Huskies anxious for beginning of practice

Romar, players excited to get going

Christian Caple, COM 361

            Lorenzo Romar is excited.
            “This has taken far too long to get here,” the Washington men’s basketball coach said Tuesday at UW’s media day. “This year, in anticipation for the opening practice, I’m probably as excited as I’ve been since I’ve been here to get going.”
            You can’t blame him. After a disappointing 16-17 finish last year, many around the program expect the Huskies to make significant progress toward returning to the glory days not seen since the Brandon Roy (cq) era.
            That quest begins today, when the Huskies open practice at St. Martin’s College in Lacey, Wash.
            “I think this team probably has a lot more answers going into the year than our teams have had probably in the last three years,” Romar said.
            Roy’s senior year (2006) was the last time Washington participated in the NCAA Tournament. Stacked with athletic guards and experienced post players, this year’s team is being tabbed by many national pundits to do some damage in what is expected to be a weaker-than-usual Pac-10.
            UW’s biggest challenge will be replacing the outside shooting of departed senior Ryan Appleby (cq), who is the school’s all-time leader in three-point proficiency.
            That task will fall on Washington’s crop of freshman guards—Isaiah Thomas (cq), Elston Turner (cq) and Scott Suggs (cq). The three frosh—the fourth member of UW’s freshman class is forward Tyreese Breshers (cq)—will combine with senior Justin Dentmon (cq) and sophomore Venoy Overton (cq) to make up what should be one of the conference’s deepest backcourts.
            Overton said at times last year, he was too mindful of the big names he played against, but had a huge game against Arizona’s Jerryd Bayless (cq) when he put that out of his head.
            “I’ve just got to come in this year and just respect nobody,” Overton said. “And really, just treat everybody else like they’re nobody.”
Thomas may be the most heralded of the incoming freshman. A 5’8” native of Tacoma, Thomas spent the last two years at South Kent prep school in Connecticut after academic issues caught up with him at Curtis High School.
            At Curtis, he was a big-time scorer, and generated hype accordingly. But Romar says that people will be surprised by how well he passes.
            “He can shoot it, he can pass it, he can handle it,” Romar said.  “And I don’t think we’ve had an overabundance of guards that can do that in the last couple of years.”
            Romar—as well as his players—say that they get along with each other better than in past years, something that is a crucial ingredient for a winning team.
            “We’re having a lot of good chemistry already,” senior Artem Wallace (cq) said. “[We have] new and talented guys, and obviously we have Jon [Brockman] back, and Quincy. Everybody worked really hard in the offseason, so I think we can be a special team. We’ve all just got to come together and play together and play our game and see where it takes us.”
            Brockman—a potential All-American and team leader—is one of three seniors on the team who were around the last time the Huskies made the NCAA tournament.
            He said the past two seasons, “it hurts” to watch the tournament from home, knowing how it feels to take part in it.
            “Getting back to that tournament and making some noise will be a good note to end a college career on,” Brockman said.
            The Huskies begin regular season play Nov. 15 at Portland.