Inside The Huskies

Injured Husky Chris Conway Retires from College Basketball

The Oakland transfer never played in any games for the UW because of a troublesome knee injury.

Dan Raley

Chris Conway, holding the basketball, missed the entire UW season because of knee issues.
Chris Conway, holding the basketball, missed the entire UW season because of knee issues. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Chris Conway might have made a big difference in how Danny Sprinkle's first University of Washington basketball season turned out, if not helped prevent a last-place Big Ten finish, but people in Montlake will never know.

While he came all the way from Detroit and the University of Oakland to play for the new Husky coach, the 6-foot-9, 221-pound Conway lasted just a few UW practices before he was shut down because of a persistent knee injury. This week, he retired as a player.

"Due to a chronic knee injury, I am forced to step away from my first love -- the game of basketball," he wrote on social media.

Had he been able to get healthy, Conway could have played next season, but he'll move on and open up another roster spot for rebuilding UW to fill.

It appears Conway could have given the Huskies a boost after spending four seasons at Oakland and enjoying a breakout performance in 2023-24. He started 35 games for a 24-12 team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament and beat Kentucky.

A product of Naperville, Illinois, Conway averaged 10 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in his final season with the Golden Grizzlies.

Chris Conway went to the NCAA Tournament with Oakland in 2024.
Chris Conway went to the NCAA Tournament with Oakland in 2024. / USA TODAY Sports

Even while unable to play, Conway was a visible presence this winter for all Husky home games, rebounding and feeding the ball for teammates' shots during warm-ups and sitting at the end of the bench and watching the action.

For the longest time, it was Conway and Franck Kepnang hanging out together as seniors and injured teammates with knee issues while everyone else reaped the benefits of Husky basketball, before Kepnang became healthy enough to resume.

Conway and Kepnang were two of six Huskies who went through Husky Senior Day festivities before the season finale against Oregon.

With freshman guard Jase Butler entering the transfer portal and Kepnang presumably returning, the UW has six roster spots open, providing some other underclassman doesn't leave and makes it more.

For the latest 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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