Morton, Argens are all that’s left of UW’s stellar freshman class of last year

Published 11:50 pm Friday, January 2, 2009

SEATTLE — One by one they left, departing Washington for Connecticut, Gonzaga, Arizona State and Loyola Marymount.

Six became five, then four, then three, and finally, just two remained.

And if you happened to be around Hec Emundson Pavilion last summer or fall, you almost certainly would have seen those two, shooting, working out or just having a laugh, the inseparable duo who stuck it out when the rest of the 2007 recruiting class bolted.

Sarah Morton, a point guard from Monroe, and Mackenzie Argens, a graduate of Roosevelt High School in Seattle, are all that remain of last year’s freshman class, a highly touted group of six players that many thought would lead the Husky women to greatness.

The other four left throughout the year. Some were homesick, others didn’t feel comfortable with new coach Tia Jackson, who was hired to replace the woman that recruited all six, June Daugherty.

Last year’s leading scorer, Katelan Redmon, is now at Gonzaga. Promising post-player Jess McCormick is at Connecticut. Candice Nichols returned to California before ever playing a game, and is now at Loyola Marymount. Kali Bennett* headed to Tempe to play for Arizona State.

But Argens and Morton, better known to teammates as Mac and Morty, never wavered. Both grew up in Western Washington, both dreamed of being Huskies, and each was happy with her choice, new coach or old.

So when the Huskies play host to Washington State in their Pac-10 opener today, the two who watched their classmates, friends and roommates leave will be thrilled to wear purple again this season.

“We just liked it here so much,” said Argens, a 6-foot-3 forward/center who redshirted last year after suffering a torn ligament in her knee early in the season. “I didn’t even consider leaving and I know Morty didn’t either. We love it here.”

Losing the players they lost certainly will hurt the Huskies. Four talented players leaving unexpectedly is not an easy thing for a program to overcome. But before the season started, Jackson said she was excited about the future of this team, and that if those players didn’t want to be at Washington, it was best they moved on.

Jackson and Daugherty are two very different coaches. Jackson admits her tough style isn’t for everyone. But while Morton and Argens originally were recruited by the more laid back Daugherty, both say they enjoy what Jackson brings to the program.

“I felt a connection with coach J,” Morton said. “She’s an extremely tough coach, but I thrive on that. I like to be pushed. I like to be challenged. I think it brings out better play. And I just love the program. That’s why I stayed. I felt like this was going to be a challenge.”

And should new recruits such as Jackson High School grad Kristi Kingma help lead the Huskies back to postseason play in the near future, Morton and Argens certainly will have played a big role in that. As a high school senior, Kingma had her worries, as did other recruits, seeing so many people depart the program. So in addition to working on their basketball games in the offseason, Morton and Argens spent time reassuring recruits that Washington was the right place for them.

“I knew (Kingma), so she would ask me questions and I’d answer them honestly,” Morton said. “Kristi’s a tough player, this is the type of coach she likes also. So I was like, ‘Hey, you’re going to fit in great with this coach.’”

Kingma said those talks helped her feel comfortable about coming to Washington.

“It was kind of scary at first because it was like, what’s going on? Why is everyone leaving?” Kingma said. “But as I really sat down and thought about it, I knew I really wanted to come here. The reason that they left obviously is that they didn’t like coach J that much, but I’m a huge fan of coach J and I think everything she’s doing is positive and building this program in the right direction. … It was really reassuring, especially for those two because they’re local kids and I’d grown up with them. For them to stay and for them to say they were having a lot of fun, it was really reassuring. That helped a lot.”

No doubt the Huskies will, at times, miss those who left, but the two who stayed will play big roles in Washington’s future, as much for what their staying says as for their play on the court.

“That was huge for us,” junior guard/forward Sami Whitcomb said. “It really was good for the program to show that (Jackson) wasn’t this terrible person and everyone was leaving. People stayed, people could handle it and people still wanted to be a part of what we’re doing here.

“That there were people that believed in what we’re doing and not everyone left was big for this program.”

Herald writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on UW athletics, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog.

*Correction, Jan. 6, 2009: This article originally used an incorrect name for Kali Bennett.