More on Gaddy

Published 6:46 pm Wednesday, October 29, 2008

In the midst of an awful football season, the UW got some good news last night when Abdul Gaddy of Tacoma committed to Washington. Gaddy, a 6-foot-3 point guard who is the second-ranked point guard and No. 9 player in the nation overall according to scout.com, had oringinally committed to Arizona, but de-committed after Lute Olson announced he was stepping down for health reasons.

I caught up with Gaddy’s father, Abdul Gaddy, Sr., earlier today. Here’s what he had to say:

On Gaddy deciding to re-open his recruiting after Olson’s news and why he chose Washington:

“At that time it kind of sent the program into tizzy as far as the coaching staff went, so after that happened we went back to the drawing board and it came down to UCLA and Washington. One of the things we like with Washington was just the fact that Coach Romar, he’s always been at every game as far as his high school career goes. When he traveled, Las Vegas, Arizona, Denver, everywhere we go, Romar’s always been there showing support.”

Gaddy, Sr., also noted that his son is looking forward to playign in front of family and friends.

“We’re really excited about that,” he said.

Gaddy skipped kindergarten, and as a result is only 16 right now and won’t be 17 until January. That means Gaddy will be 17 for part of his freshman season at Washington. That’s good news for the Huskies, because players have to be 19 to enter the draft, meaning Gaddy has to play at least two years of college ball before he can go to the NBA.

And given that he will need at least two years, that is what made Washington more attractive rather than Arizona, where the coaching situation is up in the air.

“He wanted to be with a coaching staff that would be there from the beginning to the end to help develop him,” said Gaddy, Sr.

Gaddy, Sr. also noted that doctors have told Gaddy that he’ll likely grow another inch or two.

And while Lorenzo Romar and his staff were the one’s officially recruiting Gaddy, a current Husky had his hand in it as well. Freshman guard Isaiah Thomas is also from Tacoma, and once Gaddy starting considering another school, Thomas was on the phone with his friend.

“He was definitely in his ear a lot,” Gaddy, Sr. said. “Abdul and Isaiah, they’ve known each other for a few years now… They’ve been hanging out a lot, really close, really good friends, and he’s definitely been chirping at him.”