Keeping Up With 2021 UW Transfers (Stevenson, Battle, Pryor, Tsohonis, Brooks & Wright)

ChillyDawg

ChillyDawg

New Fish
*Note:[/b] Erik Stevenson is starting for South Carolina. Both Nate Pyor and J'Raan Brooks are currently injured but both were slated to be in the starting lineup for their teams New Mexico State, UC San Diego respectively before becoming injured. Hamier Wright is coming in as the first frontcourt player off of the bench for North Texas who made the NCAA tourney last season. RaeQuan Battle is coming off of the bench as the 6th man for Montana State. Marcus Tsohonis is coming off of the bench as the 6th man for VCU which made the NCAA tourney last season.

VCU MBBhttps://vcuathletics.com/sports/mens-basketball

North Texas MBBhttps://meangreensports.com/sports/mens-basketball

UC San Diego MBBhttps://ucsdtritons.com/sports/mens-basketball

Montana State MBBhttps://msubobcats.com/sports/mens-basketball

South Carolina MBBhttps://gamecocksonline.com/sports/mens-basketball

New Mexico State MBBhttps://nmstatesports.com/sports/mens-basketball

SIhttps://www.si.com/college/washingt...nsfers-pegged-for-starting-roles-on-new-teams

Four of the six University of Washington basketball players who entered the transfer portal following the Huskies' disastrous 5-21 season are projected as instant starters at their new schools.

Foremost is guard Erik Stevenson, who's being billed as a much-needed tough guy to return South Carolina to a more physical style of play after suffering through an equally dismal 6-15 season.

Other former Huskies in line to be starters after relocating are guard Marcus Tsohonis at Virginia Commonwealth, point guard Nate Pryor at New Mexico State and guard RaeQuan Battle at Montana State.

Stevenson, a 6-foot-3 junior from Lacey, Washington, who spent last season at the UW following two at Wichita State, now answers to no-nonsense coach Frank Martin, who's experienced a significant program falloff after taking the Gamecocks to the Final Four in 2017.

The coach and Stevenson have stated how they built a mutual respect while competing against each other when the latter played Wichita State. The former Husky is one of three older transfers for South Carolina, joined by Chico Martin Jr. from Murray State and AJ Wilson from Georgia Mason.

“I lost last year, and I felt like we lacked leadership," Stevenson told the Big Spur. "When team or organization lacks leadership, that’s not going to be a good thing; it’s hard to win without leadership. I’ve always been a leader, and I’m not afraid of it.”

Again, Stevenson didn't explain to reporters in his new setting why he didn't feel compelled to step up and give the UW some direction.

Martin has said it's imperative that the Gamecocks bond immediately to take advantage of Stevenson, who has a season of eligibility remaining, plus the other newcomers.

“Erik Stevenson’s got a chance to make money playing this game and he’s gonna have a degree at this time next spring," Martin said. "A.J. Wilson also doesn’t have a second year. We owe it to those guys to figure out a way to hit the fast-forward button in our relationship process, and they’ve done that.”

Tsohonis, a 6-foot-3 sophomore from Portland, is expected to start right away following injuries to two veteran guards from VCU's returning NCAA tournament team.

After a disappointing lone season at the UW, Pryor will be asked to be the starting playmaker for his WAC team. He'll be back in the state soon enough. The Seattle native will play against Washington State in Pullman on December 15 and return to his hometown to face Seattle University on December 30.

Battle goes to a Big Sky team where he hopes to become a big scorer, something he showed only sporadically at the UW. In his exhibition opener, he hit 8 of 11 shots and scored 20 points for the Bobcats, so he's probably in a good place now.

Of the other Husky transfers, it's not clear where forwards Hameir Wright and J'Raan Brooks stand as possible starters with their new teams in North Texas and San Diego, respectively, but they should play a lot.
 
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SIhttps://www.si.com/college/washingt...enson-cant-find-his-stroke-for-south-carolina

Erik Stevenson finds the basketball rims even less welcoming in the Carolinas than they were in Seattle.

On Friday night, the former University of Washington guard scored 14 points but he suffered through a miserable 4-for-18 shooting night for his new SEC team — 0 for 10 from 3-point range — as the Gamecocks lost to Princeton 66-62 in the Asheville Classic in Asheville, North Carolina.

