By Griffin Bennett – Staff Writer
It’s time to jump back in. I think we all needed a little break after we lost He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named to Avatar Nation. I’m feeling refreshed and ready for 2010/11. We can all agree that there are big expectations for Romar’s crew this year and anything less than a return to the Sweet Sixteen would be a failure. While losing our emotional and statistical leader in Quincy last year (can’t wait to buy those sick New Orleans jerseys with Pondexter on the back), Elston Turner has also left in the form of transferring to Texas A&M in search of a larger role. However, the core returns led by newly-elected captains Isaiah Thomas and Justin Holiday with hopes of a Final Four. Not to be overlooked are the additions of freshman Terrence Ross, Desmond Simmons and Aziz N’Diaye. That leaves us where we are now; late June and full of hope.
As we learned last year, pre-season hype and expectations don’t matter in March. What matters is the work that each player has put in during the summer. While their peers are partying and soaking in the sun, the best players know that their summer workouts are what make them great. It’s also the time when the players aren’t in front of the cameras. Our goal is to help bridge that gap and get as much information out as we can this summer. The road to the Final Four begins this summer and each player (and even the coaches) will have their own storylines that will determine how far we get. Some are more important than others, so here is my list of the five most important ones to follow this summer.
5. Recruiting
Arguably the most important storyline for every program, but I’m looking at it from a 2010/11 season angle only. The reason that I’m including it in here at all is because I think this will be one of the strongest and deepest recruiting classes that the Huskies will have ever assembled. With 3 seniors, 1 rollover, and the possibility that IT leaves early, that leaves a possible 5 players to sign coming off of one of the Huskies best seasons. I’m not forgetting Kevin Davis; I just don’t want to count my chickens with him quite yet. Craig and I are already drooling over the prospects that Coach Romar and his staff have been looking at.
Real quickly (as we’ll save it for other posts) in order, the guys that I’m most excited about are:
4. Who will be the third forward?
This will be very interesting to follow as we know Holiday and MBA will be two of the three “forwards” that will play. We all know Romar doesn’t think too highly of the center position and loves to play it as more of a hybrid second power-forward spot. That leaves us with these candidates to fill the vacant third spot: Darnell Gant (PF), Tyrese Breshers(PF/C), Aziz N’Diaye (C), Terrence Ross (SF), and Desmond Simmons (SF/PF).
I’m sure that Romar will give Gant the spot to lose as he is a junior and should be afforded that luxury. However, I expect his leash to be shorter than Brian Scalabrine’s was in the NBA finals. Breshers never lost the weight that he promised us all that he would lose (we’ve all been there) and he I don’t believe he ever truly was 100% last year. Remaining are the three newcomers in Aziz, Simmons, and Ross. We have yet to see any of these guys play against college talent yet so paying close attention to the summer camps and practices will be a huge indicator.
If I had to bet my gold #3 Brandon Roy jersey on one of these players to win the battle, I would choose N’Diaye. It’s no more than a hunch, but I think he will provide the most to a starting line-up that was vertically challenged last year before losing Pondexter. Aziz will provide rebounds and blocks at decent rate while also being able to run the floor the way that Romar loves. With him in the starting line-up, it allows MBA to play at his natural position of PF which will give him a shorter/weaker match-up that could allow him to thrive. On the other hand, N’Diaye could be slower than I-5 at 4:30 on a Friday before a three day weekend while also having chronic knee problems. Either way, it makes for an interesting storyline.
3. Gaddy on the U18 team
Yes, Gaddy qualified for the U18 team heading into his sophomore year. I have friends who went to UW with me who would have been too old before they graduated high school. We all expected so much from our McDonald’s All-American last year, but for most of it he couldn’t smoke a victory cigar if he wanted.
