The Washington Huskies were more like puppies this season, finishing with a 9-22 record; not nearly good enough to earn a spot in postseason play.
Subsequently, No. 1 NBA draft prospect, Huskies guard Markelle Fultz, is missing from the NCAA tournament, marking the second consecutive year the consensus numero uno is watching March Madness on TV like the rest of us instead of playing in it (Ben Simmons last year).
Rare pic of IT sans the baldie
Ultimately, Lorenzo Romar was a dead dog, fired by Washington last week following 15 seasons as head coach.
The remarkable recruiting didn't equal many wins -- the Huskies haven't been to the tourney since 2012 -- so he doesn't really have a bone to pick here.
(Sidenote: a similar thing happened to Rick Barnes at Texas a few years back, with the caveat being Barnes had a Final Four appearance in 2003, thanks to Kevin Durant).
Not including Fultz, and No. 2 ranked prep recruit Michael Porter Jr., who was committed to UW prior to Romar getting the axe (his father, Michael Sr. was on the coaching staff) but was granted his release Thursday, here is a list of players who were coached by Romar during his tenure (2002-2017) in Seattle.
CURRENT NBA
Isaiah Thomas - Boston Celtics
Marquese Chriss - Phoenix Suns
Terrence Ross - Orlando Magic
Justin Holiday - New York Knicks
Quincy Pondexter - New Orleans Pelicans
Spencer Hawes - Milwaukee Bucks
Dejounte Murray - San Antonio Spurs
C.J. Wilcox - Orlando Magic
FORMER NBA
Nate Robinson - Sprite Slam Dunk champion
Brandon Roy - Portland Trail Blazers
Jon Brockman - Sacramento Kings
Tony Wroten - Philadelphia 76ers
Justin Dentmon - Toronto Raptors
Will Conroy - Houston Rockets
Bobby Jones - Denver Nuggets
#5 Kendall Marshall - Guard 6-3 186 Freshman Dumfries, VA 6.2 ppg 6.1 apg
The Tar Heels were point-guard-by-committee for the first 21 games of the season until Marshall emerged. His first game playing significant minutes came Feb. 6 against Florida State in Tallahasee. Marshall dimed 16 assists on the Seminoles; the all-time single game record for a UNC player in an ACC game. The freshman point possesses poise beyond his years and has been unflappable so far in the tournament. The Tar Heels will need Marshall to settle down the offense and not get into a shoot out with a Marquette team that likes to make you play in a hurry.
The more low-post oriented of the Morris twins. Coming off a 24-point 12-rebound performance against Illinois in the round of 32, Kansas must continue to feed its hot hand. The Jayhawks can kill the will of the upstart Spiders by pounding them inside where they don't really have much depth. Dominant inside play by Markieff and his brother Marcus will lead to double-teams in the post and kickouts to the perimeter that will give Kansas shooters Brady Morningstar and Tyshawn Taylor plenty of open looks.
Buford can kill you from anywhere on the floor.
No. 4 Kentucky vs. No. 1 Ohio State
#44 William Buford - Guard 6-5 205 Junior Toledo, OH 14.6 ppg 4 rpg 3 apg
Buford is the jack-of-all-trades for the Buckeyes and the team's most athletic guard. He can hurt you on offense from either guard position. He creates a matchup problem with his size as he has the ability to rise and shoot over smaller defenders and is fast enough to penetrate past bigger ones. Good at drawing help defense and finding David Lighty and Jon Diebler for open 3-pointers on the perimeter or dropping off passes to Jared Sullinger when driving the paint. You can't play off of him either as he his hitting at 44-percent clip from beyond the arc. Buford is also the team's best on ball defender and will likely be given the task of staying in front of Kentucky freshman guard Brandon Knight.
Singleton goes hard in the paint.
No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth vs. No. 10 Florida State
#31 Chris Singleton - Forward 6-9 225 Junior Canton, GA 13 ppg 6.7 rpg 2 spg 1.5 bpg, leads team in all categories
The Seminoles might not have snuck up on anyone by surprise if it wasn't for an injury to Singleton's foot that required him to have surgery after a Feb. 12 game against Virginia. Many assumed Singleton would be out for the season and that Florida State could not perform well enough without him to make the NCAA tournament since Singleton was playing like an ACC Player of the Year candidate before he went down with the injury. Despite going 3-3 without their best player, the 'Noles made the tournament, and Singleton returned for the team's opening round game victory against Texas A&M after missing just over a month. He hasn't returned to full form yet (0 points in 10 minutes against Notre Dame last round) but will be critical in tonight's game against VCU as the Rams will look to forwards Jamie Skeen (15.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and Bradford Burgess (23 points and eight rebounds in last round win vs. Purdue) to carry them to the Elite Eight.