Stevenson, who fled the Huskies following a 5-21 season and became a starter, is now a distressing 7 for 31 in two outings, just 1 of 17 behind the line, counting the opener against USC Upland in Columbia, South Carolina. He entered the season as a career 31-percent shooter at Wichita State and Washington, and someone who doesn't always take good shots, but this was new territory for him.

So much for new surroundings.

The 6-foot-3 guard from Lacey, Washington, entered the transfer portal this past offseason along with five other former Huskies, who spread out across the country in search of basketball success.

Most of these guys were in contention early on to become starters, but only Stevenson is a first-teamer with the games now counting for real.

Ex-UW forward J'Raan Brooks pulled a starting assignment for UC San Diego in a 57-44 exhibition loss to Loyola Marymount, but after going scoreless over 17 minutes, he didn't even play in the Tritons' regular-season opener against California, an 80-67 upset.

One-time Husky guard Marcus Tsohonis came off the bench, played 15 minutes and went scoreless in Virginia Commonwealth's 57-54 victory over St. Peter's.

Hameir Wright, a three-year UW starting forward, likewise played as a reserve in North Texas' season-opening 84-53 win over Oklahoma Christian. He drew 13 minutes of time and scored 3 points.

For Montana State, guard RaeQuan Battle came off the bench and scored 8 points in the Bobcats' 94-90 overtime loss at Colorado. He played 21 minutes before fouling out after hitting 3 of 7 shots, including 2 of 4 behind the line.

Former UW guard Nate Pryor didn't play in New Mexico State's season debut, a 62-51 win over UC-Irvine.
 
Nice... I knew Stevenson would be trash anywhere he went. Hameir is a queer too. Rest of the guys I liked and or wish them well. Battle was one I really wanted to keep. I always liked Pryor's game too.
 
Stevenson is a volume flinger, not a shooter. His coaches through the years have enabled this shit so he puts up big stat lines. He was like that as a sophomore in high school, he's like that now.

Frank Martin will kill him by the end of the year.

 
Nice... I knew Stevenson would be trash anywhere he went. Hameir is a queer too. Rest of the guys I liked and or wish them well. Battle was one I really wanted to keep. I always liked Pryor's game too.
Click to expand...

Battle was a shooter that cannot shoot. Gotta hang on to those when you can.
 
Nice... I knew Stevenson would be trash anywhere he went. Hameir is a queer too. Rest of the guys I liked and or wish them well. Battle was one I really wanted to keep. I always liked Pryor's game too.
Click to expand...

Battle was a shooter that cannot shoot. Gotta hang on to those when you can.
Click to expand...

In Battle's defense he was a shooter until Mike Hopkins got aholt of him.

Never seen a coach worse at developing shooters than Hop. Lorenzo Romar was offensively inept and kids developed their shots far better under him than they do under Hop.
 
Nice... I knew Stevenson would be trash anywhere he went. Hameir is a queer too. Rest of the guys I liked and or wish them well. Battle was one I really wanted to keep. I always liked Pryor's game too.
Click to expand...

Battle was a shooter that cannot shoot. Gotta hang on to those when you can.
Click to expand...

In Battle's defense he was a shooter until Mike Hopkins got aholt of him.

Never seen a coach worse at developing shooters than Hop. Lorenzo Romar was offensively inept and kids developed their shots far better under him than they do under Hop.
Click to expand...
His shots are often not even close. Off the side of the backboard. Two feet long. A foot to the side. I’ve see all I need to see.

He is a “marksmen” just like that guy romar recruited from Salem that sucked. Phil Nelson I think was his name. Another great shooter that couldn’t shoot.
 
Groves is a man. And a testament to just fucking working hard and getting better each year.

His brother is pretty fucking good too.

Fuck you, Hop.

 
Marcus Tsohonis (4-6 fg/3-4 3fg) had 12 pts off the bench as VCU defeated Syracuse 67-55 todayhttps://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401370001

Marcus Tsohonis has been starting some games and coming off the bench as the 6th man in other games so far this season for VCU (3-2).

