SEATTLE — Jon Brockman has to rank high on the list of Ken Bone’s biggest contributions to Washington basketball, both literally and figuratively.
Now in his second year as the head coach at Portland State since leaving Washington, Bone could come to regret the recruiting of Brockman when his Vikings face Washington tonight.
While serving as an assistant under Romar, Bone helped recruit Brockman, whose college decision came down to Washington and Duke. Brockman, who played at Snohomish for Ken’s brother, Len, eventually chose Washington, and is now the team’s leading scorer and rebounder.
The day before his team faces Washington, Bone insisted he is still happy that Brockman chose Washington, even if that means facing him tonight.
“I’m glad he’s there,” he said. “He’s a great fit for coach Romar. I’m glad he’s at Washington and I’m glad he’s doing well.”
He then added, “I wish he had one more final [tonight] though.”
Both Bone and Lorenzo Romar agree that playing against one another is tough.
“I’ve always said that I don’t like playing against former assistants or guys I’ve worked with, but it’s worked out so far,” Romar said.
Bone says playing in Seattle is important for his team’s recruiting efforts. The Vikings currently have four players on their roster from western Washington, the same number they have from the state of Oregon.
“It’s awkward, because you’re competing and you want to win, which means you want to beat them,” said Bone, who was the head coach at Seattle Pacific for 12 years before joining Romar’s staff at Washington. “But it’s a game we need to play whether Romar is the coach at the University of Washington or anybody else. We need to play the University of Washington. That’s the area that we recruit more than any other area.”
Former Husky Curtis Allen is also returning to Hec Edmundson Pavilion as an assistant on Bone’s coaching staff. Both coaches were on the receiving end of a 105-73 blowout loss to the Huskies last season, but Romar cautions that this year’s 7-4 Portland State squad is better than the team the Huskies faced a year ago. When told of those comment’s Bone responded, “I hope he’s right.”
This is the second game of a three-season contract so the teams will have an “awkward” meeting for at least one more year.
Tonight, whether the game turns into another blowout like last season, or is a nail-biter like the Huskies’ win over Portland Saturday, Romar and the Huskies are going to have to put aside their feelings for a former coach and picture the Vikings as just another non-conference opponent. Then, when it’s over, things go back to normal between one-time coworkers and current friends.
“We’re going to try to beat them and they’re going to try to beat us,” Romar said. “Obviously when we play against each other we’re going at each other, but Ken and I have been friends for a long time and that hasn’t changed.”
Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com/huskiesblog
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
