outing.

From the UW's 13-man scholarship roster, the Huskies have lost nine players -- six who maxed out their eligibility or medically retired, plus the three headed to the transfer portal.

Last week, Sprinkle said 6-foot-4 freshman guard Zoom Diallo and 6-foot-11 graduate center Franck Kepnang, both starters when the season ended, had signed agreements to return to the UW next season.

That leaves just 6-foot-5 junior guard Mekhi Mason and 6-foot-8 sophomore Tyler Harris, also starters for much of the season, to determine what comes next for them.

Dominique Diomande, a 6-foot-8 freshman from France, technically joined the team at midseason as a non-scholarship player, a situation likely to change to benefit him.

For more UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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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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