SEATTLE – Hakeem Rollins stands taller than a streetlight.
He looms over you, casting a shadow.
You feel almost like an ant in his presence.
I lie.
He’s only 6 feet, 7 inches tall. But he seems much taller.
Maybe it’s because he throws his shoulders back and holds his head high and when he looks down at you, it seems as if he’s coming from a long way off.
He has a dignified, almost regal, bearing about him.
When he answers questions, he doesn’t just spew out the first words that leap into his mind, but gives thoughtful pause before responding.
He is a man with a good brain and he knows how to use it. He is a man with a strong body and he knows how to use it, too.
He’s being counted on to wrestle down rebounds and block shots for the 22nd-ranked Washington Huskies as they pursue a second consecutive NCAA tournament berth this season.
He is a different man than what walked off the court after the Huskies lost to the University of Alabama-Birmingham in a first-round game of the tournament last March.
His upper body is bigger and stronger from a summer in the weight room, and the difference is clearly visible.
He added 25 pounds of muscle, bringing his weight to 245, and you can see it in the shoulders, the chest and the arms. They’re imposing.
In the world of college basketball, he is not a giant, but he’ll make his presence felt when the elbows start flying underneath.
Taller opponents than Rollins and teammate Mike Jensen – who stands a “mere” 6-8 – would do well not to underestimate the Husky duo. While Rollins brings strength and resolve to the court, Jensen offers a splendid array of running and jumping gifts. The man can flat-out fly.
In a season-opening exhibition game Tuesday night, he stole the ball and then did a spring-legged dunk with his left hand – his non-shooting hand – to bring the crowd to its feet.
It was pure electric.
That crowd had begun gathering outside Hec Edmundson Pavilion at 5 p.m., two hours before tipoff. Students stood in line and admission was free.
This wasn’t Duke. It was the UW.
This just doesn’t happen around here. It is this season.
This team has created excitement like no Husky team in a long time.
All 7,200 season tickets have been sold and so have most single-game tickets for home games.
While there were plenty of good seats for the exhibition game against Westmont College, there aren’t likely to be for the official season-opener Nov. 19 against Seattle Pacific University.
SPU a sellout?
My word. How things have changed.
The fans weren’t the only ones excited Tuesday night. So were the Husky players.
“We were anticipating a lot of fans,” said Brandon Roy, the 6-6 junior guard. “Once they opened the doors, we got excited.”
Lorenzo Romar had never seen anything like it.
“I’ve been coaching Division I basketball for 11 years (actually 12),” the Husky boss said after the game, “and I’ve never seen a team this excited to play an exhibition.”
Maybe it’s fortunate for Westmont, an NAIA school out of Santa Barbara, Calif., that this wasn’t a regular-season game. Who knows how that would have inspired the Huskies, who, as it was, won 92-52.
If this was the appetizer, can’t wait to see what the entree is.
Roy was his silky-smooth self, popping in about everything he put up – dunks, layins, mid-range jumpers – all, seemingly, finding nothing but net.
Nate Robinson was his usual electrifying self, a 5-9, 180-pound bundle of energy who apparently doesn’t wear down until he pulls the bed covers over his head at night. He’s here, he’s there, he’s everywhere on the court, you’re never sure where he’ll show up. It could be from long range or short range.
Will Conroy didn’t score from any range, but he did do what he’s become very good at – passing the ball where his shooters are in position to make baskets. He had seven assists, no points.
“That’s a first,” he said with a smile, “but I’m not complaining.”
Jamaal Williams, a transfer from New Mexico, had a night to remember. When he scored his first basket as a Husky, the P.A. announcer credited it to a player on the other team.
A freshman with an ordinary-sounding name and a zero on his uniform showed that he might not be just an ordinary player. Joel Smith, a left-handed shooter out of Lompoc, Calif., scored 10 points in his Husky debut.
Now he needs to realize there are two ends of the court. “He got introduced to college basketball on the defensive end,” Romar said. “He has to come fast in that area. Like seven days.”
The most impressive thing these Huskies did was pass the ball. It wasn’t unusual for four and five pairs of hands to touch it before a shot was taken. All told, the Huskies had 28 assists in the game.
“Is that good or bad?” Roy asked with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek. “The coaches have been harping on assists. That’s a key to our success.”
As for the player with the big shoulders, Rollins contributed in several ways: He had eight points, two rebounds, one assist and a blocked shot in 15 minutes.
He promised that players bigger than he will find out how much stronger he is this winter.
And opponents will find out how much stronger this team is.
“We have something we know that works,” Romar said.
It’s called teamwork.
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