Via Tony Wrotten’s twitter:

“To be honest. My top two schools r Uk and Washington. Uconn, nova and cuse r still involved but uk and Uw are my top schools right now”

1) Not too far, but not too close. His family and friends can watch lots of games here. More importantly, he can adjust to college life at his own speed. If you go to school in your home town, it is hard to really go away (I can understand why some Seattle kids decide to go elsewhere, even though it drives me nuts). On the other hand, if things are happening too quickly, it is really nice to be able to go home any time you want.

2) Better school. Seriously, if he was waffling between UW, UCLA, Cal, Standford, Harvard and Yale, then maybe I would get nervous (dude, please be pre-med) but scholastically, the UW is way better than Kentucky.

3) Better basketball team. Let’s face it, one of the reasons we want Terrance so much is because we lost a legend in Quincy. If we have a similar guy fill that position, then we can go further than last year. Oh, and last year we lost to West Virginia. How did Kentucky do? They lost to West Virginia. Did Kentucky lose any of those players? Yes, just about all of them. Face it, the UW has the potential (if it can deal with losing Q) of being a championship team (regardless of what Jones decides to do). Kentucky, on the other hand, might not make the tournament (just like North Carolina didn’t this year).

4) Seattle loves Portland (Seattle loves Tacoma, too, but that is another story). Basketball fans are still getting over losing the Sonics, but we are starting to deal with it by cheering on the Blazers. We love the fact that Roy plays for those guys. Speaking of which, Roy has his financial history assured, regardless of what he does with his NBA money. He has become a big name from Seattle to Portland. Look for the endorsement money (the big money) to start streaming in as time goes on. More importantly, he can do whatever he wants to do for the rest of life. Comment about the games on local radio or own a local sports bar — either way he can pick his own hours and his own working style. Not a bad life. Jones can do the same thing by establishing himself in the Northwest. Portland is a great city (and getting better). Eventually we’ll have high speed rail between the two cities, which will bring us even closer together. Only a few Portland folks are angry that he didn’t choose the Ducks (if anything, they are justifiably angry at the way the athletic department handled the coaching situation). In general, they understand that UW is a close compromise, and this gives them a chance to see their local star way more often (on TV, if not live). This type of exposure is huge, and it sets him up for a nice future in the area.