What Impact Will Huskies’ NCAA Run Have on Team’s Future?

Staff writer Anthony Cassino takes a look at what effect, if any, the Huskies’ postseason run might have on the immediate futures of some of the team’s most valuable contributors.

by Anthony Cassino – Staff Writer

With the Huskies making a run into the Sweet 16 and potentially beyond, the excitement around the program is palpable. It’s certainly a lot of fun as a fan, but it will undoubtedly have an effect on the program beyond the feel-good aspect.

What does it mean for the coaches? The players? The recruits? Let’s take a look.

Lorenzo Romar: Sure, some have been critical of the job Romar has done, but let’s look at this realistically: Prior to hiring Romar in 2002, the Huskies had been to the NCAA Tournament 10 times (in 63 years of the Tournament’s existence). In eight seasons with the program, Coach already has five bids to go along with the school’s only two Pac-10 Tournament championships, and their first regular season title since the conference expanded to 10 teams.

Since LoRo’s arrival on Montlake, he’s taken the Dawgs to three Sweet 16’s — one more than Gonzaga and the same number as UCLA and Arizona in that time span. In short, the UW Basketball history books didn’t have much written in them before coach Romar was hired unless you want to hang your hat on the accomplishments of our 1953 Final Four squad. Now the dean of Pac-10 coaches, Romar can probably coach at UW for as long as he wants to. With the talent he brings to the program he should be able to get the team to the tournament on a yearly basis and challenge for conference championships regularly.

But if he continues to do that, will he be tempted to take another job? In my opinion, probably not. Washington is his alma mater, he’s got his players in the program and the school is located in the most fertile basketball recruiting beds in the world (more NBA players come from Seattle per capita than any other city). It’d be a pretty tough package to walk away from. Add to that the fact that there aren’t any high profile jobs available – right now Oregon is at the top of the pile. It just doesn’t seem like Coach is going anywhere anytime soon.

Recruiting: Winning games certainly never hurts when teenagers are looking at the program and watching the tournament. When you look at Enes Kanter, he committed to the Huskies early when things looked really good, then opened it up when the team was dropping games in the middle of its schedule. Showing that the program is capable of making a deep run might go a long way toward showing him that he’ll likely get a chance to play on college basketball’s biggest stage.

The same is true with respect to Terrence Jones. When these kids imagine themselves playing college hoops, the first thing they probably think about is what they’re going to be doing in March. Ultimately, the recruits in the 2010 class have probably seen enough at this point so it’s going to come down to other things like location and coaching. We may actually see bigger returns in the 2011 class and further down the road due to this year’s tournament run.

Quincy Pondexter: He’s gotten the attention of many in the media for his play in the tournament despite putting up numbers below his season averages. He hasn’t the kind of monster tournament that would likely shoot him up draft boards, but by hitting big shots when they counted and leading his team to impressive victories, he certainly hasn’t done anything to hurt his draft stock either.

Isaiah Thomas: For Isaiah to get a look from the NBA, he’s going to have to show that he can hit the three-ball and be a distributor. In the past two games he’s done exactly that, but because of his size Thomas would probably have to do a lot more than he has to get onto the radar of scouts, and do it over the course of an entire season. The Tournament hasn’t changed the fact that I.T. will undoubtedly be back on Montlake next season.

Elston Turner: How good has Turner been in Tournament play? And where has this player been all season? You have to think that with his recent play he has at least cemented himself as the third guard on the team behind Thomas and Venoy Overton. He certainly ended any Turner/Suggs debate, and his play is clearly going to be very important for the success of the program over the next two years.

Matthew Bryan-Amaning: MBA may have moved closer to the radar of pro scouts with his play during the Dawgs’ winning streak, but he’s still not on it. For him to be viewed as a legitimate NBA prospect he’s going to need to start taking over games regularly, not just a couple of times a year. He could have that opportunity next year when he’s a more primary focus of the Huskies’ offense.

What do you think? What kind of upside can fans expect from a run like this through the Tournament? Or is there any danger of defections, swelled heads, or other negatives coming from the Dawgs’ recent success?

Thanks for coming!