Washington basketball's starting center enters transfer portal

On Tuesday morning, a stalwart of the Washington Huskies' program, center Franck Kepnang, announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal.

Over the last four years, the 6-foot-11 product of Cameroon, who was a top 50 overall recruit coming out of high school, endeared himself to the UW fanbase with his intensity and energy, especially on the defensive end, after spending the first two years of his college career with the Oregon Ducks.

After making the move north, Kepnang struggled with injuries, but was one of the nation's most impactful defenders whenever he was on the court. He played in 59 games over four years on Montlake and averaged 7.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game, including a career-high 2.1 blocks per contest across 27 appearances in the 2025-26 season, good for the second-most in the Big Ten.

In his portal announcement, Kepnang also left the door open for a return to Montlake as he pursues a seventh season of eligibility. Throughout the season, both he and head coach Danny Sprinkle appeared confident that he'd receive it due to his injury history, which limited him to 8 games in the 2022-23 season, 10 in 2023-24, and 14 in 2024-25.

However, if he does choose not to return and to play another year elsewhere, Washington will be looking for a big man to fill the void he'd leave in the middle of the floor. As of Tuesday morning, the Huskies' rotation in the frontcourt would be centers Mady Traore and Lathan Sommerville, along with forward Nikola Dzepina, which isn't nearly enough depth to get by in the Big Ten.

In the first few days of the transfer portal, Sprinkle has hosted a few potential options to add depth up front, including Texas Tech forward LeJuan Watts and Boise State's Drew Fielder.

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Washington Huskies stalwart center enters transfer portal