Seferian-Jenkins joins Husky basketball team
After some struggles on the road against Colorado and Utah, the Washington Huskies showed they could use some help.
Sure enough, coach Lorenzo Romar's team is getting some.
Advertisement
You may know him as the talented freshman tight end. But soon you'll know Austin Seferian-Jenkins as the first two-sport athlete in football and basketball at the UW since Nate Robinson.
"(Seferian-Jenkins) is going to play basketball," Romar said during his weekly press conference Monday. "Hopefully he'll suit up at practice today."
So what kind of player do the Huskies get with this 6-foot-6, 260-pounder?
"He is very physical," Romar said with a chuckle. "There will be some adjustments for him, but he does bring a high level of physicality as a hard-worker. I watched him play basketball in high school; he's a good basketball player."
This is certainly a big boost for a Husky team that lacks presence in the paint. Still though, expectations should probably be tempered for now.
Remember, Seferian-Jenkins is only a freshman.
He still has to learn a completely new system.
He still hasn't played a real game in more than a year. It's tough coming into a program multiple months late, and he'll have to do just that. He has to play catch-up.
With all that being said, ASF is no doubt in incredible shape and is a physical specimen, so it wouldn't be too much of a surprise if he could contribute in the coming months.
But don't get too excited. Seferian-Jenkins won't play against Seattle University Tuesday, Romar said.
It's a game the Huskies can't afford to over-look.
"(We) are honed in on Seattle U. right now," Romar said. "They have to be the best 3-10 team in America. They are better than their record indicates.
"We are concerned about that game right now."
And perhaps the Huskies should.
The Redhawks might be better than their record indicates. They traveled to Harvard and played the No. 25 team in the nation hard before falling by 10 points.
The Redhawks also lost to No. 17 Virginia by just six points in a game in which Seattle was ahead late.
They have played a bunch of other teams very close.
The Redhawks, who are 22nd in the nation in rebounding, are led by former-Husky Clarence Trent and senior forward Aaron Broussard.
Trent is averaging 11 points and five rebounds per game, while Broussard, a Federal Way native, is at 17 points and six rebounds per game.
"When they played Virginia, they couldn't stop (Broussard)," Romar said. "Virginia plays as good of defense as anyone, and they couldn't stop him. He's becoming a heck of a player."
Washington could have its hands full in this one before another rival, Washington State, comes into town on Sunday.