August 2010

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Year of the Hometown Hero?

August 27, 2010 in Uncategorized by Themod | 27 comments

by Craig Yamada, Editor-In-Chief

Clockwise from Top (Hikeem Stewart, Tony Wroten, Kevin Davis, Kasen Williams, Austin Seferian-Jenkins)

“I want to be that home town guy, that local guy to help bring them back up.” – Austin Seferian-Jenkins

2010. I am going to call it now: The year of the hometown hero. ASJ started it and we hope Tony Wroten will finish it. Not often will we cross pollinate with UW Football, but the recruiting trends will share some sparkling similarities in regards to their hometown guys.

On my birthday, ASJ delivered me a wonderful gift in deciding to attend the UW on a Football scholarship. As arguably the best TE in all the land, ASJ is looking to deliver a Rose Bowl and National Championship back to Seattle. By far, one of the most heralded in-state recruits UW has hauled in for their football program since Jake Locker. An extra added bonus was that he declared he would play basketball for Coach Romar in 2011 as a walk on. (More to come on that later)

ASJ has started what most Dawg fans hope will be a domino effect of local talent staying home to represent their city and state to play their respective sports. The next domino to fall is Kasen Williams, the #1 WR on the West Coast, who we all prayed would don the purple and gold next fall over a myriad of big name schools. And today, we got our wish.

Kasen used the same reasoning as ASJ did regarding his final decision. He values his family, the proximity to home, and playing for a program on the rise. Could there be assimilation with our basketball recruits? Without a doubt.

As a Seattle native, what basketball recruit could say no to the notoriety that comes along with being the primary focus of basketball in Seattle? The Sonics are long gone, may they rest in peace. UW Basketball is now the epicenter of the basketball community not only in Seattle, but in all of Washington.  (No disrespect to WSU or Seattle U) But without an NBA team, local players would become instant celebrities walking down the streets of downtown. Seattle’s homegrown ballers will have an opportunity to play for a national contender in the comfort of their own backyard. Their families would be a five minute drive away to watch their kids play under the bright lights of Hec Ed. What could be better? Simple answer: Nothing.

Although Wroten has been heard again and again about UK being his leader, I just don’t see how UK can eclipse UW here. Wroten, the cousin of Nate Robinson, is all about the 206. He even etched those numbers in his hair when he played in his AAU tourney in Vegas this summer.  Many argue that Terrence Williams and Peyton Siva both loved the 206 just as much, but in the case of Wroten the proximity to home will definitely become a major factor in his decision. Not a day goes by where I don’t see him tweet about the home team and reppin’ Seattle. He gets awfully homesick when he is away longer than a weekend and that will definitely work in UW ‘s favor.  With the local grooming of his BFAM (Brothers From Another Mother), former Huskies have to be urging Tony to continue the legacy of Seattle hoops at UW.

Hikeem “the Dream” Stewart, close friend of Wroten, is also likely heading to the UW following everything I have heard about his recruitment. UW is still #1 on his list and he, like Wroten, talks about representing his city. Kind of funny, but both Wroten and Stewart recently tweeted about Kasen Williams’ recruitment.

Tony guaranteed Kasen’s choice at UW:

“UW. Garenteed RT @ymmij2k: @ToneTone13 Kasen Williams is announcing his college tomorrow, where u think he goes?”

Hikeem further stressed the importance of being a hometown hero:

“Kasen Williams stay home be a hometown hero lol but real talk”

Could this be a little foreshadowing for the early signing period for UW Hoops? Fingers are crossed.

And with Kevin Davis remaining a verbal  UW commit for the 2011 class, the Dawgs will have the opportunity  to field a squad with as much, if not more local talent than the 2004 squad with Conroy, Nate Rob, Simmons and B-Roy.

Enter Tony Wroten, Hikeem Stewart, Kevin Davis, Abdul Gaddy and Isaiah Thomas.

The second coming is almost here, are you ready?

