University of Washington looks to retool with top local talent
The Seattle metropolitan area has been a hotbed for basketball talent for decades. Unfortunately, over the last couple of seasons, that talent has not been making its way to the University of Washington, located in the heart of the Emerald City.
Top tier recruits like Zach LaVine (UCLA), Shaqquan Aaron (Louisville), Ahmaad Rorie (California) and Gary Bell Jr. (Gonzaga) all skipped town. The Huskies are worse off due to those departures and Lorenzo Romar’s struggles have some calling for his job.
Despite the clamoring surrounding Romar, he has been wildly successful for a program that never really had sustained success before his arrival. Over his 13 seasons with Washington, his record is an impressive 270-159 (.629). Even more impressive: He’s only had two losing seasons, one of which was his first season with the team.
Romar has six 20-win seasons with the Huskies. If you take a look at the teams before Romar, you would have to go back 31 seasons to match that total. He has also led the school to six NCAA appearances — they only had 10 total appearances from 1942-2002, before his arrival.
Even considering all of those facts, Romar has not been able to lead his team to the NCAA tournament since the 2010-11 season, and over the last three seasons the team is just 51-46 (.526) and has failed to live up to expectations.
The University of Washington has a unique opportunity in Seattle due to the departure of the Sonics. They can be the sole basketball act in town, and much of their past success under Romar has come with the aid of recruiting local prospects. The high school basketball in the Seattle metro area is some of the best in the country with powerhouses Rainier Beach, Garfield, Franklin and Seattle Prep always in the mix for state and national recognition.
Since the 2004-05 season players like Will Conroy, Nate Robinson, Brandon Roy, Tre Simmons, Mike Jensen, Ryan Appleby, Jon Brockman, Isaiah Thomas, Abdul Gaddy and Venoy Overton were all instrumental in the success of the program. The university does not have the appeal of a Duke, North Carolina or Kentucky (Romar actually had a verbal commitment from Terrence Jones before he changed his mind and went to Kentucky), so they rely on sound, local recruiting to achieve success.
Romar is signed through 2020, but this season will be instrumental to the future of the program. A lot of locals even believe that the only reason Romar is back is thanks to the incoming recruiting class, which ranks No. 9 on Rivals.com. The school may decide to go in another direction if the team fails to live up to the hype.
The class includes seven new players, with three of those ranked in the Rivals 150. Let’s take a brief look at some of their incoming prospects.
Dejounte Murray | 6-4 Shooting Guard | Rainier Beach, WA — Murray is the cream of the crop and should be an impact player for the Huskies right off the bat. He took home the Washington State Player of the Year honors, along with the elusive Mr. Basketball award.
During his time at Rainier Beach he won three state championships and received runner-up in his senior season. Murray is a blue chip player and an elite scorer, who has the size to play shooting guard but is just as comfortable with the ball in his hands. He averaged 25 points, 12.4 rebounds and 8.0 assists this season.
Other offers: Cal, Gonzaga, Oregon, UCLA, USC and UNLV
Marquese Chriss | 6-8 Power Forward | Pleasant Grove, CA — Chriss ranks No. 56 on the Rivals 150 and is the one major out-of-state recruit in the UW class this season. He has amazing touch around the rim and can step out to 18 feet with consistentcy.
Other offers: Vanderbilt
Matisse Thybille | 6-6 Small Forward | Eastside Catholic, WA — Thybille is ranked No. 130 on the Rivals 150 and has garnered a lot of praise over his last two seasons at the high school level.
Other offers: Cal, Oregon and Gonzaga
David Crisp | 5-11 Point Guard | Rainier Beach, WA — Crisp spent last season in prep school at Brewster Academy, but played the previous three seasons with Murray at Rainier Beach. He’s a lightning quick guard who will immediately compete for minutes.
Other offers: Butler, Providence and Texas A&M
Dominic Green | 6-6 Shooting Guard | Hazen, WA — Green originally committed to Arizona State University but was let out of his letter of intent when Coach Sendek was fired. He’s a smooth scorer who will definitely provide some much needed offensive help for the Huskies.
Other offers: Arizona State
Malik Dime | 6-9 Power Forward | Indian Hills CC, IA — Dime is widely considered one of the top big men coming out of the junior college ranks.
Other offers: Iowa State, Rutgers and Arkansas
Romar and his team have done a fantastic job on the recruiting trail this season. (It’s important to note they have been able to secure the top four players out of Washington State, too.)
Seattle is a basketball metropolis waiting to explode and with these local players garnering the spotlight, the fans should return in droves this season. Last year the offense was anemic and once Robert Upshaw was booted from the team, the defense faltered as the team finished an unappealing 16-15 on the year.
The 2015-16 season is a pivotal moment for this University of Washington men’s basketball program. If Lorenzo Romar can get optimal performance from this recruiting class, then they could revert back to the perennial 20-game winner that fans expect. If not, then Romar could be looking for new digs sooner rather than later.