After making the U18 final roster, he averaged 5 points, 2.8 assists, 2.4 turnovers, and 0.8 steals over 13.4 minutes a game. He was the teams’s 6th player off the bench. Saying “this isn’t going well” would be an understatement. I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect situation for a young gun-shy uber-prospect than this team presented. It should have done wonders for his game but more importantly for his confidence. As Gaddy has said, he’s looking to get his “swagger back”. With Ryan Appleby working on his shot when he gets back, I expect him to be better than what his USA stats have shown. Honestly, it’s not looking good.
With Venoy out performing him last year, I expect Romar will hold the same competition for the PG spot in the fall that he held last year, but I believe Gaddy will be ready. This experience does not help his already crushed confidence, but a late change isn’t out of the question.
2. MBA in the UK
The biggest question this year will be “Who will score Quincy’s share of the points?” I fully believe it’s going to come from the guys we already have, not anyone new. MBA is already showing dominance in England as Craig wrote about earlier . I won’t repeat the details, but MBA’s development will be a huge part as I fully expect him to become the Pac-10’s best big man this year. There are will be no more excuses for him as he is now a senior (wow that went by fast) and there is no room for error if he is trying to make the next level. He slowly improved last year and if he regresses next year then the Huskies’ wins might as well.
He also has the chance to make the England’s Olympic team which would allow him to play alongside NBA players like Ben Gordon and Luol Deng later this summer. The experience he would gain from that opportunity is what’s going to be paramount. He can play in these scrub games against Luxembourg (their country is so small that they can only play half-court games) but there’s no real competition there. He has to make the national team in order to get some well-needed minutes against quality opponents.
1. Holiday and Venoy
These two seniors will be the key for the 2010/2011 Dawgs. We pretty much know what we’re going to get from Isaiah and any dramatic improvement from him will only be a pleasant surprise. It’s the two vocal elder statesmen that we all need to keep an eye on this summer.
Venoy has two options this summer: 1. Feel comfortable with his roll as the backup PG that brings the defensive energy along with being the one of the best defensive guards in the country. Or, 2. Wanting to show the world that he’s more than just some defender and he works on his shot, controlling the pace of the game, and wins the starting PG spot.
Venoy maybe the most polarizing Pac-10 player this year as far as the other teams are concerned, but that’s because he’s good. I hope he’s not happy with that moniker and wants to become great.
J-Holiday has a similar choice to make because of his scoring ability that he flashed during the NCAA tournament. As I said about MBA, the scoring will come from within the starters from last year’s team. I think Holiday is going to make that “Dentmon-esque” leap forward his senior year and will average around 13 and 6ish. Once again, I’m basing that off only hopes and dreams, but Romar will hand him the keys and ask him to help lead this team to greatness.
The success of the Huskies’ season lies in the hands of these two players. They are 2 of the top 5 players on this team. If they fall short, so will the Dawg’s Final Four hopes.
Thanks for coming!
Tags: Griffin Bennett
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Nice article Griff, one quick correction Gant will be a junior this year. I do think the position is his to lose. If Holiday and MBA step up their offense then there will be little pressure on Gant and he can just do what he did freshman year, play lock-down defense, grab an occasional rebound, and knockdown a baseline jumper every now and again. However, if Breshers becomes fit and becomes a beast in the paint like Brockman, who knows.
With Holiday, Gant, MBA, IT, and Overton on the court at the same time it will be pretty hard for the other team to score.
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I really enjoyed this article, very well done…it is exactly what we needed this time of the year for those who think about Husky hoops year round, but there really isn’t much going on.
This line was great, “after we lost He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named to Avatar Nation” well done!
You say anything less than a return to the Sweet Sixteen would be a failure; personally, I don’t agree. Last year I would have said Huskies have ‘3 gamers’, guys who when their backs are up against the wall I trust to come through big…I.T., Qpon and Turner…we lost two of those three.
For this fan at least, as long as Huskies reach the tournament, I consider the season successful.
You had another poignant line, “While their peers are partying and soaking in the sun, the best players know that their summer workouts are what make them great.”
That is 100% true…do we have any ideas which group this Husky team is in? Outside MBA, Gaddy and I.T. visiting a couple of guard camps I haven’t heard even a whisper on the rest of the team. Any idea if players like Breshers or Suggs are doing double-time this summer? I sure hope so. They could be difference makers.
