SEATTLE — For the first time since his freshman year at Bellarmine Prep High School, Abdul Gaddy will start a game on the bench tonight.
Not that watching the game of basketball is anything new to the University of Washington’s star freshman.
Gaddy, a Tacoma native who started every game during his final three years of high school and was even among the 10 starters at the most recent McDonald’s All-American game, said this week that his formative years as a basketball player came watching the game — not necessarily playing it.
“It’s always come natural to me because I’ve always watched basketball,” said Gaddy, whose grandmother put a basketball in his hands during his early years. “I had uncles who played. I had a god-brother (former Curtis High School and current Highline Community College player Darnell Williams) who was really, really good. So just watching it, it kind of came natural to me.”
Gaddy’s keen eye for the game has left UW coach Lorenzo Romar drooling at the 17-year-old’s potential. But for now, the Huskies will let their ballyhooed recruit and his fellow freshman work their way into the rotation.
When UW plays its first competitive game in an exhibition against Central Washington University tonight, Gaddy will have to spend the opening minutes watching older teammates Isaiah Thomas and Venoy Overton work in the Husky backcourt.
It’s been an unfamiliar spot for Gaddy in recent years, yet the star guard didn’t let the presences of Thomas and Overton sway him from committing to play at UW.
“It’s different; it’s hard,” he said of going to a school that already had two established guards. “Some people would ask: ‘Why would you do that?’ But I’m looking at it as a positive. They make me work hard every day in practice. … Playing against those guys is only going to make me get better.”
Romar had been adamant about the Huskies’ starting lineup being a work in progress, so he’s not counting Gaddy out when it comes to the Nov. 13 opener against Wright State. The veteran head coach also is pretty steadfast about all three guards — Thomas, Overton and Gaddy — being considered starters even though only two of them will be on the floor when games begin this season.
“They’re all starters as far as I’m concerned,” Romar said.
What is clear is that Romar loves Gaddy’s game — not just his potential, but the way the freshman already plays.
“We don’t have anyone better at running a team in our program,” Romar said. “He can really run a team. He has a great feel for the game and for how to get people involved.
Romar added that he uses a different coaching style with a player like Gaddy.
“You kind of give Abdul the blueprints to what you want your house to kind of look like,” Romar said, “and then (you say): ‘You decorate the way you want.’ That’s what you do with him. You’ll have a pretty much custom-decorated house, too. He knows what he’s doing.”
Gaddy is one of three UW freshmen — four, if redshirt freshman Tyreese Breshers is included — who are trying to work their way into an already deep rotation. This year’s Huskies have seven returning players who averaged more than 13 minutes per game last season, so playing time will be hard to come by.
But Gaddy is certain to play extended minutes this season, while fellow freshmen C.J. Wilcox, Clarence Trent and Breshers have done enough in preseason practices to warrant serious consideration for playing time.
The 6-foot-7, 255-pound Breshers brings needed bulk to a frontline that lost star Jon Brockman, as well as role players Artem Wallace and Joe Wolfinger, to graduation.
Wilcox, who comes from Pleasant Grove, Utah, could find early minutes because of his natural shooting ability. But Romar has cautioned outsiders not to view the 6-foot-5 guard as just a shooter.
And Trent’s worth lies in his versatility. The 6-foot-5 Trent, who grew up in Tacoma but attended a prep school in North Carolina, has opened Romar’s eyes with his wide array of talents.
The only freshman who appears to be seriously competing for a starting job is Gaddy. The 6-foot-3 All-American is battling Overton for that role, even though they bring different skills to the table.
Despite his age, Gaddy gives UW a calm, veteran presence at the position. Overton has been a spark off the Huskies’ bench in recent years — Justin Dentmon started last year — and thrives on defensive energy.
Romar hasn’t figured out which one will start this season, nor does he really seem to care.
With more than a week left before the official start of the season, and almost two full months before Pacific-10 Conference play begins, Romar is in no hurry to start assorting any roles.
“It’s still sorting itself out,” he said. “This is the time of year when things are being sorted out.”
Of note
Romar said that 6-foot-9 walk-on Brendan Sherrer, a sophomore from Monroe, gives the team a big body at practice but added that the former Archbishop Murphy player “is not the next Jon Brockman.” Sherrer was chosen from about a dozen walk-on candidates who practiced for the coaching staff last month. Sherrer spent last season sitting in the front row of the UW’s Dawg Pack, which is the school’s student section at basketball games. … The only Husky not expected to play in tonight’s exhibition game is Justin Holiday, who is still recovering from hernia surgery. Romar said Holiday will be in uniform and available to play, but the Huskies would prefer to give him the night off. … Romar said tonight’s starting lineup will be: Overton, Thomas, Quincy Pondexter, Darnell Gant and Matthew Bryan-Amaning. “This isn’t necessarily who the starters are going to be the rest of the year,” Romar said. … One of the UW team managers is Kegan Bone, a former Snohomish High School player whose father, Len, coaches the Panthers.
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