Lorenzo Romar

by: Griffin Bennett

With the summer coming to an end, Percy Allen got a hold of Coach Romar and had a lengthy interview that he is breaking into pieces. I’m sure everyone has read it already but I think there are a lot of interesting chunks of information in there. Many thanks go out to Percy for a spectacular interview.

Romar always gives great interviews and usually gives more than the “no comment” answer that we see from many coaches around the nation. Specifically, his quotes on recruiting are especially interesting with it being such a slow summer in that regard.

If there is something to over analyze, I feel compelled to do so. Like a fly to the flame, I… must… speculate.

“Right now, we just have a couple of pieces to fill. We don’t have very many holes. If we knew everyone was back, we could literally go without signing anyone and be just fine. … If we knew everyone would be back except the seniors, we would be fine.”

While this should seem obvious, it shows that Romar was very pleased with his additions last year. The signings of Breunig and Andrews, specifically, were not “panic signs” but players that he is more than comfortable with putting in key roles.

The second part of that is Romar and the gang are obviously planning as if one or more players will be leaving early to head to the NBA. It’s almost a certainty that either Ross, Wroten, or both will bolt after this season.

“If we went into the spring (with a scholarship) we’d have more of an idea who might leave.”

This is a very interesting quote at the end of a response regarding whether or not he would like to carry an open scholarship into the spring. He begins by saying  “When you need three or four, I think that philosophy would be applicable. This year, I’m good.”, but then ends with the quote above.

Would he hold a scholarship as he waited to see if he needed a point guard (if Wroten leaves) or a small forward (if Ross leaves)? That wouldn’t make much sense as if one of those players leaves it would open up another scholarship.

Perhaps it would allow him to continue to recruit multiple players throughout the season in anticipation of one player leaving after it’s over. In other words, he could tell recruits that he has an open slot available instead of having both scholarships accounted for after the early signing period. Then once another scholarship opens up after a current player leaves, he could sign multiple.

Am I over analyzing? Yes, I am. Deal with it.

“Those are ones that we can’t comment on those. But I’ll say this, in our recruitment I think we’ll be okay.” (in response to whether or not he has received a verbal commitment for 2013 or beyond)

Interesting. Very interesting. Romar admits that he has turned most of his focus to 2013 recruiting. It reads as if Romar said it very confidently and he knows more than he is letting on. Is there a silent commit out there for 2013?

“We’re not recruiting on hype. We’re recruting a guy right now. He’s not going to be a 5-star, if we get him I guarantee you he’ll play like a 5-star.”

This is a quote that got me very excited when I first read it. Oh, awesome, there’s some non-five star kid who Romar loves and thinks will be an All-League guy! Then I started to wonder if he was just speaking hypothetically. I’m going to assume the former because that’s more fun.

Romar is famous for turning lesser ranked players into full-fledged stars. He trusts his staff’s recruiting eye and goes on their instincts. UW’s recent success has been undoubtedly tied to this ability to find these “diamonds in the rough”.

With that said, I hope this unnamed player, who may or may not exist, is one of these players whom Romar has penned as a future star.

Hopefully we get more delicious nuggets from the rest of Romar’s interview that Percy will be posting. All for now. Bow Down.