Ouija Observations: Washington vs. Michigan
Rowan Kent had to catch the hometown Washington Huskies in their bout against the Michigan Wolverines, sharing his thoughts on Hannes Steinbach, Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr., and more!
With conference basketball games in full swing, the meat of the draft cycle is upon us. Marquee non-conference matchups are always going to demand a ton of eyeballs, but while those matchups between heavyweights certainly carry impact on a prospect’s stock, the sheer volume of quality opponents in the conference slate holds a different type of weight.
Luckily, although I miss the PAC-12 of yore, Washington’s recent move to the Big Ten has given me a steady stream of quality teams chock full of NBA draft prospects to scout. I’ve already watched the UCLA Bruins hold on for a close win over the hometown Huskies, but it’s been over a month since I saw Washington play in-person. In that time, the Huskies have won contests over USC, San Diego, Southern Utah, Utah, and Ohio State, while dropping contests to Seattle, Purdue, and Indiana.
With a Top 5 team in town, it was an easy sell for me to make the short trip to Alaska Airlines Arena for my second time this season and watch my alma mater Michigan Wolverines, take on the Huskies. With multiple players ranked in the Top 60 of the most recent No Ceilings Big Board, there were a ton of players who made positive impressions and others who didn’t have their best showing.
So, what did I see go down in the game?
Michigan Wolverines
Yaxel Lendeborg
I had Yaxel Lendeborg as a first round talent in last year’s NBA Draft class, but as a fan of the Wolverines, I didn’t complain from a fandom perspective when he headed to Ann Arbor. The move was a more fascinating fit from a draft perspective, especially with the jumbo recruiting class that Dusty May brought in, but the dividends have already paid for themselves with Lendeborg’s near-consensus first-round draft stock this season. I was most curious to watch him play more of an assertive wing role, given his time dominating the paint at UAB, and I wasn’t disappointed with the growth I saw, even if it wasn’t his best game.
Lendeborg only shot 6-of-15 from the field and missed a handful of open three-pointers, but there was only one player in the game who played with more zeal and focus than he did. Lendeborg was engaged in every defensive matchup, and he had a ton of them, whether it was locking down Zoom Diallo on the perimeter or giving Hannes Steinbach fits inside the paint.
Lendeborg’s defensive versatility was on full display all game, as he was the skeleton key Dusty May used to stymie the Huskies. His offensive approach was sound as well, as he hunted his shot when his team needed a boost and played a complementary role when the focus was on hammering the rim with the bigs. Overall, due to his growth into a more all-around offensive player and the lack of change in his overall effectiveness despite a leap in conferences, I’ll keep Lendeborg hovering around the lottery on my draft board.
Morez Johnson Jr.
Forgive me for my tardiness, but I’m fully on the bandwagon for Morez Johnson Jr. now. Although I’d watched a handful of Michigan games this season, I didn’t fully grasp how impressive Johnson Jr. can be in person. Sure, he’s virtually tied with Yaxel Lendeborg for leading the team in scoring, but the Washington game turned on the light bulb for me.
Simply put, Johnson Jr.’s fingerprints were on every facet of the game. He grabbed nine rebounds in the first ten minutes of the game, with most of those earned through savvy positioning and hard work. Johnson Jr. had a great coast-to-coast take and was hounding perimeter players whenever he switched onto them. While he missed some bunnies at the hoop, he put up a 16-16 double-double performance that encapsulated Michigan’s domination in the paint.
Johnson Jr. will definitely be rising on my board, since he plays hard enough to make up for any size or shooting concerns. He knows his role, plays it as well as he possibly can, and provides clear value as a defender and rebounder to the Wolverines. After last night, I don’t see a reason he can’t keep that up at the NBA level, too.
Aday Mara
The first article I ever wrote for No Ceilings was an opening-week piece in which I extolled the good word of Aday Mara. After a dominant performance for Spain’s junior FIBA teams, I was sold on what Mara could do at the NBA level with his size, finishing, and balance. Sadly, he ended up at UCLA, where he languished on the bench in and out of the lineup for two seasons while his draft stock cratered.
Under Dusty May’s coaching, however, Mara has thrived in much more of the way that I’d hoped he would for the Bruins. In many ways, Mara was a force against the physically imposing frontcourt for the Huskies. Whether it was Franck Kepnang, Hannes Steinbach, or Jacob Ognacevic, Mara took a patient approach to making the most of his touches inside. Mara was the game’s leading scorer, only missing one of his eleven shots, and also swatted away three shots.
Even though Mara now looks draftable after seeing his stock get gutshot in L.A., I still saw some of the same issues that I didn’t notice in my first piece on him. He isn’t the most fluid mover, has some defensive concerns in space, and doesn’t do enough as a shooter or passer on offense. Despite these concerns that haven’t changed, it’s clear that it just took time for Mara to become a better player. He’s now higher on my board and likely in line to get drafted if he declares this year.