“Who will be the third forward?”
I found it interesting you included Ross on the list. If he can play forward, that sure would help the glut at the guard position. Could you imagine if Huskies could get away w/ playing Thomas/Wilcox/Ross/Holiday and then 1 big man? Size would be a concern, but how exciting it would be to see those four on the court at the same time. I have also wondered if Suggs could put on enough muscle in the off-season to play the forward spot.
BTW, Gant is a RS Junior, not a senior.
Finally, though I agree with you that Holiday and Venoy are key players for the Huskies, I take umbrage with the statement “The success of the Huskies’ season lies in the hands of these two players”
Because Huskies are so rich at the guard and sf position, I don’t think it is fair nor reasonable to say the success lies in the hands of Holiday and Venoy.
Again, thanks for the article, it was a fun and interesting read and gave me something to think about during these dawg days of summer.
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“MBA is already showing dominance in England as Craig wrote about earlier .”
Didn’t he similarly dominate in England LAST summer only to come back to college ball as a big man who lacked the confidence to bang it around inside?
I’d like to believe there was a turning point last year (as he definitely looked better later in the year), but I’m not all that sold…
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Frank – There was a turning point half way through the season and MBA never really let up after that. I think we already witnessed the official turnaround for this guy. And his play in England is definitely reflecting that.
Does he need to refine his post moves? Most definitely. But I do think that MBA has a shot to be the player that Romar thought he would grow into when he recruited him.
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Sorry about that Gant slip up. Don’t know what I was on.
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already fixed Griffin. I got you.
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Given Gaddy’s terrible play for the U-18 team, Romar needs to offer Kiwi Gardner ASAP. Wroten might be the better player and the top choice, but that shouldn’t stop Romar from getting Kiwi signed now. Overton is a senior, IT is a junior (who could leave early), and Wroten is far from a sure thing. Somebody has to run this team from the PG position in the future, and right now, it doesn’t look like Gaddy is the guy. Maybe he develops into a star by his senior year, in which case I’ll be more than happy, but he needs some competition for that spot. Right now I’d rather see Overton or IT play PG so that we can get Suggs, Wilcox or Ross on the floor to shoot 3s. Gaddy needs to step up major if he ever wants to play. Can it happen? Sure. But do we want to count on that by letting recruits slip away? No.
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Listened to Basnight’s podcast last night…don’t know how much stock to put in ‘Mr. X’s’ (pretty un-original Jim, can’t you just call him “Tim” or something?”) opinion but his comments regarding MBA were a little disconcerting. It would be interesting if MBA isn’t the player this season we think he can/should/will be and gets passed up by Aziz, Gant or Breshers.
Regarding Gaddy, I sure disagree w/ the hate he’s getting…so he doesn’t look like an NBA caliber guard? So what? He certainly has what it takes to be a solid, if not great, Pac-10 point guard by his junior season.
I’m a little relieved he is getting beat out by guys like Irving (projected to be a top 10 draft pick next season) and that Gaddy will be around longer than 2 years.
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Paul
Gaddy was recruited as the second best point guard in his class only behind John Wall. I’d be at least somewhat pleased if by his junior season he turned into an average pac-10/acc/big east point guard. However he would still be a bust, the expectations were set high and he probably won’t get there. If we want to get past the sweet 16 it takes special players, we don’t need just average players. Who knows though if he spends time with Appleby anything can happen.
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First of all Paul, thanks for listening. I take no responsibility for “Mr. X”. I didn’t come up with that name, nor did I plan for him to call. I have a pretty good idea who it is and I’ll leave it at that. I think that he knows his stuff, whether or not you agree with his point of view. I didn’t get the impression that he put down “MBA”, but I’ll listen again to see what you mean by that.
Great job Griffin. These are all important topics, probably the most important, but I would add how the addition of shooters Terrence Ross and C.J. Wilcox will affect UW’s team next year.
