The Washington Huskies got a promising boost to their frontcourt with the commitment of Frank Phillips College center Mady Traore, who signed with the Huskies shortly after his commitment on November 21.
After playing briefly at both New Mexico State and Maryland, Traore has starred at the junior college level, posting 17.6 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, shooting 60.3 percent from the field, 31.3 percent from three-point range, and 88.2 percent from the free throw line. The 6-foot-11, 195-pound sophomore can be an impact player at both ends of the floor and provides the necessary depth in the frontcourt that Sprinkle will need to compete in the Big Ten.
“Length and athleticism,” Sprinkle said. “He can play the three, four, or five, he really can. He’s a tremendous athlete for being 6-foot-11, he’s got like a 7-foot-6 wingspan, and he has some fast twitch to him. We don’t have a lot of fast twitch on our team right now, and we’re going to change that because we need that in our league.”
“We have a couple other guys coming in that are fast twitch and strong athletes, which we need to be able to play faster, and it gives you more flexibility defensively to guard and switch one through five, and even offensively, if you play him at the three, you could post him against a three, and he’s 6-11, and he’s going to jump over people. But he’s shooting the ball really well right now, and he’s a very versatile, probably more of a perimeter guy, I think, and that’s kind of where he wants to be, and that’s why I think he can play the three, four, or possibly stretch-five.”
Sprinkle added that his brief experience at Maryland should also help the Huskies defensively.
“He played a lot of five at Maryland, and he’s down there battling. He knows how to be coached. Coach [Kevin] Willard coached him hard, and the guys at New Mexico State coached him hard, so he knows how to defend at a high level, and with his length and athleticism, I think he can be a difference maker.”