Connecticut guard KembaWalker was the clear cut favorite to win Big East player of the year early in the season, but his play has been less than spectular as of late, and the Huskies don't look as formidable. Coming down the stretch in the regular season, no team in the conference, or maybe even the entire country, is playing better than the St. John's Red Storm (No. 25 ESPN/USA Today, No. 23 AP) and most of that success has had to do with senior guard Dwight Hardy. At the beginning of the season, newly hired head coach Steve Lavin said he would be happy with being in the conversation for the NCAA tournament come this time of year. With the Johnnies (19-9, 11-5 Big East) going 7-0 in the month of February, with wins over potential tourney number one seed Pittsburgh, UConn, and most recently Villanova, the only question about St. John's tournament status is how high they will be seeded. And with a roster that includes nine seniors who haven't won much over their college careers, they have the look of a team that won't be happy with just getting to the dance. Hardy is the hard-nosed squad leader and is flat out balling during this recent seven game stretch. The Bronx native had a career-high 33 points in the dramatic win over Pitt at Madison Square Garden where he drove through the paint and made a Jordanesque dribble fake away from the baseline, spun back towards the baseline while tip-toeing to keep his balance, and laying in the game-winning teardrop over a couple of defenders with 1.2 seconds left on the clock. I felt like describing in writing, but just watch and see for yourself . . .
In the matchup with 'Nova last Saturday Hardy topped that scoring mark with 34 points in a 81-68 road win at the Pavilion. Right now, he's got to be the front-runner for Big East player of the year with Providence guard Marshon Brooks, (25.1 points per game leads Big East, second in nation), Notre Dame senior guard Ben Hansborough, and Walker being the other considerations. SJU is currently the third ranked team in the Big East (a conference expected to get 11 teams into the NCAA tournament) and has the opportunity for more big wins when the conference tournament starts next week at the Garden. Hardy and St. John's are heading into March Madness with a head of steam, but they're not the only team to watch out for.
Kansas State
Senior guard Jacob Pullen is playing like the first-team Big 12 talent he is late in the season after a rocky start. The Wildcats (21-9, 9-6 Big 12), currently unranked after opening the season ranked No. 5, have two big wins over Kansas and Missouri at home in each of the last two weeks and a 75-70 statement victory over a hungry Texas team in Austin on Monday.
Brigham Young
It's not just Jimmer who can hurt you when facing the Cougars. BYU (27-2, 13-1 Mountain West) has crept up to No. 3 in the polls -- the highest ranking in school history -- and Fredette (27.3 points per game, leads nation) gets solid assistance from 6-foot-5 forward Charles Abouo, a swingman that can bang on the boards as well as knock down the open 3, and senior guard Jackson Emery, who has hit four or more 3-pointers in a game eight times this season.
Arizona
Yeah, the Wildcats did drop two games on the road in the conference over the weekend but there is a well kept secret in Tucson that will come to light come tournament time. Teams better not sleep on Arizona because sophomore forward Derrick Williams is a potential NBA lottery pick who has quietly put together an All-American calibur season. The 6-foot-8 Williams (19.1 points per game, 8.1 rebounds) is an elite athlete who is virtually unguardable. He has notched double figures in scoring in all but one game this year while shooting 61-percent from the field. Words can't say enough, roll footage . . .
Texas is 10-0 in the Big 12, including a win over #1 Kansas.
