Mike Hopkins really didn’t want to play the “What if?” game with three weeks left before the Pac-12 tournament and the Washington men’s basketball team clinging to hopes of somehow salvaging a season mired in mediocrity.
But when prodded, the eternally optimistic UW coach admitted sometimes he wonders how things might have unfolded for the Huskies if Franck Kepnang, their 6-foot-11, 250-pound defensive-oriented backup center, didn’t suffer a season-ending knee injury Dec. 1.
“There’s a lot of ifs, but it doesn’t do anything to help,” Hopkins said. “It might make you feel better when you’re watching the Super Bowl and going ‘Oh God, it could have been.’
“Franck, I believe, could have been the (Pac-12) defensive player of the year. He was that level of rim protection and shot blocker. … Sometimes things don’t happen the way that you think they’ll happen and other guys have to step up.”
To varying degrees, other Huskies have stepped up, including senior forward Keion Brooks Jr., who is second in the Pac-12 in scoring while averaging 17.9 points.
And 7-1 junior center Braxton Meah has displayed potential while averaging career highs in points (8.8 per game), rebounds (6.9), blocks (1.5) and minutes (26.2) in 25 starts.
However, the Huskies (13-13, 5-10 Pac-12) haven’t been the same since Kepnang went down.
“There’s certain players that it’s not just the impact that they (have) like on a blocked shot or a rundown block in transition,” Hopkins said. “It’s leadership. It’s the person that he is. He’s got that infectious, contagious positive energy either on the court or off. (We) kind of lost a little bit of the spirt for that.”
Washington’s matchup against Oregon (15-11, 9-6) at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Alaska Airlines Arena was supposed to be the ‘Franck Kepnang’ game, considering he spent the previous two seasons with the Ducks.
“I had the day marked,” Kepnang said. “It was one of those games where you think about the whole game months before it happens. I knew exactly what I was going to do. You visualize how the game is going to go.”
Kepnang is the epitome of a selfless, team-first player who prioritizes winning above everything else, but he also wanted to showcase the newfound abilities against his former team.
“During the eight games I played, I showed a glimpse of my true potential and what I’ve been working on for so many years,” said Kepnang, who averaged 4.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 12.6 minutes in 52 games at Oregon. “That was the reason I left.”
With the Huskies, Kepnang averaged 9.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 22.9 minutes before crumpling to Oregon State’s Gill Coliseum court midway through the second half of a 66-65 UW defeat.
“As soon as it happened, I felt my foot touch the ground and, feeling that pop, I knew at that moment I’m not coming back up,” Kepnang said. “This was different. The whole time I was on the floor, I actually didn’t feel a physical pain, but it was more of an emotional pain of not being able to go back out there to help my team.
“In my head, I’m thinking, ‘Why now?’ All of those dreams. All the time put in and so many things that it felt like it was coming to fruition after so many years when I had no opportunity. I was really starting to find my groove. And we were coming back in the game. All of those emotions, that was the real pain rather than the physical pain.”
The Huskies were 6-1 in the games Kepnang finished, including a 68-64 overtime win against No. 17 St. Mary’s in Anaheim, California, on Nov. 24 to win the Wooden Legacy.
It was one of a handful of breakout performances for Kepnang, who received all-tournament honors. He tallied 16 points and 10 rebounds — both season highs — off the bench in a 75-67 nonconference win against North Florida and still ranks third among Huskies with 15 blocks.
And Washington had an imposing lineup with Kepnang and Meah alongside Brooks on the front line.
“Unstoppable,” Kepnang said when asked about his pairing in the post with Meah. “There’s no doubt in my mind about that. Unstoppable.”
Kepnang gets disheartened when he thinks about what might have been.
“I’m human,” he said. “I get those emotions. They come and go. But as soon as they come, I realize them and the only thing I can tell myself is you’re right here, right now. What can you do to help instead of keep going to that what if? Just plunge into it because it’s not going to help anything. It’s not going to help the situation. It’s not going to help you get better.”
Despite a season gone awry, Kepnang remains upbeat and grateful for the little things like his mother, Hortense Tchuisseu, making her first trip to the United States from Yaoundé, Cameroon, the week before his injury.
“It was a blessing, I can’t deny that,” said Kepnang, who underwent surgery in December to repair his right anterior cruciate ligament. “We’re believers and sometimes God works in many ways that I can’t explain. She was there at the right moment and the right time because I could not imagine going through this, especially the post-surgery, without her being there.
“It was a lot of sleepless nights because of the pain. The only time I could really sleep was having her by my side. I remember waking up and just yelling her name, ‘I need you right now!’” Whatever the reason, I just needed her here. And her being there just calmed me down. The pain seemed to just go away and I was able to sleep.”
The knee injury and months of rehabilitation prompted Kepnang, who is studying engineering and computer science, to realign his academic pursuits with his basketball desires.
“My end goal is to go to grad school and become a robotic engineer,” he said. “At the same time, I have big dreams. I obviously want to play and stay in the NBA. Computer science and basketball is tough to do both at the same time, but it all comes down to time management and discipline. That’s what I’ve really been learning, especially this year where everything really matters. The classes I’m taking are the classes I actually want to take toward my major and not just a prerequisite.
“It’s been a journey of being disciplined, manage your time well and spend enough time in class so I can master the concepts that we’re talking about, doing the project the right way and also put time into basketball where I can get better.”
Kepnang, who estimates he’s two to three months away from participating in basketball drills, said he plans to return to Washington next season.
“Next fall camp I should be 100%,” he said. “I definitely want a good college year at 100%. I want to be with the team. I want to play for the Dawgs. I want to finish the season. I feel like this year got cut short a little bit. I really, really want to do something big for the city.”