UW Transfer Note: Both Nate Pryor and J'Raan Brooks are still injured and out of the line up for their respective teams. RaeQuan Battle and Hameir Wright are both in their new teams rotations as 6th men playing in every game this season so far.
https://twitter.com/VCU_Hoops/status/1462159133717655554https://twitter.com/wayneeppsjr/status/1443283419392270340
 
SIhttps://www.si.com/college/washingt...ies-thrust-ex-husky-tsohonis-into-bigger-role

KVIAhttps://kvia.com/sports/2021/11/24/...mexico-highlands-for-jans-mccants-100th-wins/

Two individuals - Cameron Crawford and Nate Pryor - made their NM State debuts Wednesday night. Pryor, who transferred in from Washington, logged 10 minutes of court time and finished with two points and an assist.

SI (click for Podcast Apr/6/2021)https://www.si.com/college/washingt...dcast-hameir-wright-talks-of-his-frustrations

After four years at the University of Washington and coming off a 5-21 season, former Husky forward Hameir Wright will use his final college season of eligibility and play elsewhere. He does not go quietly.

The New York native leaves unhappy with the way things went with him and the Huskies this past year and he shares his frustrations with one-time teammate Noah Dickerson.

Wright wasn't sure what his role was with change hinted at but the plays remaining the same and he let his displeasure show, especially in launching 3-pointers at times.

"In some games I got into it was I didn't care — I was going to chuck it," he acknowledged. "Those were games I didn't shoot well."

Wright talked about his ups and downs on the court and his interactions with coach Mike Hopkins. He doesn't come away with a good feeling about it.

"I wasted my talents here and I told coach Hopkins that," he said.

The 6-foot-9 Wright is one of six Huskies who have left the program since the season ended and entered the transfer portal, a process for changing schools that's been made easier than it was before.

A three-year starter, the forward from Albany, New York, averaged 6.2 points and 4.7 rebounds as a UW senior. He shot 37.9 percent from the field, 29 percent from 3-point range. He started 25 of 26 games for the Huskies.

"I always felt I could do more but it is what it is," Wright said. "Whether or not I didn't earn it or whether I didn't get the opportunity, that's up for debate."
Inside The Brick (RaeQuan Battle): The next episode of Inside The Brick, with men's basketball, features RaeQuan Battle and head coach Danny Sprinkle.
 
RaeQuan Battle had 16 pts (7-9 fg/2-2 3fg), 5 rebs, 1 blk in 21 minutes for MSU (6-4) on December 7thhttps://msubobcats.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2021-22/north-dakota-state/boxscore/6013

Erik Stevenson had 6 pts (2-4 fg/2-2 3 fg), 1 reb, 4 ast for SC (6-2) ON December 5th in a win over Georgetownhttps://gamecocksonline.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2021-22/georgetown/boxscore/16374

Nate Pryor 8 pts (4-7 fg), 7 rebs, 4 ast, 1 stl in 34 minutes is healthy once again and making a difference at NMSU (7-2)https://nmstatesports.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2021-22/new-mexico/boxscore/14567

KVIA (click for full article)https://kvia.com/sports/2021/12/06/...tuns-pit-gives-nmsu-epic-win-over-new-mexico/

For the second straight game, New Mexico State delivered a last-second dagger on their rival's home floor.

But given the setting, the Aggies' latest game-winner probably came as more of a shock to the New Mexico Lobos on Tuesday than it did for the UTEP Miners last Friday.

Nate Pryor's buzzer-beating layup, and ensuing Aggie celebration, silenced the hostile crowd at "The Pit" and gave New Mexico State (7-2) a 78-76 win in overtime.

The Aggies' victory splits the I-25 rivalry series, with both New Mexico State and New Mexico each winning on the opposing team's home court.

The ending to the latest in the rivalry will go down in the record books.

After Jabari Rice hit an open Pryor for the win, the Aggies celebrated boisterously at midcourt and in front of the Lobos student section.
https://twitter.com/NCAABuzzerBters/status/1468073235510005760https://twitter.com/NCAABuzzerBters/status/1468073465471070209
 
LC Sunhttps://www.lcsun-news.com/videos/s...-wagon-podcast-s-1-e-5-nate-pryor/6441888001/

Richmond Times Dispatchhttps://richmond.com/sports/college...cle_92233981-587f-590a-8d6d-6968f751bdd0.html

Player Updates & Notes[/b]

  • J'Raan Brooks is seemingly still out injured for UC San Diego (5-4).
  • Erik Stevenson is still starting and struggling shooting for South Carolina (8-2).
  • Marcus Tsohonis is helping VCU (7-4) in games as a part time starter and 6th man.
  • RaeQuan Battle is in the Montana State (7-4) regular playing rotation providing scoring off of the bench.
  • Nate Pryor has moved into the starting line up for NMSU (9-2). NMSU just defeated Washington State 64-61 in their previous game on December 15th.
  • Hameir Wright has seemingly fell out of the rotation for North Texas State (6-3) as he hasn't played in their past two games. No injury or COVID related mention.

