Erik Stevenson Enters Transfer Portal

The Erik Stevenson era at Washington appears to have only lasted a single year as he has reportedly entered the transfer portal. Last spring Stevenson transferred to Washington from Wichita State where he had been a consistent starter before a mass exodus occurred and head coach Gregg Marshall was later fired for abuse.

The 6’3 shooting guard out of Lacey, WA averaged 9.3 points and 3.6 rebounds per game this season for Washington with 35.7% FG and 29.8% 3-pt shooting splits. Stevenson started out the year in a massive shooting slump but picked things up and averaged 12.2 points per game on 32% 3-pt shooting over the final 70% of the season. As the season went along he also improved his playmaking responsibilities with 3+ assists in 6 of the final 8 games. He scored 27 on 6/9 3-pt shooting in a loss to Cal but perhaps his best all-around game was an 18 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds effort in a road win over Washington State when Quade Green was unavailable.

There were (are) some very clear transfer candidates from this year’s Husky team but Stevenson didn’t immediately appear to be one of them. He started all but 3 games this season for Washington and of the Husky guards was one of if not their best rebounder and defender. Stevenson’s gunner mentality given his below average 3-point shooting was a clear issue with his game but he was good enough in other areas to make up for it.

Washington is expected to have both Quade Green and Hameir Wright graduate and leave the program which would make Stevenson the 3rd departing starter from a team that finished 5-21. The only incoming freshman is 4-star PF Jackson Grant but you can be sure that Washington will end up making several additions via the transfer portal this offseason.

The departure of Stevenson would seemingly open up a path to playing time for RaeQuan Battle next season as well as secure Marcus Tsohonis’ place as a starter. However, there will undoubtedly be many more changes coming to the roster in the coming months as Hop tries to rebuild on the fly in order to get off the hot seat.

It will be interesting to see where Stevenson ends up. He has proven that he can be a volume scorer at the power conference level. Does he want to move down to a Big West or Big Sky team and average 17+ points per game? Or does he want to go to another power conference team closer to competing and take a reserve role to try to win? Whatever Stevenson chooses I’ll be sorry to see him go and wish him luck.

For my more in-depth thoughts on Stevenson’s season you can visit my recent report card series entry.