This Saturday the Broncos head back to the ICCU Arena to face the Washington Huskies at 7 PM MT. After last week's win vs a Big Sky opponent, Boise State looks to keep things rolling against a Big Ten opponent. This is going to be a great first test for the Broncos. Head coach Leon Rice said that last week vs Idaho Junior wing Pearson Carmichael and Sophomore Wing Bhan Buom were both on minute restriction after both dealing with some injuries ahead of the game so hopefully we will be more at full strength as we will need the depth vs a solid Huskies team. Now lets go take a quick look at the Broncos lineup and what they will be facing in their exhibition match!
Boise State Projected Lineup
Starters:
PG: Damari Wheeler-Thomas(6’0)(5th year North Dakota State Transfer)
SG: Aginaldo Neto(6’2)(Returning Sophomore)
SF: Julian Bowie(6’3)(Returning Junior)
PF: Spencer Ahrens(6’10)(Returning Sophomore)
C: Dovydas Butka(6’9)(5th year Campbell Transfer)
Key Bench Players:
Pearson Carmichael(6’7)(Returning Junior)
Jerquarius Stanback(6’8)(Junior Alabama State Transfer)
Bhan Buom(6’8)(Returning Sophomore)
Ethan Lathan(6’10)(Returning Junior)
Jikany Deang(6’9)(Junior JUCO Transfer)
Rayzhon Bergersen(6’2)(Returning 5th year)
Players who are out:
Ty Rodgers(6’6)(5th year Illinois Transfer)(Injured)
Lamar Washington(6’4)(5th year Georgia Tech Transfer)(Not Eligible)
Washington's Projected Lineup
Starters:
PG: Ryan Beasley(5’11)(Senior San Francisco Transfer)
SG: Wesley Yates III(6’4)(Returning Senior)
SF: LeJuan Watts(6’5)(5th year Texas Tech Transfer)
PF: Lathan Sommerville(6’10)(Returning Junior)
C: Mady Traore(7’1)(Returning 5th year)
Key Bench Players:
Steele Venters(6’7)(8th year Gonzaga Transfer)
Tayshawn Comer(6’1)(5th year Nevada Transfer)
Parker Friedrichsen(6’4)(Senior Davidson Transfer)
Harun Zrno(6’7)(Sophomore Rutgers Transfer)
Wini Braga(6’9)(Freshman from Brazil)
Thoughts on the Huskies
Danny Sprinkle, former Utah State head coach has put together a nice squad with a good mixture of returners, transfers, and even some intriguing freshmen. Washington is 68th in the preseason KenPom rankings which is 9 spots behind Boise State. They have a nice back court with Beasley who averaged 13.6 PPG and 4 APG last season at San Francisco and Yates who is returning to Washington after averaging 12.7 PPG last season with the Huskies. The most intriguing guy on this roster in my opinion is LeJuan Watts. Watts averaged 11.8 PPG, 6 RPG, and 2.4 APG last year on a very good Texas Tech team. He may only be listed at 6’5 but he is 225 pounds and plays more like a power forward rather than your average 6’5 guy. Their front court is a bit of a question mark with both guys having a past with injuries. Sommerville was limited to just 22 games(7 starts) with a knee injury and then Traore missed the entire 2025-2026 season with an injury. They both have the potential and talent to be a good front court as Traore was a top JUCO recruit 2 years ago and Sommerville was a 4 star in the Class of 2024. Off the bench they have good talent with Venters who is a great 3 and D wing from Gonzaga, Comer who averaged 11 PPG last year at Nevada, Friedrichsen who averaged 10.8 PPG on 40.5% from behind the arc, as well as Zrno the sophomore transfer from Rutgers who averaged 6.5 PPG on 19 MPG as a freshman. Wini Braga the freshman from Brazil is still dealing with some eligibility issues so not too sure how much we will see of him but when he is available he is a very intriguing prospect!
How Boise State matches up with Washington
If the Broncos roll out the same starters as they did against Idaho which consisted of Damari Wheeler-Thomas, AG Neto, Julian Bowie, Spencer Ahrens, and Dovydas Butka we will match up with Washington's projected starters pretty well height wise. The only glaring issue I see is who is guarding Watts. Watt is 6’5 and 225 pounds which could give us some trouble since we will have to put one of our three guards on him even though he doesn't play like much of a guard. Their frontcourt could also be a factor, Traore is 7’1 but only listed at 195 pounds, I would expect Ahrens or if Alabama State transfer Jerquarius Stanback gets the start I would expect one of them to guard Traore. Sommerville on the other hand is 6’10 and listed at 275 pounds according to CBS, which is 50 pounds heavier than the Broncos starting center Dovydas Butka who is listed at 6’9 225 pounds. Beasley and Yates are both good guards, but Damari and AG are also great on ball defenders who like to bring pressure so those should be fun match ups.
Things I'd like to see from the Broncos
There are three things I'd like to see improvement from the Idaho game. The first thing is better rebounding from the Broncos. Against the Vandals the Broncos were out rebounded 36 to 29. In Leon's interview today he talked about the poor rebounding and said “That doesn't fly around here”. One person in particular I want to see improvement from is sophomore forward Spencer Ahrens. In 31 minutes against the Vandals Ahrens only brought in 1 rebound. As someone who is 6’10 we are going to need better rebounding out of him. It honestly starts with physicality, there were a couple times he was just getting bumped around. If Spencer can step it up in that area that will help the team a lot.
Secondly, I'd like to see better three point shooting. Against Idaho the Broncos shot 5 for 21 from behind the arc which is a rough 24%. With this fast pace offense and getting quick shots we are going to need that number to be at least 35% for this offense to be special. It may have just been first game jitters as there were a couple of bad misses and interesting shot selections. If we can see some improvement in shooting that would be a good sign if they can keep it up for an entire season.
Lastly, I hope to see the same intense defense. Against Idaho the Broncos were able to force 22 turnovers with 16 of those coming in the first half. Having our guys flying around in lanes and putting ball pressure on can really rattle an offense and help us get some turnovers that we can hopefully turn into some transition buckets. I'm not saying we have to force 20+ turnovers again since that's not always realistic, but if we can play with that same intensity as last week that would be a very good sign for this team's defense this season.