Those two along with the continued maturation of Scott Suggs will be one of the top hay-makers for the Dawgs net year. Unfortunately UW needs inside scoring, but the good news you mentioned in how strong MBA appears to be coming together as a player.
The good news/bad news is that Abdul had a very poor showing in San Antonio. He needs to redouble his efforts to work on individual skill needs between now and the start of practice. That experience did little for his confidence, which had been a hope of some down at Hec-Ed, but it could be a good thing in that perhaps it may make him more aware of just where he is right now, rather than an unrealistic view of that.
The good news, which Paul alluded to is that Gaddy has three years left. After 4 years of a program which has done a very good job of turning out pros who came out much higher rated than they came in, I have high hope for Abdul still. I would expect that this coming year may be his toughest yet, but coming out of it, I would expect great performances as a junior and senior.
Don’t be surprised if UW is literally forced to play Ross and Wilcox at the two because of their production and because I would expect that Holiday will have to play the three spot. That may lead to Gaddy having to sit rather than IT or Venoy, but I also expect Abdul to be improved this year. This is a nice problem to have if Venoy and Isaiah can continue to improve their point guard games and Gaddy comes off the bench to provide better minutes than he did last year.
If Abdul’s minutes go down, but his shooting percentages go up, along with his assists and rebounds, that should bode extremely well for his junior and senior years, post Venoy.
I’m expecting Gant to play a lot this year at the 4 spot, with MBA playing both the 4 and 5 spots and Aziz playing the 5. I’m not on the Breshers bandwagon yet, but I’ll be looking in on some open gyms to see how he is coming this summer more than the past few years.
I actually see Simmons getting the 4h most minutes of the posts, but Tyreese did some good things last year and I hope I’m wrong about him.
Finally, as I’ve been saying fairly consistently, Ross is the real deal. Don’t be surprised to see him be a much bigger success than his recruiting rankings, where as Abdul has thus far been less so. His recruiting rankings weren’t bad either, so what I mean by that is that Ross could very well be what you would expect out of a five star, McDonalds AA, blah-blah-blah.
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Thanks for the response venoying…but I still don’t understand the ‘hate’ directed at Gaddy. If he had come in as the 25th rated PG in the country would you be angry? Or would you be pleased that a freshmen earned a starting spot on a Sweet 16 team and showed potential to be a solid 4 year player?
It seems like people are blaming/punishing Gaddy for not looking like the #2 ranked guard. But I’m saying, ‘so what? So the ratings were inaccurate, why does it matter?’
Huskies have two great point guards in Overton and Thomas. IF Gaddy has regressed rather than progressed during his sophomore campaign AND Thomas bolts for the NBA…then it is fair for losers like us to spend our summer discussing what Huskies will do at point guard in 2012…but we’re a long ways away from that.
Just seems to me people are being unreasonably unfair to an 18 year old kid. He never asked to be rated #2 and he never bragged about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he too wished he hadn’t been rated that high. So let’s quit punishing him as if it is his fault the rating services misjudged him. I can’t believe how angry that makes some people. (conversely, if Desmond Simmons plays like the #2 rated forward in the nation should we get angry that he isn’t performing at the scouting services expectations?)
Gaddy is 6’3”, has an incredible feel for the game, has great handles and the only things preventing him from being a great guard are foot speed and shooting…both of which he can improve.
My point of view is I’m excited at the prospect of rooting for Gaddy at the UW for 4 years and I’m sure not angry that he isn’t wowing anyone at this summer tournament he’s participating in.
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Jim,
“I have a pretty good idea who it is…”Umm…you called him by name didn’t you?. If I cared, I’d listen more carefully to what name you called him by and then look at past Kansas rosters and it would be pretty simple to figure it out…but I don’t care that much.
Regarding MBA, his comments were MBA should be in the gym improving his individual game rather than spending his summer doing the tournaments. Which, makes sense, MBA doesn’t need more experience, he needs to learn to finish.
