SEATTLE — Jon Brockman came to the University of Washington for moments like this.
Maybe it wasn’t supposed to take four years. But maybe the wait makes it more meaningful.
On Saturday afternoon, in one of his biggest games as a collegian, Brockman assured that his remarkable Husky career will include a Pac-10 championship. It might be a shared title or perhaps Washington will win the crown outright — that much will be decided in games this coming week — but Brockman and his Husky teammates can do no worse than tie for the top spot after beating Arizona 83-78 at Bank of America Arena.
“This is just the best feeling,” said Brockman, the burly senior forward from Snohomish. “I couldn’t ask for anything else.”
This was how it was supposed to be when Brockman, one of the nation’s top basketball recruits four years ago, committed to Washington. A lot of schools hoped to get him, but Brockman chose to be part of an up-and-coming UW program.
In his freshman season the Huskies were the Pac-10 runner-up and went to the NCAA tournament, but the next two seasons Washington finished seventh and then eighth in the league and out of the NCAA tourney.
“Jon Brockman could’ve gone to Duke or Kansas or any other school that’s been in the Final Four recently,” said UW coach Lorenzo Romar. “But he wanted to stay (close to) home and so he came here. And one of the things I thought about was that he can’t leave here without experiencing something special.
“He did it his freshman year,” Romar said, “and he needed to do it again.”
Knowing that championships are not easily won, nor soon forgotten, Romar emphasized as much to his team in the halftime locker room. And just before the start of the second half he took Brockman, guard Justin Dentmon and forward Quincy Pondexter aside.
“He pulled all our jerseys and said, ‘I believe in you guys. I know you guys can do this,’” said Brockman, emotion in his voice.
And at that point the three players got “in a little huddle and said, ‘Man, we’ve come way too far to let it slip out of our hands like this.’ And that kind of changed things around,” Brockman said.
Washington trailed 36-32 at halftime, and the deficit reached 10 points midway through the second period, putting the outcome in doubt. But in the remaining minutes the Huskies crept back, eased in front, and then held on for an exciting, emotional and surely memorable victory.
A lot of players contributed to the win — “We had a lot of heroes,” Romar said — but no one was bigger down the stretch than Brockman. He scored 12 of his 19 points in the last 11 minutes, including four consecutive and pivotal free throws in the late moments.
Brockman has sometimes struggled shooting free throws in his career. But not this day. And not with so much on the line.
“I’ll tell you exactly what was going through my mind (at the time),” Romar said. “I don’t care if he is a 1-percent free throw shooter. He is such a warrior, and right now he’s not going to miss. Jon wants this so badly, he was going to make those free throws.”
Everyone sees the best of Brockman on game days, but his coaches and teammates also see him in his day-to-day role as a teammate, friend and inspirational leader.
“Jon epitomizes leadership,” Romar said. “He’s a hard worker. He’s selfless. And he approaches every day as if he’s trying to earn a scholarship.”
“He’s a great leader on and off the court,” said sophomore guard Venoy Overton. “He’s the engine that runs this team.”
When Saturday’s game was over, the Huskies shared hugs and high-fives, and they raised No. 1 fingers in triumph. Two players, Dentmon and forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning, ended up on the floor in giddy celebration.
Coming into this season, Brockman said, “I knew this team was capable of (winning a title), but I think all of us just kind of questioned a little bit if we were going to be able to come together as a group.
“I’m just unbelievably proud of these (teammates) and the way we’ve been able to come together as a group,” Brockman said. “Not worrying about stats, not worrying about any of the outside influences. Just coming together and making winning plays for the team.”
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