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It’s all up from here!☝ #GoDawgs #huskynation @UW_MBB @UW pic.twitter.com/bV9tVLCJWI
— RaeQaun Battle (@RaeQuanBattle) May 31, 2018
The Huskies got one piece of good news on Wednesday when Noah Dickerson decided to return to school and pull out of the NBA draft. They got another late last night when 6’5 SG RaeQuan Battle pulled the trigger and verbally committed to the University of Washington. Battle attends Marysville-Pilchuck and also plays for Seattle Rotary on the Nike EYBL circuit. He is rated as a 3-star player and the #149 overall recruit in the 2019 class by 247 sports. As of yesterday Battle said that Washington, Houston, and Oklahoma were the 3 schools recruiting him the hardest.
Going to be one of the more underrated snags of the spring as 2019 guard RaeQuan Battle gave his commitment last night to Washington. Big time shot maker with loads of potential in such a capacity
— Corey Evans (@coreyevans_10) May 31, 2018
Up until about a month ago Battle was a national unknown. He didn’t even have a recruiting profile on any of the major sites. That changed with his performance at Session 2 of the Nike EYBL. He was named 3rd-team all-tournament after averaging 20.5 ppg and 5.3 rpg on 46% shooting from deep. His numbers have fallen off some after that and after all 4 sessions he averaged 11.8 ppg and 3.1 rpg on 35.1% 3-pt shooting and 79.2% from the free throw line. In his junior season for Marysville-Pilchuck Battle averaged 21.4 pgg and 8 rpg while being named 2nd team all-area by the Everett Herald.
Battle is a long shooter who has the size to thrive at the front of the zone. It isn’t likely that he starts his freshman year but he is exactly the kind of 4 year player that Hopkins is trying to build the foundation of the program with. I would expect that Battle will be able to slide right in to the Dominic Green role. A side note, he is also the cousin of Michael Carter III who was Hop’s first commit but then transferred out of the program. If Carter III had issues with the way that situation was handled you would think Battle would be less willing to make this commitment.
The Huskies have up to 5 spots available for 2019 with one open spot from 2018 (for now) plus the graduations of Noah Dickerson, Matisse Thybulle, David Crisp, and Dominic Green. With Battle being the Green surrogate I would expect them to target at least one point guard and one tall wing to play the corner in the zone and the 4 on offense. It wouldn’t shock me if they again leave open one scholarship for a loaded 2020 class with only one obvious scholarship opening.
Check out some of Battle’s highlights as well as a more in-depth feature into Battle’s background below (The first 06:30 are about Battle).
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