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Breaking Down the Dawgs: Justin Hollida

Holliday

2009 Recruiting and it’s Possibilities

Two down, two to go.

At least theoretically. With Coach Romar you never know how scholarships will be alloted on this basketball team, and it normally it always turns out for the better.

Take this year for example; with Isaiah Thomas still up in the air a bit, everyone was wondering how that last scholarship would open up. I thought we had seen the end of the Artem Wallace era after his devastating knee injury in the ever important CBI game game against Valapasio. Secretly I hoped the team would see Joe Wolfinger transfer to another school, but instead we saw the departure of the permanent tease in Joel Smith.

But for now we project that Coach Romar will have four scholarships to hand out for the 2009 class, two of which have been given to Charles Garcia and C.J. Wilcox.

Garcia and Wilcox do not offer the same type of star power that past recruiting classes have offered with the likes of Jon Brockman, Spencer Hawes, Quincy Pondexter, and Scott Suggs, but it appears as if Coach Romar may be taking a different approach by handing out these two scholarships for specific needs. I may have mentioned this about a billion times now, but if you look back to the three point post awhile back, you’ll see how important the deep ball is to the team (and you can see why he fulfills this here). 

Meanwhile Garcia may appear to be as valuable as “Semi-Pro” for Will Ferrell’s resume. He’s listed as a one star everywhere, but common sense would be that if he is going to Washington he definitely is not rated that low of a player. Likely he hasn’t been scouted yet as Garcia has dominated in any JUCO event he participates in. What Garcia will offer is some defense and rebounding, perfect for when Jon Brockman departs for the NBA after this season. Our post defense could be stellar at times when Garcia and Tyreese Breshers are holding down low, as long as Wolfinger does not see time on the court.

So Romar has filled two needs, but now it appears that the final spots will be covered by some serious star power. What may happen is that we may even get the special treat of seeing BabyReign develop in the city that his father dominated in. Here are the possibilities and what they could offer…

Breaking Down the Dawgs: Elston Turner Jr.

There are two incoming freshman that will be on the cover of the team preview section of the Seattle Times , have Jason Hamilton refer to many times during Husky broadcasts, will be in fans avatars when scrolling around some Husky discussion; Elston Turner Jr. is not going to be one of those two guys.

But should he be? That may be the more important question for fans when watching the incoming freshman when he steps onto the court. Isaiah Thomas and Scott Suggs will be garnering everyone’s attention as the exciting new freshman who will lead a bright future for the Dawgs, leaving “the other two” in the dark. Turner was the second to commit of the bunch, first if you discount Isaiah’s commitment which theoretically was for the 2007 recruiting class. Little was known on Turner then, and little more has trickled out even though Husky players are participating in open gyms.

From what I have gathered from reports and small featured articles is that Turner can do just about everything. At 6′5″ Turner will be able to play the shooting guard position primarily, perhaps even becoming the top backup at the position if Suggs is not ready for the position. What makes Elston unique is his ability to pass, shoot, and defend. Turner occasionally played the point in high school and on his AAU team, and could also slide to small forward whenever Coach Romar decides to roll with a smaller lineup.

From what has been released from the open gyms (the little at that) is that Turner is a much better shooter than what everyone originally realized. If you read the three point article awhile back, you know that originally I had only planned on there being about two good shooters from long range. Thomas and Dentmon were the guys I suspected would be the main long distance shooters on the team (I don’t count Wolf since, well, I’m not a fan of his and I don’t think he’ll play. You know this if you read the post), and I was like one of the masses who did not know what Turner would exactly offer the team. Well it looks like he can shoot, and perhaps better than just about anyone on the team right now. From some buddies of mine I’ve heard Isaiah’s shooting has actually deteriorated since he left Curtis, and is now primarily a slasher. I have not watched a game of his for two years so I wouldn’t know, but these guys played against him recently so they would have the best observations.

Again going back to the article, this only means more playing time for Elston as the team is without a real consistent three point shooter. A lineup of Thomas, Turner, Holliday, Brockman, and Amaning would allow the team to put on a unit that can score from every which way while delivering on some kick ass defense. Keep a rotation of the three point guards and Turner at the one and two, put Pondexter in at the three, and add a “Charles Barkley” in Tyreese Breshers and the same floor dynamic can be playing whatever unit is on the floor. Turner’s shooting opens up a whole lot for how Coach Romar will be playing his team, and it is definitely something that builds championship caliber teams.

Josh Smith Likely Headed to UCLA

I’ve heard that Josh Smith, the big man from Kentwood with all of the potential and skill in the world, is likely headed to UCLA. 

