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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Report scores and results to 425-339-3470 or 1-866-6-SCORES (Call after 4:30 p.m.) E-mail information including items for Tuesday's Communities Sports Roundup and Thursday's Outdoor Calendar, to sports@heraldnet.com Kevin Brown, Sports Editor kbrown@heraldnet.com   Published: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 Huskies decide to redshirt guard C.J. Wilcox By Scott M. Johnson Herald Writer SEATTLE — Lorenzo Romar was talking about one of those so-called pleasant problems that coaches have Tuesday afternoon. The University of Washington men’s basketball coach said that, in a perfect world, he would love to have a seven-man rotation. But this year’s Huskies are so deep that he’s going with “eight or nine.” Too much depth? Romar took care of that so-called problem earlier in the day. On Tuesday morning, Romar told freshman C.J. Wilcox that he would redshirt this season. The decision, Romar said, had nothing to do with how Wilcox has performed at recent practices and everything to do with how the coach sees his future. “I guess the bottom line is, we think C.J. can be at least an all-conference player — at least,” Romar told reporters in explaining the decision. “Right now, he would be sharing minutes, and it wouldn’t shock me that if he’d play this year, he’d pass a lot of people up. I would think he’d have a great chance to be in the rotation. “But if you take the 15 minutes this year, and trade that in exchange for as a fifth-year senior (and) what he would be doing, I just think that’s a no-brainer.” Wilcox, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Utah, said that he knew redshirting was an option from the time he was being recruited. “Just to experience this year is still going to be fun for me,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “I’ve still got four more years of it, so I’m not really worried about that.” Wilcox already has impressed the coaches with his all-around game, but he’s been particularly impressive as an outside shooter. The Huskies lost their most prolific 3-point shooter from last year’s team — Justin Dentmon had a team-high 63 shots from behind the arc — and so the decision to redshirt Wilcox came as a surprise to some of his teammates. “He had been playing, and he’s been playing well,” said sophomore forward Darnell Gant, who redshirted as a true freshman two years ago. “But there are a lot of things he still has to learn about the system. I feel like redshirting can do nothing but help him. “If he wasn’t redshirting, he would be helping the team. I can’t wait to see how good he gets.” With Dentmon out of the mix after graduating in the spring, the Huskies’ top returning outside shooter is guard Isaiah Thomas, who hit 39 3-pointers but shot 29 percent from behind the arc last season. Elston Turner will probably see an expanded role off the bench, while Wilcox looked like another option to give the Huskies an outside presence. Romar just hopes he hasn’t created a different kind of problem by redshirting Wilcox. “The outcome of our season is not going to be determined by just one guy,” he said when asked how the decision would affect UW’s outside shooting. “Maybe a couple of games; maybe that makes a difference. “Again, whatever contribution it would be — and I think there would be a contribution — you can’t say that’s going to be a better contribution than his fifth year, when he’s a senior. I just think he’ll have a monster year.” READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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