Also, there were references to appearances that MBA spends a LOT of time fooling around.
No direct accusations, just hints.
I’m just saying if those are true, maybe there are some guys on the roster spending more time in the gym this summer who contribute more than MBA does this coming winter.
BTW – I really enjoy Appleby, would love to hear more of his analysis on the podcast.
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Jim – I’ve been enjoying your radio show the last two weeks. One complaint though, the show seems to be 90% you and 10% Appleby. I think Ryan has some good insights and the show itself would flow better as a 70/30 split. I know it’s a new thing and you guys are getting your timing down and becoming more comfortable, but something to think about.
Paul – I think your confusing disappointment/discouragement in the lack of progress with hate. He rode the pine and watched kids with no college experience win a gold medal. I don’t hate him, but in my opinion that he is not that good of a point guard. I think that’s an accurate statement based on what he has demonstrated. Nothing personal, just an appraisal of his skill. He’s got about 5 months to improve before the next season starts. Also Romar dumped Reggie Moore to make room for Gaddy based on his ranking. UW was Gaddy’s second choice, while Moore would have bled purple and gold. Also to refute an earlier point, yes Gaddy started but Overton played way more minutes.
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Venoying,
I agree that Ryan needs to talk more and it’s probably because I can’t keep my mouth shut and he’s too polite.Paul,
I think that Mr. X was more joking when he spoke about MBA messing around socially instead of working in the gym. Remember though that all of these guys are kids and a certain amount of normal social activity is healthy and probably good for their games.Thanks to both of you for listening and taking the time to give me some well appreciated and constructive criticism.
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Paul,
I don’t hate Gaddy. But if he doesn’t improve dramatically in the next few months, then I want someone else playing PG for the Huskies. He’s not a bad person or anything, but he’s just not cut out to be our PG. So far he has proven nothing. He still could, but the point of my post was that our program can’t improve if we don’t keep the competition for playing time at a high level. Kiwi looks like a solid player who can replace Gadfy if he falters or back him up if he improves.
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I am being quick to defend Gaddy because I’m his Dad…no, kidding…but because he’s getting ripped by more than one person on some of the blogs which I think is not only way premature, but also unfair and inappropriate.
I am not disappointed that he is being outplayed by Irving because the truth is I don’t want Gaddy to bolt to the NBA next season…I’m relieved he has more work to do before he is NBA ready. Which ties into my 2nd argument, the potential for Gaddy to be a great PG is there so let’s just sit back, be patient and enjoy watching him develop. Isn’t that what college ball should be about anyways? I’d rather be a Husky fan and watch players like Gaddy develop into great players (i.e. Pondexter, Holiday, Brockman, Roy, etc. etc.) than be a KY fan and watch one-year wonders.
Let’s worry about where he is during his junior year, no need to now. For now, let’s just enjoy what we’ve got.
And I agree w/ one of Jim’s points…I can see I.T. playing more point so Wilcox & Ross can both be on the floor. If what we’re hearing is true, sounds like they’ll both bring more next season than it is appearing right now Gaddy will.
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For every Pondexter, Roy, and Brockman, there is a Oliver, Nelson and Harvey Perry. Just because a player had a lot of hype coming out of HS doesn’t mean he will ever be anything. You can’t assume Gaddy will improve just because you want him to. I’d rather have a guy who was so good he could bolt to the NBA than someone who can’t. Because if he is good enough to go pro it means he played well for UW. We are all rooting for Gaddy, he just needs to step up.
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I believe the 2010-2011 Husky point guard will be Isiah Thomas. He had some great assist games last year and they were on request as his undiciplined drives to the hoop were critisized and he responded.
He really has all the tools of a great point guard; outside shot, drive and finish, drive and dish and real leadership qualities. His 3 jumper could be improved and he has the type of motivation to see that and work on it. Starting with the first Arizona game last year he averaged a very respectable 3.6/2.1 assists to turnover ratio. Any improvement on that will be elite point guard status when taken in context with his 15-20 points per game. If I’m Romar I give him the ball.