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Jabari Brown Narrows His List

August 16, 2010 in Uncategorized by Themod | 61 comments

by Craig Yamada, Editor-In-Chief

Scout.com reported earlier today that highly coveted five star recruit Jabari Brown has widdled his way down to just seven schools vying for his services. Here are his final seven (in no particular order): UW, Cal, Georgia Tech, St. John’s, Oregon,  DePaul, and UCONN.

No, there is no typo here. Kansas is no longer on his list. Shocker right? I definitely think so. For the last month heading into his final AAU tournament, all the buzz was about Rock Chalk Jayhawks. All the rumors were about Jabari wanting to play along side his AAU teammate, Josiah Turner. Maybe something has happened?

Given the latest list Jabari has released, one couldn’t help but get excited about the possibility of a future Wroten and Brown backcourt. Throw in Hikeem Stewart while you are at it, and we can have a party.

It’s still a bit premature to assume anything, but Jabari has only set up one official visit thus far. And whom might that be? Yes, that’s right.  Romar has an in home visit scheduled on 9/9. And Jabari says he’s visiting Montlake on September 18th to watch Jake Locker and the Dawgs take down Nebraska. (Tangent: I am super stoked to hear ASJ is now a Husky)

He is also working on setting up official visits with Oregon, Georgia Tech and Depaul. Cal is in his backyard in Berkeley and will be able to take an unofficial there. Brown is claiming that “all schools are equal right now.”

From my point of view, it will likely be a two horse race between Cal and UW. Mike Montgomery will surely be in Jabari’s ear about how important playing in front of family will be. The upside for the Dawgs: Cal is at least two years away from being a title contender after losing their 4 starters to graduation last year. Don’t be surprised if Steve Lavin becomes part of a bigger conversation with Brown. Lavin has shown much interest in the west coast, especially with their guards as of late. He may be a contender after all is said and done. As it stands, UW fans should feel confident in their standing with Brown as I had last heard that UW was one of his leaders, if not THE leader, before the whole Kansas topic came up in conversations months ago.

Jabari went on to say in the article that he needs to “figure out if he can spend up to four years [at the school he chooses.]” All in all, things are looking bright for Romar if that is the case. Romar is second to none in terms of developing and graduating his talent in four years time with a degree. Jabari has definitely shown his cards to read that he’s not just another one and done. Only time will tell.

From the sounds of things, Brown wants to make his decision in the early signing period after he takes his five official visits. Sounds like a five star that won’t be making us wait to the deadline.

With today’s news, my guess is that we sign the following this year:

1. Wroten

2. Brown

3. Stewart

4. Chol

5. Davis/Kingma

All for now. Thanks for coming!

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Q&A with Mason Kelley

August 12, 2010 in Uncategorized by Themod | 9 comments

Courtesy of Seattle Times

by Griffin Bennett, Staff Writer

With high school basketball no where in sight and football season a few weeks away, I thought that it would a perfect time to distract Seattle Times’ Mason Kelley away from his blogging efforts and ask him his Husky-centric questions. He was kind enough to oblige and help us talk basketball during the summer.
 
We hit him with the hard question. The ones that everyone wants answers to that only a true insider would know. You know, like what’s in the water at Garfield? How many Stewarts are there exactly? Why does Joshua Smith hate puppies? And what does Tony Wroten think of himself? Unfortunately he passed on those, but he still gave us some great answers.
 

MM: What is your overall opinion of the Terrence Jones saga? Should we expect more scenarios like these to come?

MK: I think Terrence Jones was just a confused teenager who made a quick decision and then was swayed a different direction. As long as kids can give an early verbal I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t continue. I think, for the most part, when a kid makes a public announcement like that, the people around him make sure he’s confident in the decision. But as long as there’s a way for kids to change their mind, they will. They’re teenagers and that happens.

MM: Where do you stand on the Gary Bell vs. Tony Wroten debate? Who do you think projects better to the NCAA level? 

MK: Well, first of all, I really like Gary Bell as a player. I only watched him once or twice during the season, but his game was incredibly polished for a junior last year. Now, I’ve only seen Wroten play in a Pro-Am game. I really like the way Wroten drives to the basketball and finds teammates. However, his jumper continues to be a work in progress and I don’t think that’s much of a secret. As of right now, I would say Bell is a bit more polished, but keep in mind Wroten missed a full year of high-school ball, so it’s hard to project one over the other at this point.

