SEATTLE — On the heels of losing its two top scorers to NBA draft eligibility, the University of Washington men’s basketball team was just looking for bodies.
That the Huskies added a big body only made the latest UW recruit that much more important.
Perris Blackwell, a 6-foot-9 transfer from the University of San Francisco who has one year of eligibility remaining, signed with the Huskies on Monday. Blackwell must sit out the 2012-13 season under NCAA transfer rules but could add another needed big body to the UW frontcourt the following season.
Blackwell was seen with coach Lorenzo Romar on the UW campus over the weekend and did not waste much time in making his decision.
“He is someone that you throw the ball to in the middle, (and) he can use both hands and is crafty around the basket,” Romar said in a statement released through the UW athletic department. “He has a high, high basketball IQ and really understands how to play.”
As a junior at USF last season, Blackwell averaged 12.7 points and a team-high 6.1 rebounds per game.
The Huskies return only one starter taller than 6-foot-7 next year in 7-foot center Aziz N’Diaye. UW also lost freshman Tony Wroten Jr. and sophomore Terrence Ross to early entry in the upcoming NBA draft.
Blackwell, who joins Tacoma Community College swingman Mark McLaughlin as the second transfer to join UW in the past week, is expected to be part of a 2013-14 frontcourt that also could include 6-10 Jernard Jarreau, 6-9 Shawn Kemp Jr. and 6-8 Martin Breunig
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