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Posted: Tuesday November 05, 2002 6:00 PM Updated: Wednesday November 06, 2002 1:05 PM Washington Huskies
The following preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the most thorough preview available of the upcoming season, order the 2002-03 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518. Team Preview | Blue Ribbon Analysis
Their nickname is the Huskies, but it has really been Team Turmoil for Washington throughout a shaky offseason. In March, head coach Bob Bender was forced to step down after nine up-and-down seasons. With low numbers on the court (31-58 the last three seasons) and in the classroom (the basketball team was one of four Washington programs whose cumulative grade-point-average was less than 3.0), athletic director Barbara Hedges asked Bender to resign. He will be paid $298,000 for the remaining three years of his contract. After an exhaustive search for a successor -- Missouri's Quin Snyder, Gonzaga's Mark Few and Minnesota's Dan Monson all passed on the job -- former Washington star Lorenzo Romar was hired on April 4. A five-year NBA player, Romar coached three seasons each at Pepperdine and Saint Louis before returning to his alma mater. Hedges' decision was hailed by many fans and coaches. "This is the best fit that I've seen for any college in a long time," said former Husky coach Marv Harshman, Romar's coach at Washington. "This is the only place I would have left Saint Louis for," Romar said.
Since then, however, it has hardly been a sweet honeymoon. In August, the NCAA began an investigation into alleged recruiting violations by Romar's new staff. Several coaches, including Gonzaga's Mark Few, Eastern Washington's Ray Giacoletti and Washington State's Paul Graham, were upset with what they believed to be multiple cases of illegal recruiting contacts in Romar's five-month regime. "Obviously we're very concerned about it," Hedges said in a statement. "I will tell you that when I hired Lorenzo Romar and I talked to people across the country about Lorenzo, I couldn't find a person that would say an unpleasant word about him." Romar said that "the investigative process will take care of the whole thing" and he is eager to tell his side of the story. Later in August, highly regarded prep twins Lodrick and Rodrick Stewart changed their minds and chose Southern California over Washington. It was another blow for a Husky program that been criticized for not attracting enough in-state talent. With all that taking place, Romar somehow found time to prepare for his first season. And believe it or not, there is some reason for optimism. Romar has the top Husky back from last year in 6-foot-8 junior forward Doug Wrenn, a Connecticut transfer who sat out the previous season. He was a member of the All-Pac-10 first team and was voted the conference's newcomer of the year after scoring 19.5 points and grabbing 6.4 rebounds per game. His scoring average was the best for a Husky since Chris Welp averaged 20.8 in 1986-87. "Doug Wrenn is one of the top returning scorers in this conference, so there is no question that he can put points on the board," Romar said. "When you are as talented as Doug is, a lot will be expected of you aside from just scoring." Romar is first in line among those expecting Wrenn to shoulder a big load. "We would like to see him be one of the leaders in some other categories," the coach said. "He's talented enough to be one of the leading rebounders in this conference. He's talented enough to be one of the top defenders in this conference." The second-leading scorer from last year also returns in 6-0 junior point guard Curtis Allen. The Tacoma, Wash., native averaged 12 points and handed out a team-high 126 assists in 29 games last season. He shot an excellent 88.6 percent from the free-throw line as well and is arguably the quickest player in the Pac-10. Joining Allen in the backcourt is C.J. Massingale, a 6-4 junior who started 11 games and averaged 5.7 points last season. Sophomore guard Will Conroy (2.5 ppg), 6-0, and senior guard Josh Barnard (5.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg), 6-6. each played in all 29 games last year, and 6-5 freshman swingman Brandon Roy -- one of seven Huskies from Seattle -- is expected to contribute right away. Conroy's 46 assists rank seventh all-time among Washington freshmen. The Huskies have a big hole to fill at center with the graduation of David Dixon. He averaged 8.4 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds, which ranked third in the Pac-10. His 67 blocks tied the Washington single-season record established by Welp in 1986. Marlon Shelton, a 6-10 senior, is the only center with game experience. He averaged 4.2 points and 3.8 rebounds two years ago but sat out as a redshirt last season. Jeffrey Day, a 6-9 sophomore forward, averaged only 2.8 points but blocked 30 shots, the second-highest single-season total ever for a Washington freshman. David Hudson, a 5-11 sophomore guard, played in just seven games last year and averaged 1.9 points. Freshman Anthony Washington is expected to see playing time. The 6-9, 220-pounder from Seattle was the ninth-rated power forward in the West last year by Prep-West Hoops and was listed as the 100th best player nationally by The Sporting News. He averaged 8.5 points and 6.5 rebounds as a senior at Garfield High and blocked 21 shots in four games to set a Washington state record. Romar's first recruit was Bobby Jones, a 6-7 forward from Poly High School in Long Beach, Calif. He was rated the 10th-best small forward in the West by Prep-West Hoops, averaging 19 points and nine rebounds. The Huskies need to cut down on turnovers and improve their 3-point shooting to better last year's record. They were last in the Pac-10 in turnover margin last season (-3.59) and shot just 32 percent (105-of-327) from beyond the arc. Another Seattle native, 5-9 guard Nate Robinson, was recruited out of Rainier Beach High. Two redshirt freshmen are on the roster–6-9, 220-pound forward Mike Jensen (Covington, Wash.) and 6-10, 265-pound center Ben Devoe (Olympia, Wash.). Last year's Huskies were young, with seven freshmen and five sophomores on the 16-man squad. While Wrenn and Allen return with experience, it is still a youthful squad that includes three transfers and six freshmen. It will be interesting to see how the Huskies respond in the wake of such a turbulent offseason. "We want to establish a winning mentality and everything that comes with that," Romar said. "At this point, we are emphasizing it and talking a lot about it. We're making sure that guys are on time, making sure that our guys are doing things right and making sure that guys understand that's a priority for us. Romar has the distinction of being Washington's first African-American basketball coach. "I never felt I'd be making history that way," he said. "It's pretty overwhelming to me." His $700,000 salary is more than double any previous Washington basketball coach. Romar also has incentives for having his team meet academic standards as well as winning the Pac-10 championship, qualifying for the conference tournament, making the NCAA tournament, reaching the Final Four or winning the national title. He has a lot of work to do before he cashes in on some of those incentives.
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