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GrantUW. I’m not assuming Gaddy will be good because I want him to be. I see potential and rather than being upset that he isn’t dominating I’m finding pleasure at the likelihood that his game will develop and as a Husky fan, look forward to seeing him progress over the next several years. I stand by my assessment that it is premature to be worried and certainly unfair to be criticizing the kid.
I don’t follow your point regarding Oliver, Nelson and Harvey Perry. Perry was a 3 star recruit, as was Nelson. They weren’t highly ranked recruits who disappointed. Oliver is considered an NBA draft pick next spring, if he had stuck around he’d be included on the list of 4 year players that it is fun to watch improve each season.
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And Luke Winn joins our conversation!
“The extensive backcourt minutes played by the Irving-Rivers-Blue crew — as well as Illinois-bound Jereme Richmond — meant that the lone player with college experience on the roster, Washington’s Abdul Gaddy, was mostly left on the bench. He saw only four minutes of action against Brazil in the title game. Prior to the tournament, Gaddy had talked about using the FIBA experience as a way to get his “swagger” back after a disappointing freshman year with Washington. He came to UW as a five-star point guard, but averaged just 3.9 points (on 15.0 percent long-range shooting) and 2.3 assists last season. I’ll have more on Gaddy next week; he certainly still has potential to be a good college point guard once he finds a way to regain the free-and-easy style that made him so effective in high school, but I don’t think he had the opportunity to get his swag back in San Antonio.”
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I’m not saying he won’t develop, we just can’t count on it. Which is why I want Romar to bring in multiple PGs in 2011…Wroten AND Kiwi Gardner. If Gaddy steps up, they sit, and he plays. But if he has no legit competition at the PG position, we are stuck with his potential. OK is not good enough anymore at UW. If we want to be a real program that is taken seriously year in and year out we have to have some standards. Dentmon was great as a senior, but he sucked as a soph and a junior (2 years we missed the tournament). Right now Gaddy has shown me nothing that says he will be ready to take over this team. I hope I’m wrong, and I know he is young, but just in case I’m right, Romar needs to lock up guys like Kiwi and Wroten if possible. Even if Gaddy IS great, Wroten is a one and done, and Gaddy will be gone the year after that. Having Kiwi Gardner on the team in 2011 is a perfect set up for passing the torch at PG.
I’m using Gaddy as an example because PG is so important, but we have needs in the front court too. Will Breshers ever get healthy? How will Aziz recover from knee surgery? Will Gant improve? Who replaces MBA next year? Can Simmons replace Holiday as the glue guy? Etc, etc.
Pretty much the only place we are set for the near future is SG/SF because we have depth and youth.
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Yep, I agree with all of that Grant. Especially the front court issues.
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Another top story would be the NCAA investigation of Kentucky. Something we all have been wanting. This is going to be big, I believe. Plus, I doubt if a Wroton would want to go there with this investigation going on. But Calipari seems to be teflon most of the times. I guess that is what USC thought they were too.
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Gersen,
No offense, but I don’t give a fuck about Kentucky. It’s time to get over it. If we play them in Maui, then it’s a story we can care about. Otherwise, who cares. If they get busted and sanctioned and whatever, it won’t help us. All I care about is beating them on the court.
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What game this season is everyone most looking forward to?
Any thoughts on who could possibly redshirt?
Any players leaving after this season? -
Grant,
I agree with Gersen. Calipari and William “Worldwide Wes” are very bad news for college hoops and particularly for Washington. Look at the track record.Cousins, interested in UW and later was rumored to have said privately that he wished that he chose to be a Dawg.
Kanter, committed to UW but was “Magically” whisked away to Kentucky.
Jones, ’nuff said.
Wroten, should be a UW lock but is strongly considering to go where the “Action” is.
Calipari and his crew, who are really more part of WWW’s crew than the other way around in my opinion, have taken a particular interest in the players that UW are going after.
