Inside The Huskies

Top 60 Small Forward Has Huskies in Final 3; 2 Teammates Hold UW Offers

Chris Bunch from Utah by way of California will choose among the UW, Syracuse and Rutgers.

Dan Raley

Top 60 Small Forward Has Huskies in Final 3; 2 Teammates Hold UW Offers
Top 60 Small Forward Has Huskies in Final 3; 2 Teammates Hold UW Offers /

Mike Hopkins hasn't won a lot of basketball games for the University of Washington over the past season and a half, but coach has shown he can recruit.

Isaiah Stewart, Jaden McDaniels, Jackson Grant.

He's now in on a Top 60 player in 6-foot-7 forward Chris Bunch, a Californian who's playing at the Wasatch school in Mount Pleasant, Utah, and has publicly indicated that the Huskies are in his final 3 with a decision coming by October 31. 

Bunch is one of three players from the Wasatch prep school now holding offers from the Huskies and Hopkins, joined by 6-foot-8 forward Keba Keita and 6-foot-1 guard Koren Johnson, the latter originally from Seattle's Garfield High.

Keta, from Africa, is a late-blooming player just beginning to draw recruiting interest and Wasatch announced his UW offer on Wednesday on social media.

Johnson has narrowed his final three choices to Arizona, San Diego State and Washington.

Bunch will chose from among Washington, Syracuse and Rutgers, telling recruiting analysts he wants to go to a school where he can play right away. He was hosted by the Huskies on a recruiting visit near the end of August.

Among the suitors he recently lopped from his list were Creighton, Florida State, Maryland, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, SMU and fellow Pac-12 entry USC.

Why the UW?

Bunch, who initially played for De La Salle High School in Concord, California, was swayed by the extroverted Hopkins persona, which is all carnival barker in approach, selling, selling, selling.  

"Mike Hopkins is definitely the most energetic and enthusiastic coach I have ever talked to and met in person," Bunch told 247Sports. "He is constantly bringing positive and great energy. I have never been to Seattle. So just going up there and seeing the fans, area, the location, the facilities, and the coaching staff they have around it is what made me put them in my top three."

The Huskies have one 2022 commitment so far in 6-foot-7 Tyler Linhardt from King's High School, north of Seattle. He, too, said he was swayed by Hopkins when he committed to the UW in April.

"I trust in Hop," he said. "I'm a big Coach Hopkins fan. I have been for awhile. I believe in him."

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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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