Former UW recruit Wesley Yates III announces commitment to USC
The Washington Huskies’ trend of players moving to Los Angeles continued on Thursday as freshman Wesley Yates III declared his transfer to USC. Yates, a 6-foot-4 guard who redshirted last season due to a foot injury, is joining his cousin Quincy Pondexter and former UW assistant Will Conroy in L.A.
The Huskies had high expectations for Yates, a four-star recruit ranked 37th nationally by ESPN. The Beaumont, Texas native initially chose UW over other top programs like Gonzaga, Stanford, Baylor, Memphis, Auburn, Texas, Arkansas, and Houston.
However, a foot injury sidelined him for his first year at UW, and a subsequent coaching change prompted his transfer. After UW fired coach Mike Hopkins, Yates campaigned for Conroy to take over, but the job went to Danny Sprinkle instead. Yates entered the transfer portal two weeks later.
Recently, Yates was linked to Louisville and Oklahoma State. When Pondexter and Conroy joined Eric Musselman’s staff at USC, Yates made USC his top choice.
Yates is the fourth Husky from the 2023-24 team to transfer, following Koren Johnson (Louisville), Braxton Meah (Nebraska), and Nate Calmese (Washington State). Sprinkle, who brought in 10 newcomers, managed to retain Franck Kepnang, Wilhelm Breidenbach, and Christian King.