 
HeraldNethttps://www.heraldnet.com/sports/mp-alum-battle-happy-with-transfer-to-montana-state/
MP alum Battle happy with transfer to Montana State

After two up-and-seasons at UW, the young guard is beginning to find a rhythm with the Bobcats.[/i]

For RaeQuan Battle, the moment was both a throwback to his prep basketball playing days, as well as a indication of what he hopes is to come.

The Montana State men’s basketball team was trailing St. Thomas by nine points late in the first half last Saturday when the Bobcats came up with a steal and broke two-on-one. Montana State’s Kellen Tynes lofted a lob pass toward the rim, and Battle elevated to grab the ball with one hand and slam it home over the top of the defender.https://twitter.com/MSUBobcatsMBB/status/1469889556552077317
“That reminded me of my high school days,” Battle said via phone from Bozeman, Montana, this week. “The last two years I haven’t been able to dunk like that. But reliving something I used to do in high school was really cool. I was able to show my athleticism and show I can play above the rim.”

No, Battle may no longer playing under the bright lights of a Power Five conference team, and he’s still trying to get used to the frigid Montana winter. But the Marysville Pilchuck High School graduate’s transfer from Washington to Montana State has his head in a better space, has his game going the direction he wants it to go, and has him relearning what it’s like to be part of a winning team.

Battle was a dominator in high school. The 6-foot-5 guard led Marysville Pilchuck to a school-best fourth-place finish at the 3A state tournament as a senior in 2019, when he was named The Herald’s Boys Basketball Player of the Year. He was considered one of the top 100 recruits in the nation, and he was a key part of a touted Washington recruiting class that was going to take an already-successful Mike Hopkins program to a new level.

But it all went sideways for Battle at Washington. Thought to be the perfect long and athletic guard for Hopkins’ Syracuse-style 2-3 zone defense, Battle found himself in and out of the rotation during his two seasons as a Husky. When he did get on the floor, he was relegated largely to spot-up shooting duty on the offensive end, and he never quite found his shooting stroke. Over two seasons he averaged just 14.8 minutes and 5.1 points per game, shooting 30.1% from the floor. He saw the court in just six of his final 18 games last season for a team that went 5-21.

“It was just a weird situation,” Battle said. “It wasn’t really anything crazy, I just didn’t know why I wasn’t playing. I remember coming off a good game against Oregon (a team-high 19 points) and it was just weird. We had a pretty stacked team when it comes to guards, but it was a weird rotation and the minutes just weren’t there.”

Battle said he maintained a good relationship with Hopkins, but he nevertheless decided to enter the transfer portal after the season ended.

“I had a feeling early on in the season (about transferring), but it wasn’t until I sat down after the season that I really thought about it,” Battle said. “I wanted to look for something new. I also wanted to get away from home a little bit so I could focus on myself. I felt like being able to isolate myself, just focus on school and basketball, would benefit me.”

Battle said the decision to transfer from Washington was a difficult one, considering he and his family were diehard Husky supporters — “When I told my mom she got upset, though she supported me 100% and is now one of the biggest Bobcat fans.” — and he described the transfer process as a humbling experience, as the high-major schools that recruited him out of high school didn’t come calling.

One person who did call, however, was Montana State coach Danny Sprinkle, whose pitch won Battle over.

”Coach Sprinkle said, ‘I love your game, I think you could fit in our system great and we’re trying to be a championship team,’” Battle said. “’We want to take the next step and think you could be that player. It’s not going to be easy, you’re going to have to earn your spot and I’m going to coach you hard. But we want you to be successful.’ That’s what really sold me, and the coaches have followed through on everything they said.”

