During their two years on the Washington men's basketball team, Frank Kepnan and Braxton Mair formed an interesting and briefly impressive duo at center, largely due to Kepnan's injury and Mair's instability. As a result, their expectations far exceeded their achievements.
On Monday night, Kepnan announced his return to the Huskies in a video on social media platform X with the caption, “I'm locked in. Go-go's!”
The next day, Maher posted on Instagram that he was heading to Nebraska, including a photo of himself wearing the No. 34 Cornhuskers jersey.
In a matter of hours, the Huskies' big men became former teammates and Big Ten rivals looking to revive their once-sterling careers.
Both arrived in Washington in 2022, and Meer, who previously played two years at Fresno State, has proven to be much more durable, missing just one game during his 64-game tenure as a Husky. Proven. In Washington, he averaged 7.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks while shooting 72.9 percent from the field.
A year ago, the 7-foot-1, 250-pound Mee broke out as a junior, setting career highs in points (8.8 per game), rebounds (7.2), blocks (1.6) and minutes played. , was considered a top NBA Draft candidate (27.3), started 31 games and earned All-Pac-12 Defensive Team honors.
Mee regressed last season, starting 16 games and averaging 5.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 16.9 minutes. In his last three games he totaled just four points and seven rebounds.
Although a much smaller sample size, Kepnan made a bigger impact when he was able to be on the court. The 6-11 center, who played two years at the University of Oregon, averaged 8.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks for the Huskies, shooting 56.1 percent from the field.
Kepnan had difficulty maintaining his health.
He played in just 18 games and missed 46 games over the past two seasons due to a right knee injury. He tore his right anterior cruciate ligament on December 1, 2022, missing the remainder of the season.
Then, on December 17, 2023, Kepnan again injured his right knee and was unable to play again last season.
“As for me and my recovery, everything is going well,” Kepnan said last month. “We expect to be back on the court this summer and ready for the start of camp.”
Kepnan is the first UW player on the roster last season to announce his return.
It remains to be seen whether forwards Wilhelm Breidenbach, Christian King and Samuel Aliyibi will return. The deadline to enter the transfer portal is Wednesday.
Four Huskies have entered the portal, including Koren Johnson, who will go to Louisville, while Wesley Yates III and Nate Kalmese are undecided.
Note
The Huskies have officially signed Butler transfer DJ Davis, joining rice guard Mekhi Mason and four-star recruit Zoom Diallo. Wisconsin State also features high school prospect Jace Butler.