Marcus Tsohonis Enters Transfer Portal

Make that two 2 guards gone in 2 days as Marcus Tsohonis is reportedly in the transfer portal one day after Erik Stevenson. The 6’3 combo guard out of Portland finished 2nd on the team in scoring averaging 10.4 points this past season as a sophomore.

Washington originally planned on redshirting Tsohonis his first year on campus until Quade Green became academically eligible. He ended up starting 9 of the final 10 games for the Huskies and led the Pac-12 in 3-pt shooting during conference play at 42.1%. This year he got off to a slow start but eventually became the team’s 6th man while earning a few starts along the way. Tsohonis had 4 games of 20+ points this season including his current career high 29 in a win over Washington State with Quade Green out of the lineup.

Tsohonis has proven that he can score the basketball albeit with a funky looking shot and without elite athleticism. This season however he did not take steps in developing as a distributor. Tsohonis took 31.2% of the team’s shots while he was on the floor during conference play which was 3rd in the entire Pac-12. His assist rate of 13.6% was 4th on the team and about half of Quade Green. Tsohonis finished the year with more turnovers than assists.

When Erik Stevenson entered the transfer portal yesterday my initial inclination was that it was likely an either or scenario with Tsohonis and that Marcus would opt to stay. Now that both have entered the portal it’s clear that this is not going to be the last transfer we see and that the Huskies coming off their disastrous season are going to be looking at a wholesale reshaping of the roster. If Hameir Wright and Quade Green choose not to return with their extra year of eligibility as expected then we are now at 4 of the 6 leaders in minutes from last year’s team that will not be returning.

Tsohonis was Washington’s best pure scorer this season. In my season report card series I noted that based on Tsohonis’ skill set he was best served as the first scorer off the bench to help stabilize a second unit. However the team was worse on both offense and defense when he was on the floor this season. There’s a legitimate question as to whether he’s able to contribute meaningfully to a winning style of basketball given his penchant for overdribbling and taking difficult shots. However, you also need to put the ball in the basket to win and Tsohonis could do that.

Given that Tsohonis has really only played significant minutes for about one combined season and with his proven ability to score 20+ at the Pac-12 level I would expect him to find a home on a power conference team if that’s what he wants to do. However, I could also see him at a MWC or WCC team and end up averaging 15 points and 2 assists per game next season. Best of luck to Marcus whatever he decides.

I would speculate about what this means for next year’s roster but it seems clear at this point that doing so is pointless until the dust settles with the transfers. Whether or not Hopkins initiated the clean slate protocol, the button has been pressed. At this point unless several players change their mind we should expect to see an entirely remade roster via the transfer portal and we’ll find out whether the Huskies truly hit rock bottom in 2021.