Kepnang Has 7 College Seasons Available to Him If He Wants

The UW big man has banked a lot of time because of multiple knee injuries and the COVID pandemic.

Franck Kepnang, recovering from his second knee injury in two seasons, won't play for the University of Washington basketball team in Thursday night's game against Washington State in Pullman to close out the regular season or in the Pac-12 Tournament next week in Las Vegas.

Yet he is far from done as a college player. The school confirmed this week the 6-foot-11, 250-pound center from Cameroon could play up to three more NCAA basketball seasons if he chooses — giving him seven in all.

This greatly extended career for the explosive big man is made possible in part because he gets to cash in a free season given to everyone as a result of the COVID pandemic that greatly impacted the 2019-20 schedule while he was at Oregon, canceling out nearly all postseason play.

Also, the hard-luck Kepnang will receive two additional years because he has medical redshirt allowances after suffering season-ending knee injuries that shut down each of his two years at the UW without him playing more than 30 percent of the Huskies' games in either season.

Franck Kepnang cheers on the Huskies against UCLA from the UW bench / Skylar Lin Visuals

On Senior Day against USC this past Saturday, Kepnang chose not to partake in pregame ceremonies as a graduating player, apparently not done with the college game just yet. It's not totally clear what he's thinking because the school doesn't make injured players available for interviews.

Fellow UW big man Braxton Meah, also listed as a senior, has at least one more season of eligibility remaining, too, for similar reasons.

It will be interesting to see if Kepnang plays all seven years of college basketball available to him, which might be a first for anyone. It's already been done in college football by UTSA quarterback Frank Harris who redshirted and missed multiple seasons with knee and shoulder injuries before playing his seventh year in 2022, which ended with more injuries forcing him to medically retire before a bowl game. 

This fall, quarterback Casey Thompson will play a seventh season for Oklahoma after a well-traveled and injury-filled career that earlier sent him to Texas, Nebraska and Florida Atlantic. 

Miami tight end Cam McCormick, who previously played for Oregon, will beat all of them, enter his ninth college football season this fall.

He and Kepnang, who could go through Husky Senior Day ceremonies in 2027, likely know each other. 

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