Quade Green Returns from Ineligibility, Reclaims Leadership Role with Huskies

The Washington basketball team still awaits NCAA decisions on whether transfers Erik Stevenson and Cole Bajema will become eligible right away.

Once again, the University of Washington basketball team will be heavily dependent on point guard Quade Green, even more than last season, which turned into a disaster without him.

Husky coach Mike Hopkins, while confirming that Green is scholastically eligible again, said the junior from Philadelphia will have an important role for a now guard-heavy team.

"Quade, he's great, he's been really good academically," Hopkins said. "He looks great right now. I'm really, really proud of him. Everybody responds differently. The way he's stepped up and put huge smiles on our faces and stepped up is great and stepped into a leadership role. I'm really proud of him."

A transfer from Kentucky, the 6-foot Green played in 15 games for the Huskies before flunking out prior to a road trip to the Bay Area. He watched as his teammates fell into an irrevocable tailspin and finished in last place in the Pac-12 Conference.

The UW went from 11-4 with the playmaker running the team, 4-13 without him.

Green averaged 11.6 points and 5.3 assists per game in his half season with the Huskies, who struggled to find a consistent playmaker in his absence, trying a number of replacements.

"He's one of the great guards in the country," Hopkins said. 

During the pandemic, which has curtailed all Pac-12 competition through the end of the year, the Huskies have been able to lift weights and do minimal basketball workouts under the direction of Hopkins and his staff. 

The Husky coach is still waiting on the NCAA to determine if a pair of transfers, shooting guards  Erik Stevenson of Wichita State and Cole Bajema from Michigan, will receive waivers to play for the UW right away.

Former Huskies who transferred this offseason to other schools, guard Elijah Hardy to Portland State and post player Bryan Penn-Johnson to LSU, have received immediate eligibility.

"With the NCAA, we don't know how those decisions are coming around," Hopkins said. "We're just going to see what they come up with. If they don't (get the waivers), we should be OK."

Hopkins also acknowledged his son, Griff, a 6-4 forward who attended South Kent School in Connecticut, will join the Huskies as a walk-on.

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