Smith is a top player in his 2010 class, arguably the top player, but right now it appears that Ben Howland and the UCLA Bruins have a solid lead on the kid. 

This will be one of the few times I mention this because there is still a lot of time left on the clock (and I’m an optimist), and picking a school is a difficult process for any kid, especially a top basketball recruit.

Smith doesn’t necessarily fit the Romar offense too well, but he is one of the talents like Spencer Hawes where you need to recruit him no matter what.

Of course we know how the one Hawes season turned out, so the Huskies may not miss out on much.

Seattle Times Spotlights Isaiah

Here it is

Ted Milller Praises Seattle Basketball Scene

Normally it is more likely to see Britney Spears attractive again rather than seeing the Huskies being covered by “Worldwide Leader in Sports” ESPN. But I’ve got to hand it to them, since the addition of Ted Miller, ESPN has been crawling with Pac-10/Husky news and surprisingly Andy Katz seems to have a strange fetish with the program by mentioning the Husky basketball program in almost every one of his College Basketball write-ups. 

But one article was featured prominently on the College Basketballs section, and it was written by none other than the East Coast bias assassin, Ted Miller.

Miller writes that the Seattle area may be “dead” to the average fan across the country when it comes to the basketball scene, and he goes on to write that is hardly the case.

I have said for years that basketball is our city’s game. I remember Softy two years ago when the Seahawks were just getting back from their Super Bowl run asking the listeners what you considered this city to be. By “be” he meant are we a Seahawks town, a Mariner town, or a Sonic town. Conventional wisdom may have been Mariners since our entire state gets behind them when they are winning, or perhaps the Seahawks since they just finished the most successful run in franchise history. 

I wanted to call in however just to say that all three are wrong, but rather that we are a basketball town. The talent we have produced into the college system is flat out amazing, and can now be said with ease to be a top five city in the country for coaches to recruit. ESPN did another piece a couple days ago asking where the best talent comes from in the country, and to me it was obvious that we had it locked down with the likes of Roy, Robinson, Williams, Terry, and Webster.

For whatever reason this town is hoops crazy.

Romar On KJR

Coach Romar was on Softy’s show yesterday and touched on some interesting topics. As the recruiting nut that I am, it was interesting to hear what Romar thought about the Sonics leaving town and how the move will change recruiting. Romar also touched on what type of impact simply showing up at recruit’s basketball games will have on their decision on college, something he says just shows that “we are still interested.”

Just watching some games last year with Josh Smith, Peyton Siva, and the Bellarmine guards, it was never a surprise to see Coach Dollar or Coach Shaw in the stands. It’s interesting because at times they can not communicate with the recruits, and they just want to be seen by the prospect.

Romar just got back from Philadelphia where Tony Wroten had a tournament, so it’s nice to know that the staff is willing to follow Wroten all over the country just to show how important he is to their program.

Props to KJR for getting Romar onto the program during a time when football is the main focus.

Stanback’s Mother, and Possibly Washington, Hit the Jackpot

It has been rumored for a week or so, but today Bob Condotta confirmed through an interview with Chace Stanback’s mother Sarah Quick that she did indeed win $25,000 through an internet lottery. Even better news perhaps for Coach Romar and Husky fans is that she plans to spend the money on Chace’s tuition next year as every team he is looking at is currently out of scholarships.

Quick said her son is continuing to look at a half-dozen or so schools, including Washington, and that none of them have scholarships available. “All of the schools so far we would have to pay the first year and are offering scholarships after the first year,” she said.

Quick said her son “had a real great visit at Washington” but doesn’t know if the Huskies are in any better position than any of the others. Other schools she mentioned were NC State and Georgia Tech — he is in North Carolina checking out some schools right now while also visiting family. She also said he plans to visit UNLV. She said any decision could still be a month or so away.

Adding Stanback to a incoming class of 2009 would only boost the excitement for a class that so far does not really give the “sexy” appeal for some Husky fans. Both C.J. Wilcox and Charles Garcia’s commitments came out of nowhere for the fans, and adding a player of Stanback’s caliber and athleticism should rejuvenate some of that interest in the Class of 2009.

However if Stanback does decide to come up north, that would leave only one scholarship left for the class. Shawn Kemp Jr. seems like a good possibility since it would make sense to add another big man, or perhaps this only increases the recruiting pressure on Abdul Gaddy to be the true point guard that could become a need once Justin Dentmon leaves. 

The Stanback possibility leaves a lot of doors open, hopefully his cousin Isaiah can encourage him on the Seattle scene a bit and add yet another athletic swingman to the mix of a possible Pac-10 championship team.

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