It will be nice to see these guys play for another year. It’s hard for me to grade any of these kids, considering I’ve only seen most of them a handful of times.

MM: Why is Tony Wroten playing so many recruiting games? Do you think he ends up at UW after all is said and done? How close is Tony with Will Conroy and former Huskies? 

MK: At this point I don’t know where Wroten will end up. I think his favorites remain Kentucky and UW. That’s what he’s told me. I think Wroten is close with a lot of former Huskies. Keep in mind he’s Nate Robinson’s cousin and you could see him talking to several former Huskies at the Pro-Am over the weekend.

MM: What is the latest on Hikeem Stewart and his recruitment? What kind of player is he? Is he better than Lodrick and Rodrick? 

MK: I’m still waiting to hear back from Stewart to catch up on recruiting, but from what I’m hearing he’s had a great summer. He had a nice junior season where he showed some impressive flashes of the player he could develop into and it sounds like he put it all together playing for Friends of Hoop this summer. I wanted to watch him at the Seattle Summer Pro-Am last weekend, but I had to leave before his game.

He has some good offers on the table, and I plan on talking recruiting with him before the school year begins. I didn’t get to watch Lodrick and Rodrick play much in high school, so I can’t really compare them, but I do know that Hikeem has the potential to be a special player.

MM: Of the 2011 seniors around the state, who is getting the least amount of recruiting coverage that you think deserves more? 

MK: That’s an interesting question, because there’s a lot of recruiting information out there these days. The big names are obvious with Stewart, Gary Bell Jr. and Tony Wroten Jr. getting plenty of attention. The other guy to really keep an eye on is Jackson’s Brett Kingma, who a light’s out shooter. He hasn’t gotten quite the attention of the other guys, but he’s had as good a summer as anyone.

MM: How is UW sitting with Brett Kingma? What could he bring to the team? 

MK: Kingma does have an offer from UW. Personally, I think he would be the perfect fit for UW. The Huskies could use a shooter. A lot of people compare him to Ryan Appleby, but Appleby was a streak shooter. Kingma is a scorer. With him it’s more a matter of when than if he’ll get going in a game. He’s worked to improve his ball-handling and overall game this summer and he keeps pulling in offers with almost 15 so far.

MM: Who are some up and coming youngsters of the 2012 and 2013 class that UW should have on their radar? Any potential All-Americans amongst them? 

MK: The top prospect among younger players would have to be Anrio Adams, who will be a junior at Franklin this year. He’s already made a name for himself nationally, participating at the LeBron James Skills Academy. Another local player who would have been one to watch out for down the road was Seattle Prep’s D.J. Fenner, the son of former Seahawk Derrick Fenner, but he has moved back to Washington D.C. after spending his freshman year with the Panthers.

As far as players that I’ve seen, Adams is the best of the young players coming through the ranks.

　

MM: What kind of a relationship does Romar have with Seattle Rotary? Could there be a future pipeline of Rotary players to UW? 

MK: I don’t know about Romar’s relationship with Rotary. I can’t even speak to that, because I haven’t talked to Romar or anyone associated with Rotary about their relationship. Obviously if Wroten ends up at UW there could be a pipeline. Since Rotary and Friends of Hoop are the premier AAU programs in the area, I can’t think of a reason why the Huskies wouldn’t be interested in the top local talent.

MM: What do you hear from coaches and players regarding UW’s reputation? Is it positive? Elite program? Not enough exposure? Etc. 

MK: I don’t spend a lot of time with coaches or players talking about UW’s reputation. For me, it’s more about the individual players and programs I’m covering. Since most of the players I cover at least consider staying home to play at UW, I would have to say the reputation is strong in the community. 

Just look at the local guys who have come through that program from Nate Robinson, to Brandon Roy and Will Controy and Isaiah Thomas. I think, when guys leave, it’s more because they want to attend school away from home than they don’t want to go to UW. But again, it’s not something I’ve asked a lot of people about up to this point.

