Robert Upshaw to Transfer to Washington

Former Fresno St. center Robert Upshaw has decided to transfer to Washington. Upshaw, a 7 foot center, was dismissed from Fresno State August 15th following a disappointing freshman campaign, and after a third violation of athletic department policy. Upshaw was a top 50 recruit during his senior year at St. Joaquin High School in Fresno averaging 18 point, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks. He initially committed to Kansas State, but chose Fresno State after coach Frank Martin left for South Carolina.

Upshaw only played 22 game for Fresno State averaging 4.1 PPG and 3.8 RPG. He missed the start of the season due to a knee injury, and was suspended twice, once for 3 games in February and the second time through the Mountain West Tournament which Fresno State  was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Colorado State.

Upshaw was looking at mainly Washington and Oregon during his recent recruitment, but decided on the Huskies in the end. Upshaw said “I had a nice visit with both Washington and Oregon,”…”I just felt like Washington was a better fit for me as a player.” He will join the highly touted point guard Nigel Williams-Goss as the newest additions to a Huskies squad that lost in the First Round of the NIT last season to BYU. Upshaw will likely be replacing Aziz N”Diaye as the big man in the middle with N’Diaye graduating. Him and Shawn Kemp Jr. will look to improve a Huskies front court that struggled mightily at times last year.

This is a nice recruiting win for Lorenzo Romar, especially because Upshaw was looking at the rival Oregon Ducks as well. Romar said in a statement released by the university “We are very excited to have Robert Upshaw enroll at the University of Washington,”…“There are not many post guys out there like him in college basketball. We’re anxious to begin working with him to help him reach his overall potential.” Romar has a history developing NBA talent in players like Nate Robinson, Brandon Roy, Jon Brockman, Spencer Hawes, Tony Wroten, Terrence Ross, Isaiah Thomas, Quincy Pondexter, and others. We can only hope this is Romar’s latest project.