When Wesley Yates III returned to the Washington Huskies through the transfer portal after a year with the USC Trojans, Danny Sprinkle's coaching staff had high expectations for him.

After suffering a broken wrist, which required him to play the last two months with a plate in his wrist, his numbers didn't match the hype, as he averaged 12.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 assists per game in his first year of actual action on Montlake while shooting 31.3 percent from three-point range and never looking comfortable as he dealt with the injury.

"He'd still come and fight and compete every day; it's how he's built," Sprinkle said of Yates on Thursday. "I appreciate that about him. But it's one thing now that we got the plate out; now I think his wrist is feeling pretty good."

However, Yates missed the majority of the summer with a much more serious injury: blood clots.

"He missed the entire summer and all of September," Sprinkle continued. "He just got back probably three weeks ago, which is another tough blow for him, but he's back now, and we think we have the medication to keep his blood levels under control and all that. He's been really good since he got back."

As the Philadelphia Eagles have been under fire over the last week for their handling of blood clots with star quarterback Jalen Hurts, Sprinkle added that he believes Yates is in a great spot with the treatment he's received.

"It's very serious," he said. "And I mean, that's the good thing about being at the University of Washington is we have one of the best trainers in the country, but our doctors and the medical school that we have right across the street is elite, and so the testing and the care that he's getting is elite level."