They are running a very corrupt and sophisticated game. If there were more of a level playing field UW would be landing some of these kids on top of the guys that they have been getting.
Romar can win a national title regardless, but I believe that the record shows that Calipari’s actions in particular have made it a little tougher.
That is not to say that Calipari is the only one playing dirty and if he gets knocked out there are others who will continue to use and refine the techniques of cheating that I believe that he employs.
A clear message needs to be sent a.s.a.p. from the NCAA, but the continuing stories of investigations and the recent penalties levied against USC provide hope that it may be coming.
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Happy 4th of July to all of Husky Nation! Light off some purple and gold fireworks tonight.
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I can’t help but think that we could have won the national title if we had Cousins. We could’ve beat WV and that was probably our worst matchup. We probably would’ve had a higher seed as well
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Jim,
I get it, UK and Calipari are shady. But enough already. If they get caught and busted, another cheater will rise up in their place. Other programs win despite this. So should we. Butler made the title game…who were the big name recruits on their squad? Instead of crying about what some other school or coach is getting away with, we should just win.
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everyone is getting abdul really wrong. i went to go see abdul play in highschool. he likes to get his teammates involved more than being an aggressive scorer. when abdul was a senior in highschool, he HAD to score to get the W. nobody else on his team could cause avery bradley was gone. but i do agree. he cannot succeed if he is just a pure, true pointguard. he must score. he’s gotta work on his footwork, shooting, and aggressiveness.
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Let’s change the subject…if we can sign 4 players for 2011, who do we want? I think we should take Wroten if we can get him and Kiwi at PG as I’ve detailed above. But I think the big question is should Romar be after both big guys Chol and Pelle or just one of those and Jabari Brown? I think Brown is highly rated, but we also seem to have more depth at SG and some big question marks with the health of our current bigs. In 2 seasons, MBA, Gant ans Aziz will all be gone, which leaves Breshers and Simmons as our only “big” guys. The need seems to be greatest up front, but Brown also looks like a great prospect. If Romar can squeeze all 5 into school, great, but that means losing someone else to transfer (no one is going pro early), and I don’t see any logical candidates for a transfer.
Wroten is no sure thing, and Brown is also highly rated and sought after by other schools. Combine that with our thin front court, I think Romar has to make Chol and Pelle a priority. Lock up those two and Kiwi now, and then save the last scholarship for Wroten or Brown, whichever we can get.
Thoughts?
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I’m with you Grant 100%. I’m a person that believes strongly in personal responsibility and you are right. There is no reason that Washington can’t do as well as Butler. That said, I also believe in playing games with rules. That is at the core of all sports and should be of primary concern. I think that we are both right here, so let’s move on.
I will have a detailed look at recruiting in the new post at http://mynorthwest.com/?sid=&nid=518 later this afternoon, as well as some new inside info at huskydigest.com so please come take a look.
Let’s talk either here, there or tonight between 8-9PM PST on “Talkin’ Hoops” at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nwsportsradio where Ryan Appleby and I will be taking calls.
Briefly I think that Chol, Wroten and Brown are my wish list for UW to replace in order MBA, Venoy and Holiday. What to do with the spot left open by Chuck Garcia is anyone’s guess. It makes sense to me to bring in a guy like Gardner or another small, quick and fearless player or pure point guard, but a strong big makes a lot of sense too. There are a lot of options and that’s a call that Romar is ultimately going to have to make.
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I think Romar is going after both Brown and Wroten, with Kiwi more of a backup plan if the primary targets don’t pan out.
I think Chol should be priority #1 because of his skill set and potential. Pelle may be a little taller and longer, but he’s also really skinny and will take a while to contribute right away.
Romar will take the best bigs he can get, with the sights aimed high at the two kids from SoCal, although I have heard that they may be cooling on Pelle a little bit (he’s had some academic problems and I think was also kicked off of his high school team).
I think this class will be at least two bigs and two guards. If it’s not Wroten, Brown, Chol and Pelle, it could be any of those four plus whoever else is the backup plan.
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