Christian Nitu Goes Through a UW Practice Drill

SEATTLE — For one October afternoon Christian Nitu looked every bit the part of a 6-foot-11 rim protector the University of Washington hoped could stabilize its front line. The left-handed sophomore out of Toronto moved through a mid-practice drill, showing enough mobility to suggest he could help a program suddenly thin in the post.

“I’ve played all over the world,” Nitu told reporters that day, ticking off stops that included FIBA competition, a season at Florida State and prep ball in Canada. “I’ve traveled around to America all the time.”

Within weeks the itinerary changed. A toe injury flared, Nitu announced plans to redshirt, and when the regular season began he was nowhere near the Hec Edmundson Pavilion floor. Coach Danny Sprinkle, who had flown to Tallahassee for a personal workout before signing Nitu, declined public comment on the split, but people inside the program say two strong-willed parties simply stopped communicating.

The separation became official after barely a month: Nitu gone, UW left to sort out its depleted frontcourt without him. He has since posted solo workout clips—location uncertain, perhaps Canada—while awaiting another program willing to gamble on a mobile 6-11 big man whose résumé now includes an unflattering footnote in Seattle.