MM: What is your opinion on the Seattle/Tacoma fraternity of hoopers? What keeps them together long after they leave Seattle?

MK: I think it’s a special bond that is unique to Seattle based on the way it spreads to so many guys. It’s amazing how close these guys are and, for the most part, they’re just good people. They come home every offseason and give back. It happens all over the country, but not on the same scale as far as the number of people and their contributions to the basketball community.

Check Sunday’s paper for more on the subject. 

Thanks again to Mason Kelley and everyone should check out his blog and follow him on twitter @masonkelley.

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2011 Recruiting Profile: Hikeem Stewart

August 10, 2010 in Uncategorized by Themod | 16 comments

By Craig Yamada – Editor-In-Chief

  • Height: 6’3”
  • Position: SG
  • Class: 2011
  • Scout Ranking: #35 SG
  • Location: Seattle, WA
  • AAU Team(s): Friends of Hoop
  • High School Team: Rainier Beach
  • Interested Schools: Colorado, UNLV, Kansas, Oregon State, Oregon, Gonzaga, UCLA, Santa Clara, Seattle, Washington State, and UW

 

Yes, Seattle, it is yet another Stewart. And yes, this is yet another twin. And YES, this is the younger twin brother of older twin brothers Loderick and Roderick. Hikeem Stewart of Rainier Beach High School has been the talk of the town as of late with his recent tournament performances.

He is gaining momentum in his recruiting following a strong showing during his AAU summer tourneys. Playing in the backcourt with before mentioned Brett Kingma (recent UW offer), on the FOH squad, he helped lead his team to the Final Four in the Las Vegas Fab 48 tournament. The Oakland Soldiers won this tourney. (More to come on them soon.) 

From the few highlights I have seen on Hikeem Stewart, he’s a 2 guard  with great ball handling skills that sees the floor very well. Hikeem says he models his game after Brandon Roy. His court vision has allowed him to showcase some flashy passes to his teammates in the half court set as well in transition, much like Tony Wroten. He has the athletic ability to create his own shot and beat his man off the dribble.  He has been noted to have decent range as he pulls up for jumpers. His three point range is another area where Hikeem has excelled as he can stick it from anywhere beyond the arc off the bounce.  Sounds like yet another athletic guard that would fit well within the Romar system. The only area I haven’t heard much about is his defensive prowess. He has been said to be able guard the 2 or 3 spot with ease, but haven’t seen enough film of him to back that up.  Given Rainier Beach’s stellar guard classes of the last 8 years dating back to Nate Robinson and the Stewart Twins, I would expect nothing less than a lock down defender.

Off the court, he is an honor student and a smart one at that. Sounds like this kid has a good head on his shoulders. Definitely a Romar kind of player.

How does UW sit in his recruitment?

Hikeem recently did an interview for Rivals where he said he had no clear cut leader thus far. He has doubled his official offers following his showing in Las Vegas. He now has offers from Colorado, UCLA, ASU, Oregon St, Santa Clara, UNLV, WSU, and UW. He is going through the motions of his official visits and is already planning on visiting Colorado, UCLA, Oregon St, and UW. Kansas has been hot on his trail lately and could be his fifth visit if they continue the press on Stewart. Kansas, get used to the name. UW will be battling Bill Self on many of our top recruits: Stewart, Jabari Brown, Kyle Wiltjer and Angelo Chol.

However Stewart did go on to say that “UW is in his hometown so that kind of puts them above everybody.” My guess is that he is UW’s to lose.

Who has UW officially offered?

We all know that Romar has four spots open. He may even take 5 with the assumption that IT will take his chances in the 2011 Draft or another transfer at year’s end.  Let’s look how we currently stand.

