UW Basketball Recruiting Update: Bye Bye Beauchamp

It’s been about 6 weeks since the last basketball recruiting update and there’s a good reason for that. There just hasn’t been a lot of news. That changed this morning.

Bye Bye Beauchamp

MarJon Beauchamp, Dream City Christian, Glendale, Arizona.

Small Forward, 6’6, 175. 5 star, #24 overall.

The writing has been on the wall for a while that the Huskies were on the outside looking in for Beauchamp after he looked like a near lock as recently as about 5 months ago. But things took a turn this morning when he announced that he would be skipping both college or an international pro path in order to privately train for the 2021 NBA Draft.

Those who have followed Beauchamp’s journey can’t be all that shocked about this decision. He’s originally from Yakima but has been a nomad in the Seattle basketball landscape switching schools every season of his high school career. That continued this offseason when he transferred to an Arizona prep school and less than a month later transferred to a different Arizona school. We’re going to refrain from judgments about what the frequent shifting says about MarJon’s character. He’s probably less in control of that then the adults in his life are. But it’s hard to imagine how a kid who has attended at least 4 different high schools is going to have the consistency in his academics to meet UW entry requirements.

Even if Beauchamp had wanted to come back to the state of Washington for college and even if the Huskies were still in heavy pursuit I don’t know that it would’ve happened. Even if this were all about the academics it’s interesting that he’s sitting out the year entirely rather than going abroad to cash in early. I wish the best of luck to MarJon but it’s clear that he’s taking a risk by going down this path. It could pay off for him but there’s also a chance he falls off the radar and struggles to get drafted. We’ll reconvene in 5 years to see.

Y’all got any more of them 2020 recruits?

With Beauchamp officially out of the running things have gotten bleak quick with regards to the 2020 recruiting class. By my count there are now just 4 players in 2020 with a UW offer that are still an option for the Huskies. It’s not too late for Coach Hop to extend some more offers but it’s getting closer to that point with the summer circuit over and several months to go until the high school basketball season starts back up.

5-star PG Daishen Nix has continued to show himself as the best passer in the class of 2020 in recent months. Matt Norlander of CBS Sports had a write-up of Nix, his story, and his recruitment this past week and it’s clear that he has more in common with Jaden McDaniels then the average 5-star in terms of how open he is with details of his recruitment. But recent comments have tended to put the Huskies on the fringes despite being the first power conference team to extend an offer. I’ve been optimistic in the past about UW’s chances to sneak in there but things aren’t trending in the right direction.

I haven’t seen any recent updates with SG Noah Taitz but it will likely come down to a Washington vs. Stanford battle for the shooter from Bishop Gorman with USC also in the picture. PF Kendall Munson has an offer list well below his recruiting ranking and it’s unclear which one is a more accurate reflection of his status as a prospect. The Huskies are the only power conference offer for Ingraham’s Mitchell Saxen and I’d have to think it isn’t truly commitable at this time. And UW still hasn’t offered Federal Way’s Tari Eason for whatever reason who is considered a top-100 guy in the class.

This may be a kind of crazy opinion but it’s not impossible that the Huskies essentially pass on the 2020 recruiting class. PF J’Raan Brooks has to sit out this year due to transfer rules but could essentially be considered a 2020 recruit since that’s when he’ll be eligible. Similarly, when Riley Sorn joined as a PWO the word was that he’d be expected to walk-on for 2 seasons and then receive a scholarship after that. If that timeline holds then he’d be in line to receive a scholarship in 2020. It’s not crazy to look at things with the perspective that your recruiting class is essentially Brooks and Sorn.

If that were to come about, what would it look like from a roster perspective? The Huskies are fully booked on scholarships right now. Sam Timmins is the only senior but Jaden McDaniels and Isaiah Stewart should be expected to declare for the NBA Draft at the end of the season. With Brooks and Sorn but no one else the Huskies would have 11 scholarships spoken for in 2020/21:

Seniors- Naz Carter, Hameir Wright

Juniors- Quade Green, Elijah Hardy, Jamal Bey

Sophomores- RaeQuan Battle, Nate Roberts, BPJ, Riley Sorn

RS Freshmen- Marcus Tsohonis (I’m assuming he redshirts this year)

The 2021 recruiting class in the state of Washington looks to be incredibly special in both basketball and football. The Dawgs are competing with the rest of the country for O’Dea’s uber-stud Paolo Banchero*. But they’re also in good shape with local top-150 players Jackson Grant, Shane Nowell, John Christofilis, and Nolan Hickman. That kind of talent infusion would make up for sitting out the 2020 class.

But Husky fans are all too familiar with the after-effects of punting on a recruiting class after Lorenzo Romar famously signed no one in 2012 and the program never recovered. I don’t think it’s the most likely outcome. Washington likely ends up with either Noah Taitz or Kendall Munson or someone we’re not talking about. However, if the coaching staff feels really confident about their ability to close the deal in 2021 then swinging for the fences and leaving as many scholarships open as possible in that year isn’t the worst idea in the world...

*Banchero has gotten true national media attention for the first time with profiles by CBS Sports and by The Athletic in the last week. For those hoping for a Sam Huard-esque early Washington commitment, you’re out of luck. Banchero will likely take all 5 of his official visits to non-UW schools including blue bloods like Duke and Kentucky. The Huskies are absolutely in it and still the favorites. But I’d put it at closer to 50/50 now then it would appear just looking at his ties to the school.

The 2020 List (in approximate order of likelihood to sign with Washington)

STILL A CHANCE

Kendall Munson, PF, 6’8, 210. 3 star, #151 overall.

Noah Taitz, SG, 6’3, 175. 4 star, #105 overall.

Daishen Nix, PG, 6’5, 205. 5 star, #15 overall.

Mitchell Saxen, C, 6’10, 210. 3 star, #142 overall

THE BLUTARSKY (0.0%)

Cade Cunningham, CG, 6’6, 215. 5 star, #2 overall.

Joshua Christopher, SG, 6’4, 200. 5 star, #9 overall.

Jalen Green, SG, 6’5, 170. 5 star, #3 overall.

Evan Mobley, C, 6’11, 200. 5 star, #1 overall.

The 2021 List (in approximate order of likelihood to sign with Washington)

IN A GOOD SPOT

Shane Nowell, SG, 6’5, 190. 4 star, #67 overall.

John Christofilis, SG, 6’4, 170. 4 star, #147 overall.

Jackson Grant, C, 6’9, 205. 4 star, #71 overall.

STILL A CHANCE

Paolo Banchero, PF, 6’9, 235. 5 star, #4 overall.

Nolan Hickman, PG, 6’1, 180. 4 star, #108 overall.

TOO EARLY TO TELL

Zaon Collins, PG, 6’1, 165. 4 star, #65 overall.

Will McClendon, SG, 6’3, 190. 4 star, #132 overall.

Malik Thomas, SG, 6’3, 190. 4 star, #150 overall.

Trey Patterson, SF, 6’7, 170. 4 star #42 overall.

THE BLUTARSKY (0.0%)

Franck Kepnang, C, 6’10, 220. 4 star, #24 overall.

Jaden Hardy, CG, 6’4, 185. 5 star, #5 overall.

Jonathan Kuminga, SF, 6’8, 205. 5 star, #1 overall.

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