The Washington Huskies have been keen to cash in on the Transfer Portal—almost to a fault. However, Husky Football team struck gold with Heisman-contending quarterback Michael Penix, could their basketball counterpart have found similar riches?
Mike Hopkins is looking to reverse the Huskies’ offensive word with freshman transfer Nate Calmese.
The 6-2 guard started his college career in the state of Texas with Lamar University. At Lamar he averaged an astounding 17.6 points per game, a number which was second amongst freshmen at the D-1 level.
The only freshman player with more was Brandon Miller, who is the projected third overall pick in this years NBA draft. Calmese’s calm easy delivery netted him 17.6 points a game, plus 2.5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.5 steals a game.
He was named the Southland Conference Freshman of the Year. This transfer represents a huge victory for the Husky basketball program.
Washington beat out national basketball giants including the likes of Alabama, Cincinnati, and Arizona.
While Calmese spent a majority of his time at point guard he may see more time as a shooting guard in Seattle.
He will have to earn a starting spot as the Huskies have good back court depth. But slotting Calmese along side transfer portal counter part Sahvir Wheeler could be deadly.
While there isn’t a huge sample size given that he had played one year of college basketball, Wheeler has been on the court he is one of the top assisting guards not only in the conference but in the nation. Add a true scorer like Calmese and the Huskies have a back court that is primed to compliment each other in what would be a much improved offense.
Picking up a weapon like Calmese is going to be huge for a Huskies team that struggled to score points last season. The scoring option that he adds either in the starting 5 or coming off the bench will be a big boost to a team that scored just 69.2 points per game.
A number which ranked them 238th in the country. for context that was tied with Idaho State. Hopkins’ back is up against the wall, the goal is always to contend in the Pac-12 and make it into March.
Doing that is very hard with the 165th ranked offense on KenPom, but adding a player who not only scores but does so efficiently is a huge step in improving from last season. Calmese will have to make adjustments moving from the Southland to a Power 5 conference. However, Calmese’s meter has 3 years left on it, and plenty of talent on the team right now, the team, on paper appears to be much-improved.
Could Calmese be the missing piece in Husky basketball?