We have 9 official offers out according to Rivals and Scout:

  • Tony Wroten
  • Jahii Carson
  • Jabari Brown
  • Angelo Chol
  • Kyle Wiltjer
  • Norvel Pelle
  • Kevin Davis
  • Hikeem Stewart
  • Brent Kingma 

 

Montlake Madness’ Best Guess

PF positions will likely hold priority with the loss of MBA this year. Two out of the trio of Chol/Pelle/Davis will likely occupy two schollies if Davis gets academically eligible and either Chol/Pelle chooses UW in the spring. The third will be a PG to replace Venoy Overton. That race is between Jahii Carson/Tony Wroten (most likely Tony Wroten). The fourth and fifth spot will be given to two out of these four:  Jabari Brown, Kyle Wiltjer, Hikeem Stewart, and Brett Kingma. From everything I have read, Jabari is obviously a top priority but have heard he is slightly leaning toward Kansas, but UW still has a good shot. Hikeem sounds like a more likely candidate to land given his proximity to home and his relationship with Romar. I hear that Kyle Wiltjer has been getting recruited more heavily by UW coaches as of late, but will be tough to land given all the bigger name schools that are after him (Texas, Gonzaga, Kentucky, Kansas and almost the entire Pac -10). Brett Kingma is still fielding offers but ultimately sounds like UW’s to lose as well.

If you stuck a gun to my head today, I would say this will be our 2011 incoming class:

  1. Tony Wroten
  2. Hikeem Stewart
  3. Angelo Chol
  4. Kevin Davis
  5. Brett Kingma

 

By no means is this my final answer. All for now.

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Maui Bracket Released

August 5, 2010 in Uncategorized by Themod | 9 comments

Courtesy of UW Athletic Department

UW Fans, it’s time to rejoice. We got our wish. A potential second round match up with UK in the second round looms for the Maui Invitational. Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, as we will have a tough test against Bennett’s Virginia squad in the first round. But if the cards play out the way we want them to, we will have our chance to have our Rivalry game we have hoped for since April.

More to come soon!

Recruiting Profile: Brett Kingma

August 4, 2010 in Uncategorized by Themod | 22 comments

by Griffin Bennett, Staff Writer

Brett Kingma? Really??

I’m not knocking the 6’1” point guard from Jackson High, but I can’t quite seem to understand how he fits into the Huskies long term plans. With four scholarships available (not including Kevin Davis) it’s a bit shocking that we could potentially be giving one up to a guy with only Ryan Appleby’s game (no offense Ryan). Let’s take a deeper look into what Romar might be seeing in this guy.

Name: Brett Kingma

Height: 6’1”

Weight: 160 lbs.

Position: PG

Class: 2011

ESPN Rise Ranking Overall: PG #67

Location: Mill Creek, Washington

AAU Team(s): Friends of Hoop

High School Team: Jackson High School

Interested Schools: Oregon, BYU, Colorado State, Pepperdine, Seattle U, Vanderbilt, Washington

If you haven’t seen him, here are a couple decent highlight videos:

Highlight 1

Highlight 2

What’s His Game Like?

The short answer is Ryan Appleby with average defense. The long answer is a bit more complicated. His shot is a thing of beauty. His quick release and ability to shoot of the dribble are incredible and he is one of the best in the nation in that respect. His shot can be streaky at times (both good and bad) and he can shoot his team out of games or back in them. Let me break him down some more:

  • Speed: Above average up and down the court and his ability to pass or shoot on the fast break is what makes you love Brett.
  • Quickness: He has worked hard on improving his first step it has shown. He can beat opponents off the dribble at times, but I don’t see it translating to a positive skill in college.
  • Shot: Superb release with deadly range. This is by far his best skill. He can catch and shoot as well as off the dribble. Streaky at times, but who isn’t?
  • Defense: Better than Appleby, but nothing special. He can pressure the ball at the point but doesn’t share the quickness that most Pac-10 point guards will have.
  • Passing: Averages only four assists in high school, but has good vision and sees the passing lanes well. Projects to the point more the shooting guard for this reason.
  • Athleticism: Below average in this category compared to other prospects, but in now way is he out of shape or slow. He has little explosiveness and won’t be throwing down two handers any time soon.
  • Potential: He’s a four year player that probably won’t be used as anything but a 8-9th man off the bench until his junior or senior year. However, his work ethic and determination are off the charts. He is a major sleeper prospect who could end up being like Luke Ridnour by the end of his career.

Will UW Get Him?

