Courtland Muldrew became the fifth former University of Washington basketball player to find a landing spot, on Wednesday turning to the ACC and jjoining a rebuilding Georgia Tech program with a new coach.
Of those who have relocated from Montlake, most players have headed to Southern schools with guard Zoom Diallo and center Franck Kepnang transferring to Kentucky and forward Christian Nitu signing on with McNeese State in Louisiana, and now Muldrew turning up in Atlanta.
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Add to that guard JJ Mandaquit, who will play for Arizona, which is south by Southwest.
The 6-foot-3 Muldrew, originally from Springdale, Arkansas — and that state’s all-time leading high school scorer — departed Montlake after playing in 20 games as a freshman and starting just once against Wisconsin.
Curiously, with his big reputation as an offensive player coming in, Muldrew wasn’t necessarily a fluid scorer for the Huskies, averaging just 3.3 points per game while shooting 21.1 percent from 3-point range.
His high game was 9 points, which he reached three times near the end of the season.
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Consequently, Husky coach Danny Sprinkle tried to make him into a defensive player, which maybe was a big reason why he left.
Early on, he explained his attraction to Sprinkle’s UW program while resisting the recruiting efforts of John Calipari-coached Arkansas back home.
“I felt Sprinkle has been loyal to me,” Muldrew said before last season. “I was his first commit here. Me being the first commit here I felt was big time. I just wanted to stay loyal.”
Of course, things change along those lines on a dime into today’s revolving door that is college basketball.
Muldrew appeared in just four of 13 games before the schedule turned over exclusively to Big Ten match-ups in January.
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With several players getting hurt and the roster down to seven scholarship players, he played in the final eight games and seemed to be on his way with the Huskies.
Yet he chose not to play anymore for Sprinkle, who more and more seems like an acquired taste.
“Anything he says, I can handle, even if it’s like the nastiest thing,” Muldrew said. “He’s going to be on you. That’s what he wants from you. He’s going to be on you. He wants you to reach your goals. I have no problem with how he talks.”
Yet he now turns to a Georgia Tech program coming off an 11-20 season and moving forward with a new coach Scott Cross, who was hired from Troy. It’s maybe a bigger rebuild than the UW.
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Of those who left the Huskies, only guard Desmond Claude remains unaccounted for and it’s unclear whether he’ll pursue pro basketball or petition for another season of college ball.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/washington as Muldrew Resurfaces In ACC, Joins Georgia Tech Rebuild.