Other Ouija Observations
This will come as a shot, but here it goes anyway: I highly doubt Michigan will win the title this year (cries in Wolverine) due to their point guard issues. Elliot Cadeau was held scoreless and doesn’t look like the piece that can lead this team when push comes to shove in March and hopefully April.
On the other hand, there weren’t many better options from the guard room for Michigan. L.J. Cason had an elite foul-baiting game, drawing some silly fouls in an otherwise poorly officiated game. He still needs to develop more overall on offense before he can make any draft noise.
Roddy Gayle Jr. stuffed the stat sheet on both ends while also getting to the line eight times, but his lack of outside scoring pressure does leave me a bit worried overall for his NBA outlook.
Finally, while it’s not going to happen this year without a March Madness surge, I look forward to seeing Trey McKenney as he develops in college. He has a solid shooting stroke, good guard measurables, and solid athleticism, which could help him scale up in a future role.
Washington Huskies
Hannes Steinbach
Against the UCLA Bruins, Hannes Steinbach showed exactly why I moved him to a lottery-level prospect. Against the Michigan Wolverines, Hannes Steinbach showed that he’s also a young player who can, will, and will continue to develop. On the surface, it wasn’t a bad game for Steinbach, as he had a double-double alongside two blocks despite some questionable foul calls on him in both halves.
Where Steinbach had a tougher game, however, was against a bulky front line. Steinbach was an absolute worm on the offensive glass, snagging seven rebounds on that end himself, but he struggled to put those back in the way he’s done all year. From an efficiency standpoint, however, Steinbach struggled to finish over Mara, Johnson Jr., or Lendeborg.
His issues with touch, alongside his still-developing jumper, left Steinbach without the same type of imprint he’s had all season. He never got into a rhythm due to the foul calls that didn’t go his way, but Steinbach’s performance did throw some cold water on his incandescent draft stock. Still, there aren’t many other high-upside young big men in this draft class, which means he won’t be dropping for me at all.
Zoom Diallo
As the second-leading scorer on the Huskies, Zoom Diallo has taken a major leap up in his role for the team in his second season. Diallo was impressive against UCLA, but similar to Hannes Steinbach against Michigan, he was more muted against the Wolverines. That wasn’t a major step down, however, as he still showed off what has elevated him into fringe draft conversations this season.
Diallo had two great fadeaways over Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara respectively, while putting consistent pressure on the rim in the half-court. As a passer, however, Diallo had his worst game of the season, not recording an assist while giving up the ball six times. For all of the growth that Diallo has shown, it’ll take more marked improvement as a shooter and passer to make any real news as a draft prospect in the 2026 class.
JJ Mandaquit
Until the second half, there was little that JJ Mandaquit had done to change my perception on him after watching him play against UCLA. Mandaquit was doing his best to run Washington’s offense, but due to his lack of scoring pop and physical tools, he was getting pushed around and was held scoreless. Then, the dam broke, and Mandaquit finished as the leading scorer for the Huskies with 15 points and three made triples.
This was the Mandaquit that starred alongside AJ Dybantsa at the high school level at Utah Prep. With the defense unable to cheat off of him, Mandaquit adjusted the offensive pace to his leisure and started to juice the team into an almost-comeback attempt midway through the second half. It’ll take more consistent outings than just a one-off to convince me of Mandaquit’s draft candidacy any time soon, but it was nice to see what his most actualized version could be at the college level.
Other Ouija Observations
At just 10-7, I’m a bit disappointed in the Huskies as a team right now. They have the talent in both the front and backcourt to be a better squad, but haven’t been able to play too many complete games. It won’t hurt Steinbach’s draft stock, but I’d feel a bit of pressure if I were Danny Sprinkle, as there are quality players like Desmond Claude and Quimari Peterson who either aren’t helping win games or are being wasted with this lackluster season in the Big Ten.
In his first game back in a month, Wesley Yates III mostly got his legs under him in his fifteen minutes on the floor. He missed every shot, didn’t look bursty, and seemed to slip more into a “maybe one day” type of draft prospect.
It was nice to see Bryson Tucker healthy this time out, as he hit a nice midrange jump shot and had a block and a steal. Still, there’s a lot more seasoning needed for Tucker on both ends before he makes any real draft noise.
Finally, having brought him up earlier, I think it’s fair to say that Desmond Claude will have to make a ton of changes to factor into any future draft conversations, given his lack of ability to get on the floor or make any impact on either end once he’s there.
glad you got to go to the game
Think I need to do a write up on what the huskies need to do to be good