Kansas (24-1, 9-1 Big 12) enters the week as the nation's number one team after previously unbeaten Ohio State (24-1, 11-1 Big Ten) fell to Wisconsin at the Kohl Center in Madison last Saturday, even though Texas knocked off the Jayhawks 74-63 in Lawrenceon Jan. 22. Still, the Longhorns (22-3, 10-0 Big 12) were edged by only one vote by Kansas in this week's balloting and it would not be surprising for Texas to overtake that #1 ranking even if both teams win out during the regular season. The reason why: You don't mess with Texas' schedule. Coach Rick Barnes put his team in a position where they would battle tested come this time of year by playing a rather brutal non-conference schedule, despite having a young team. The Longhorns have recorded wins over Illinois, North Carolina, and Michigan State, while losing to Big East powers Pittsburgh and Connecticut by a combined three points (their third loss was on the road to Southern California Dec. 5, a clear aberration at this point). All five of those teams are ranked top 50 in RPI. The strategy has paid off as Texas is 10-0 in conference play with wins over #16 Texas A&M (twice), Baylor, #13 Missouri, and that "W" against the then second-ranked Jayhawks on the road. As a result, many experts believe Texas is the team to beat right now. (including a friend of mine who told me on Facebook about a month ago that he could easily see Texas in the Final Four. I see where he's coming from now, especially since he predicted the Melo Syracuse team to win the NCAA championship in 2003, when the Orange weren't even ranked!) Bob Knight called sophomore guard/ forward Jordan Hamilton the best offensive player in the country and for good reason. Hamilton, a very athletic and aggresive slasher out of Dominguez H.S. in Compton, is averaging 18.9 points per contest and can score on the drive and is shooting well from distance (41%). At 6'7" 220, he definitely has a little Carmelo Anthony in his game. Inside is true freshmen Tristan Thompson averaging 12.8 points and 7.5 rebounds. He is 6'8" but plays alot taller than that because of his long arms. I can see a little Hakim Warrick in him. Sophomore guard J'Covan Brown, former McDonald's All-American and Florida-transfer Jai Lucas, along with Turkish product Dogus Balbay, fill out the other guard spots. Maybe combined they can bring to the table what Gerry McNamara did. But there are teams on the rise that will have something to say come tournament time, and teams that better find a way to get their act together quick, or they won't make it out of the first weekend.
Pick your poison between Marcus, right, or Markieff.
On the Rise
The Morris Twins and Kansas - Despite the humbling setback to Texas, the Jayhawks have imposed their will on almost every other team they have played this season. They lead the nation in field goal percentage (52.3), Marcus Morris is averaging nearly 17 ppg on 61 percent shooting while Markieff Morris averages 13 per on 59 percent shooting.
Brad Wanamaker and Pittsburgh - With leading scorer Ashton Gibbs out with a MCL injury, the senior from Philly dropped a big 21 points at the Pavillion against Villanova Saturday to lead the No. 4 Panthers (23-2, 11-1 Big East) to a 57-54 win last Saturday.
Harrison Barnes and North Carolina - Maybe its just me but Barnes looks like he is finally benefitting from the college weight room. Barnes appears to be more defined in his body, and his game is also responding, as he has scored in double figures in eight of 10 conference games. In case you needed visual evidence . . .
On the Fall
Kemba Walker and UConn - I had Walker as P.O.Y., as many others did earlier, and he's still averaging 22.8 ppg, good for seventh in the country, but the game against Syracuse in Hartford killed it for me. Kemba had 8 points and the Huskies just looked plain awful against the 2-3 zone. I know not everyone can defend like the 'Cuse but why wouldn't other teams just zone up UConn and make someone other than Walker beat you?
The Illini are fading away.
Chris Singleton and Florida State - The big win over Duke Jan. 12 in Tallahasee may not mean anything now that Singleton will undergo surgery to repair a broken right ankle. Singleton led the Seminoles in scoring (13.8), rebounding (7.1), steals (2.1), and 3-point percentage (37.5).
Demetri McCamey and Illinois - Bruce Weber has had a long drought since reaching the NCAA Tournament Final in 2005 (with mostly Bill Self's players) but had the talent and experience this year to atleast make a push in the Big Ten. McCamey averaged 16.2 points, 7.2 assists, and shot 52.5 percent from three in the first 19 games of the season. In the last six games McCamey is averaging 7 points, has 25 assists to 21 turnovers, and is shooting 32.5 percent from distance. The Illini (16-9, 6-6 Big Ten) are 2-4 in those games.
Still Dangerous:
G - Nolan Smith - Duke
G - Jimmer Fredette - Brigham Young
F - Terrence Jones - Kentucky
G/F - Jordan Hamilton - Texas
Knowles hit 7 3's on the 'Cuse Feb. 12
F/C - Jared Sullinger - Ohio State
Players to Watch
G - Ben Hansbrough - Notre Dame
G - Preston Knowles - Louisville
F - John-Paul Olukemi - Oklahoma State
G - Jordan Taylor - Wisconsin
G - LaceDarius Dunn - Baylor
G - Erving Walker - Florida
F - Mouphtaou Yarou - Villanova
G - Dwight Hardy - St. John's
F - Derrick Williams - Arizona
G - William Buford - Ohio State
