With Naz Carter dismissed, Huskies try and move on without him

When Naz Carter informed Mike Hopkins he was leaving Washington last week, there was already an appeal underway challenging a university student code of conduct. When that appeal was denied, the rest came out in short order.The university investigated two sexual assault charges levied against the senior guard, so whether he was leaving to try and play hoops in Australia (that later fell through), or somewhere else, it was clear Carter would never put on the Purple and Gold ever again."The process with our administration to dismiss Naz from the program was underway last Wednesday upon learning that his appeal of a university student code of conduct policy has been denied,” Hopkins read to the media Tuesday from a prepared statement. “I take allegations of this nature extremely seriously. Wednesday night Naz informed me that he would be leaving the program to pursue a professional career. As the leader of this program I hold myself, our student-athletes, and our staff to the highest standards on and off the court, and we hold ourselves accountable to those standards. And for that reason, Naz is no longer part of this program."And as far as the basketball side of things goes, that was that. And with the dismissal of Carter also goes 12 points and nearly five rebounds a game, as well as a veteran presence on the floor.Hopkins acknowledged how a loss of a potential all-league performer can affect a team struggling to find its offensive identity, but he harkened back to an old refrain that remains tru no matter the situation: Doesn’t Matter, Get Better.And he feels like that has happened the last 4-5 practices after the team returned to Seattle after their 76-62 loss at Utah. With the dribble penetration ‘stagnant’ based on trying to space things out more, they’ve worked lately on more offensive flow and also balance. They weren’t sure they were going to be able to get as much inside at the beginning of the year, but the play of Nate Roberts and Riley Sorn has shown Hop they have options now.The Huskies will have a chance to show their improvement Wednesday when they host Seattle (3-3).“Every game is going to be different,” he said. “We're just going to have to figure out during the game or when we're doing the scout where our advantage is and where we can have an advantage to win the game. Figuring that out was really important for us."