Washington Huskies Should Target ex-Garfield High Star in Portal

Former Garfield High School star and University of Connecticut reserve Jaylin Stewart could be destined to return to the Emerald City and use his final year of eligibility to play for the Washington Huskies in 2026-27.

Stewart, a 6-foot-7 forward who signed on to play for coach Dan Hurley as part of the Huskies' 2023 recruiting class, put his name in the transfer portal on Friday, bringing his three-year UConn career to an end with 104 games played (24 starts).

As a four-star recruit out of high school, UW was the second college to offer Stewart when ex-coach Mike Hopkins was at the helm of the program. However, three months after Hopkins joined Portland State's Jase Coburn to offer the top-ranked prospect from the state of Washington in the '23 class, Hurley offered, and just two months later, ended up securing his commitment.

Now back on the open market, having averaged four points and two rebounds per game as a reserve option for UConn, Stewart could find his hometown Huskies as an ideal destination to use his final year of eligibility with Danny Sprinkle needing another wing option with the potential for the ex-Garfield star to be a consistent starter.

At his best at UConn, Stewart was a rotational player as a sophomore and one of four players to play in all 35 games for the Huskies in 2024-25, averaging 5.4 points and 17.8 minutes per game.

With the departures of sophomore forward Bryson Tucker and freshman Hannes Steinbach, and only two guard transfers announced so far, Stewart could find himself being a starter for Sprinkle in his final year of eligibility, something that, paired with playing in front of friends and family, could be hard to beat.

The two announced transfers of ex-Davidson guard Parker Friedrichsen and former Gonzaga guard/wing Steele Venters shouldn’t prohibit UW from at the very least making a run at Stewart and ideally getting him on campus for an official visit, and it isn’t expected that the former Garfield standout would want to find another bench destination with one year of eligibility remaining.

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: UW Men’s Basketball is Perfect Destination For UConn’s Stewart