Favorite Husky Individual Season: Elite Eight

Earlier this week we debuted the “Favorite Husky Individual Season” Bracket and put forth 16 players and their best seasons from the past 20 years of UW basketball . You all voted on which player’s year was your favorite based on whichever subjective criteria you cared to use. Below is a look at the bracket, a recap of last round’s results, and then the polls so you can vote on which players should make the Final Four.

Sweet 16 Recap

Coming into the initial round I thought the 3 closest matchups were going to be Thyubulle/Dickerson, Andrews/Wilcox, and Nowell/Brown. 2 of them ended up going down to the wire. The one that didn’t was Matisse Thybulle cruising to an easy 85% victory over Noah Dickerson. The uniqueness of Thybulle’s playing style, his absolute dominance in one specific attribute, and the fact that he possesses one of the best smiles on earth likely helped him in the rout.

It will be interesting to see in 3 years whether Brown still will hold an edge over Jaylen Nowell or if it is partly a product of recency bias since we just got done watching what Brown could do over an entire season. Both players were the best guard in the Pac-12 during their respective years but Nowell had the advantage of more team success and therefore the disadvantage of sharing the spotlight with multiple other players in the bracket. In the end, Brown took home a 57/43 split of the votes and moved on.

The closest vote was between CJ Wilcox and Andrew Andrews. Wilcox was underappreciated in his time, never making 1st team All-Pac-12. It continues here as he fell narrowly 53/47 to Andrews. I wonder how much of it was the lack of flair and personality Wilcox showed or that he hasn’t stayed engaged as a part of Husky fandom after he left Washington.

ELITE EIGHT VOTING

2005-06 Brandon Roy (20.2 pts, 5.6 reb, 4.1 ast, 50.8% FG, 40.2% 3pt, 81.0% FT)

2018-19 Matisse Thybulle (9.1 pts, 3.5 stl, 2.3 blk, 41.5% FG, 85.1% FT)

Roy thoroughly dispatched Husky assistant coach Will Conroy in the Sweet 16 with a 93/7 victory while Matisse as noted above beat Noah Dickerson 85/15. Brandon was spectacular in his senior season leading Washington in points and assists while finishing 2nd in rebounds. That combo helped him earn the Pac-10 Player of the Year award and 1st team All-American honors. The Dawgs earned a #5 seed in the NCAA tournament and made the Sweet 16 before losing to #1 seed Connecticut.

In 2019 Matisse was the National Defensive Player of the Year and it was well-deserved in addition to making 1st team All-Pac-12. His ability to jump passing lanes for breakaway dunks and block shots both at the 3-pt line and from behind on midrange jumpers was unparalleled even if his shooting struggled. His performance helped lead Washington to a Pac-12 title and a #9 seed in the NCAA tournament.

2004-05 Nate Robinson (16.4 pts, 3.9 reb, 4.3 ast, 38.5% 3pt)

2007-08 Jon Brockman (17.8 pts, 11.6 reb, 53.6% FG)

Neither of these 2 had much of a problem last round as Nate-Rob won 84/16 over Markelle Fultz and Brockman defeated Isaiah Stewart 79/21. Robinson was a sensation with his elite leaping ability in such a small frame. He led a Husky team in scoring that ended up a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament while cementing himself as a fan favorite. Finishing 4th in the conference in points per game he was named 1st team All-Pac-12.

The Brockness Monster was one of the best rebounders the West Coast has ever seen as he used his wide frame and supernaturally superb instincts to get his hands on every ball despite not being an elite athlete. Washington didn’t see a lot of success in 2008 finishing 16-17 and 8th in the conference but it was hard to blame Brockman for that. He made 2nd team All-Pac-12 when the conference momentarily shifted to a 5-man 1st team getting shoved out by future NBA stars Kevin Love and Brook Lopez.

2009-10 Quincy Pondexter (19.3 pts, 7.4 reb, 1.8 ast, 52.8% FG, 35.3% 3pt, 82.7% FT)

2015-16 Andrew Andrews (20.9 pts, 5.7 reb, 4.9 ast, 40.1% 3pt, 85.0% FT)

Pondexter cruised in the first round to a 95/5 shellacking of Spencer Hawes while Andrews squeaked out a win versus CJ Wilcox. Now assistant coach Quincy Pondexter entered his Husky career with a lot of hype and it finally paid off with his massive senior year. He finished 3rd in the conference in both points and rebounds per game leading UW to a #11 seed in the NCAA tournament and scored the game-winning basket to upset Marquette in the 1st round. Q-Pon was snubbed for Pac-10 player of the year but still took home 1st team All-Pac-10.

Andrews was a highly inefficient player for much of his Husky career but it finally clicked for him as he was a master at getting to the foul line and he suddenly became a deadly shooter. Playing with a crazy talented freshman class he was the adult in the room who tried to steer the offense with his leadership. Andrews led the Pac-12 in scoring and was 4th in assists per game to end up 1st team All-Pac-12 but a 9-9 conference record and 6th place Pac-12 finish was only good enough for an NIT berth.

2021-22 Terrell Brown Jr. (21.7 pts, 4.2 reb, 4.3 ast, 45.2% FG, 20% 3pt, 77.2% FT)

2010-11 Isaiah Thomas (16.8 pts, 3.5 reb, 6.1 ast, 44.5% FG, 34.9% 3pt, 71.9% FT)

Brown edged out Jaylen Nowell in the Sweet 16 while IT had a dominant 93/7 win over Terrence Ross. We just got done watching Brown play so I probably don’t need to do much of a summary since it is fresh in your mind. He led the Pac-12 in scoring and steals which was the first time that’s happened in over a decade. Brown single-handedly dragged UW’s offense to mediocre and had a propensity for making the highest degree of difficulty midrange shots. He earned 1st team All-Pac-12 honors and missed out on POY because the Huskies finished 6th in the conference standings instead of 1st.

There was some talk about whether IT had anything left to prove coming back for his junior year but he showed he could become a premium true point guard in addition to an elite undersized scorer. Thomas finished 4th in the Pac-12 in scoring and led the league in assists but missed out on winning Pac-12 POY due to a fever dream season from Arizona’s Derrick Williams (IT still made 1st team All-Pac-12). Thomas got the last laugh though in the conference tournament with his buzzer beating game winner to earn UW a #7 seed in the tournament. Say it with me now. “Isaiah. Shot clock turned off. Game clock at 8. He’s gonna do it himself. Thomas. Shake. Crossover. Step back. AAAAAAHH.”