At Montana State Battle is playing in a slightly faster-paced system, and he’s been given more freedom to put the ball on the floor and try to get to the rim. He’s still feeling his way, averaging 13.1 minutes and 4.7 points per game. But he’s seen a recent uptick, including scoring 16 in Montana State’s victory over North Dakota State on Dec. 7.

Most importantly the Bobcats are winning. Montana State came one victory away from winning the Big Sky Conference tournament last season and earning a berth in the NCAA tournament, and so far this season the Bobcats are 7-4 and considered one of the conference favorites.

“What I learned about myself (through the transfer process) is that I want to win, too,” Battle said. “I was sick of losing. It’s good to be on the winning side of things, and it’s a joy doing it together as a team.”
South Carolina Gamecocks: POSTGAME: Erik Stevenson, Frank Martin on Coastal Carolina.
Richmond Times-Dispatch: VCU's Mike Rhoades, Marcus Tsohonis on win against Syracuse in Battle 4 Atlantis.
 
https://twitter.com/HuskyMaven/status/1474119106450255891
It was nearly two years ago, during pre-pandemic times, when University of Washington basketball coach Mike Hopkins brought up the name of Bryan Penn-Johnson, his 7-foot redshirt freshman center, and spoke about him in glowing terms.

"BPJ hasn't had a sniff, but that kid can play," Hopkins raved to a postgame media audience. "He's going to be a great player here."

The often overly optimistic Husky coach couldn't have been more wrong about that for a player whose nickname sounds a lot like a popular grade-school sandwich.

Two months later in 2020, Penn-Johnson entered the transfer portal, on his way to LSU while putting Seattle in his rearview-mirror. It was a short stay in the South.

After just 5 games for the SEC team, the California native packed up his stuff and went home during the holidays a year ago at a time of surging COVID-19. The school said he left for personal reasons.

Today, Penn-Johnson plays for East Los Angeles Collegehttps://www.elacathletics.com/sports/mbkb/index in Monterey Park, California, which is east of downtown L.A., for a 9-4 team known as the Huskies.

He pulls 10.1 minutes per game as a starter and averages 6.4 points and 3.9 rebounds as he tries to rekindle his college basketball career.

ELAC coach John Mosley likewise puts an overly positive spin on the big man, who he says is beginning to stir recruiting interest again, even at a most unlikely place.

According to him, the school in Montlake is sizing up Penn-Johnson once more.

“He's getting a lot of mid-major looks in terms of interests,” Mosley told 247Sports. “It's pretty much Big West, Mountain West, a few Pac-12 schools and everything on the West Coast. The University of Washington would like to get him back in terms of Pac-12 interest."

While with the Huskies, BPJ appeared in 12 games, scored 12 points and blocked 8 shots. He mostly sat and watched for two seasons, drawing extended minutes only in a game at Colorado.

From a distance, he seemed like a sensitive guy who was well-liked by his teammates and coaches. He was capable of entertaining everyone with his intricate dribbling moves all while seated with his big frame crammed into a court-side chair.

Yet Penn-Johnson had one major drawback to his game, that slowed his development, an infliction that still affects former 6-foot-11 Husky teammate Nate Roberts to this day, one that Hopkins never addresses.

Bad hands.

Neither Penn-Johnson nor Roberts showed himself to be proficient at all in hauling in a lob pass deep in the post and turning it into points for the UW. It not addressed, that's a career death knell for a big man.

Maybe East Los Angeles can fix this issue for BPJ and get him back to a Division 1 program. His coach is hopeful.

“He's learning how to get deep and how to finish while he's there,” Mosley said. “I'm talking about at a high level where he's unstoppable against everybody."

Penn-Johnson certainly has the size to flourish in the college ranks. His nickname isn't bad either. Can he get the rest to follow?
Brandon Goble: 2022 7'1 C Bryan Penn Johnson (East LA)
Dream Vision YT (2017): Bryan Penn-Johnson Finding Purpose. Dream Vision C Bryan Penn-Johnson currently holds 22 college offers, yet has never played a varsity game of high school basketball in his life. Join BPJ and Dream Vision Coach Richard Vargas as a they take us inside the life of one of basketball's best kept secrets...a 7-Footer with a past, present and future unlike any you've ever heard of before.
 
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