If there is a real “say-yes-and-it’s-your” offer from Romar then the answer is yes. His sister Kristi is a junior of the UW Women’s Basketball team and he wants “to prove that [he] can play at the highest level and that [he] can do more than just shoot and that [he’s] an elite basketball player that can contribute a lot at the Pac-10 level.”

It seems as if UW would be his ideal school to join. Done and done. He should be a Dawg, right? If this is all true then Kingma is about to become the first official member of the 2011 Husky recruiting class. Unless….

It’s been a while since our last crazy Montlake Madness theory which is based on nothing. Why not launch into another one right now?

An Unsubstantiated Montlake Madness’ Theory (UMMT?)

Going into 2011, the Huskies will be looking for at least two big men to replace the losses of MBA and Holiday (Chol, etc). That leaves two of the four scholarships up for grabs. One is definitely being reserved for Tony Wroten who plays PG/SG. That leaves one left which would be the spot that Kingma would take up. It just seems fishy to me that Romar would take a gamble on Kingma while he has the fame/popularity/success to land a higher skilled player. Now it’s theory time. What is the offer to Kingma is a conditional one? In other words, Romar told him the scholarship is his if a certain number of other players turn him down (Brown, Carson, Stewart, etc.). Especially with a guy like Hikeem Stewart (recruiting profile to come soon) being a far better skilled point guard, in my opinion, I don’t know why we would potentially skip over him and sign Kingma. I trust Romar more than I trust anyone, but this one is a HUGE head scratcher. Now it’s possible we sign more than two guards, but with a UW team that already is deep at guard I can’t possibly see that happening. My advice is to keep a close eye on the Kingma situation as it could be an indicator of how well the recruiting of some other guards around the west coast is going.

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Maui Invitational Brackets – Coming Thursday

August 4, 2010 in Uncategorized by Themod | 4 comments

by Craig Yamada

Thursday, 8/5 will mark the future road of the UW Basketball team in Maui.  The brackets will officially be announced on ESPN News between 10:30 AM – 11 AM.

Will Kentucky be destined for a matchup against the Dub? We all know that UW nation wants a match up whether it be first round or in the second. The organizers of the tourney would be silly not to put these newly heated rivals against each other. We all know the history. We all know the players involved. Trash talk has already commenced. Let’s make this happen.

Like the great Drake raps, “All I see is Fireworks.” Maui will be no different.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some other great teams playing such as Michigan State, UConn, Oklahoma and Virginia, but we all know we want Avatar Nation more than ever. The question is, will the great Nature goddess Aiwa be with our Terrence or theirs? 

Want to raise the stakes? Winner gets the rights to Tony Wroten. Just kidding. If Romar was smart, he has already incepted Wroten with the idea that Purple and Gold looks better. He’s already five layers deep in his head I am sure. I don’t think there is anything in the books that deems this as a recruiting violation, do you?

More to come soon. Go Dawgs.

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MBA Joins the Senior GB National Team

August 2, 2010 in Uncategorized by Themod | 5 comments

 

 by Craig Yamada, Editor-In-Chief

It’s official, MBA has officially been upgraded from JV to Varsity for his GB National Team. Head Coach Chris Finch recently announced the final 12 players that would play for their GB Senior Men’s team in the EuroBasket 2011 qualifying games and MBA’s name was among the list names that made the cut. MBA will be playing along notable NBA names such as Luol Deng and former NBA player Pops Mensah-Bonsu. Full story can be found at Gohuskies.com.

GB started the tournament against Hungary with a victory this morning,  91-82. MBA did not play in his first game with the team. Luol Deng led the way with 32 points to no surprise. Expect MBA to see time here and there, but it is looking like he will be a reserve for a change.

Expect this to help MBA gain even more confidence entering this season as he gets more  exposure to NBA caliber players and game speed overseas. We will try and keep you updated as the games occur. GB’s next game is against Macedonia on Sunday. Let’s hope MBA can get some minutes and gain a wealth of experience against  some of Europe’s best.

Congrats to you MBA and we look forward to seeing you serve some tea bags in your native homeland.

Thanks for coming!

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