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Washington adds to strong class by landing Noah Dickerson

Jeff Eisenberg
·Senior writer

For a program that hasn't made the NCAA tournament since 2011 and returns only three scholarship players from last season's team, Washington should enter the summer feeling at least somewhat optimistic about its future.

The Huskies will welcome an eight-man recruiting class that could be formidable enough to one day get the program back to competing for Pac-12 titles the way it did at the apex of Lorenzo Romar's tenure.

The latest addition is former Florida signee Noah Dickerson, a 6-foot-8 forward Rivals.com ranks No. 81 in the class of 2015. Dickerson chose Washington over Pac-12 rival Cal on Thursday after reopening his recruitment earlier this spring when Billy Donovan left Florida for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

For Dickerson, the appeal of Washington surely stemmed from the available playing time in the frontcourt. The Huskies don't return a single frontcourt player from last season, having lost Shawn Kemp Jr. and Gilles Dierickx to graduation, Robert Upshaw to dismissal and Jernard Jerreau via transfer.

Dickerson will join a recruiting class that includes fellow Rivals 150 prospects Dejounte Murray, Matisse Thybulle and Marquese Chriss. The other newcomers eligible next season are guards David Crisp and Dominic Green, forward Devenir Duruisseau and junior-college center Malik Dime.

Enthusiasm for that recruiting class should at temper some of Washington's disappointment over how its once-promising 2014-15 season ended. A Huskies team in contention for an NCAA tournament bid for a while collapsed after dismissing Upshaw and then lost top guard Nigel Williams-Goss via a transfer to in-state rival Gonzaga.

It's unlikely the combination of standout guard Andrew Andrews, returning role players Quevyn Winters and Donaven Dorsey and an eight-man recruiting class will get Washington back to the NCAA tournament next season, but the Huskies can at least build a foundation for future success.

They've endured a rough patch the past few years. Next season could be a new beginning.

For more Washington news, visit The Dawg Report

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!