Inside The Huskies

Lamar Guard Nate Calmese Transfers to Washington

The Huskies acquired a high-scoring guard from the transfer portal

Roman Tomashoff

Lamar Guard Nate Calmese Transfers to Washington
Lamar Guard Nate Calmese Transfers to Washington /
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If there was one word to describe Nate Calmese's game, it's scorer. The product of Lamar University averaged 17.3 points per game while shooting 48 percent from the field during this past season. Those numbers helped him win the Southland Conference's Freshman of the Year award.

“I chose Washington because of all the connections they have to the NBA,” Calmese said in an interview with On3's Joe Tipton. “Coach (Bobby) Medina being a weight trainer for 20-plus years in the league, coach (Quincy) Pondexter played in the league, coach (Will) Conroy played in the league and coach (Mike) Hopkins was a team USA coach, so they know what it takes to get to the next level. Great player development, good academics and a great conference in the Pac-12.”

This is a huge pickup for Hopkins and his coaching staff. Not only was Calmese the third-leading scorer in the SLC during his first year, but he was also the second-best freshman in the country in terms of scoring, behind only Alabama's Brandon Miller, who averaged 18.8 per game.

After losing freshman guard Keyon Menifield to the transfer portal, Hopkins is going to ask a lot of Calmese, who has three years of eligibility remaining. The biggest question for the incoming guard is will he be able to continue to score at a high level against Power 5 competition?

A lot of other programs seem to think so, as Calmese chose Washington over Alabama, Arizona, and Cincinnati among others. Hopkins has done a good job hitting the transfer portal so far this offseason and it looks like he's putting together a solid squad that can compete in the Pac-12 in 2023.

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Roman Tomashoff
ROMAN TOMASHOFF

I've followed the Huskies for my entire life, and to be in a position where I get to cover them full-time is nothing short of an honor. After graduating from Lasell University in 2019, I moved to Seattle to pursue my dream of working in sports media. While writing for the Husky Haul, I also covered local sports for the Everett Daily Herald before the COVID-19 pandemic. After being hired by Realdawg.com in February of 2021, I also transitioned into doing a lot of entertainment writing, as I work on a variety of magazines as a contributing writer for Centennial Media, and have also contributed to Emmy Magazine, as well as Walt Disney Television Studios. 

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