SEATTLE – In staying at the University of Washington, Brandon Roy is doing exactly what is right for him. Following a season in which a knee injury robbed him of his full impact and kept NBA scouts in the dark about what he can really do on a basketball court, Roy, wisely, will be back for another season.
And what a season it should be.
“After next year, I think the sky will be the limit for me,” Roy said. “I didn’t want to go into the NBA through the back door. I want to go in through the front door and I think coming back next year is the best way for me to do that.”
As unselfish a player as Roy is, it seemed peculiar to listen to him talk about himself for 17 minutes. Yet, everything Roy said was true. He is a solid candidate for the John Wooden Award and the Pac-10’s Player of the Year. He was, as he said, the glue that held the Huskies together last season. He can lead the Huskies to even greater things than they did this past season, when they reached the Sweet 16.
Most of all, he can secure his status in the 2006 NBA Draft as a top selection by being the stud everyone believes he will be on a top-flight team.
The 2004-05 season absolutely could be another magical year for the Huskies, even without departed guards Will Conroy, Tre Simmons and Nate Robinson.
It will be a younger team that may struggle early while it jells, but by the end of the regular season it could well be another powerhouse. Forwards Bobby Jones and Mike Jensen return, along with top reserves Jamaal Williams and Joel Smith.
Point guard Ryan Appleby, who prepped at Stanwood High School, comes off a redshirt year and will help immediately. Snohomish’s Jon Brockman enters the fray as one of the highest thought-of big men among the country’s incoming freshmen.
Roy will be the group’s unquestioned leader. As coach Lorenzo Romar said Monday, Roy will be asked to fill much the same role as he did in 2003-04, but in a more expansive way. Always a provider, Roy will be asked to do more scoring, while maintaining his value in helping teammates advance their games.
Roy literally played five positions in 2004-05 In 2005-06, he likely will be of even greater help in the backcourt, where he will spend his NBA career.
“No one has seen the real Brandon Roy,” Romar said. “I thought we saw glimpses of it earlier this year before he injured his knee and I thought we began to see it at the end of the year.
“Brandon Roy is a phenomenal basketball player. I think, in coming back for his senior year, the world will really be able to see what he can do on the basketball court.”
Yet, as tantalizing as it is to project what Roy will show us next season, it’s equally fascinating to think of the impact his return may mean to one senior at Seattle Prep.
One Martell Webster.
Webster, 6-foot-7 and 235 pounds, signed a latter of intent to attend Washington in the fall. He also is mentioned as a first-round NBA draft choice. NBADraft.net has Webster as a lottery pick, at No. 11 to Orlando.
It’s difficult to argue that Webster should forfeit a lottery position in favor of school, especially as the NBA is considering a rule starting next year that would allow no player younger than 20 years old in the league.
Should Webster decide against the NBA, he would have to stay at Washington for two seasons because he still would be just 19 by the 2006 NBA Draft.
Yet, school may not be a horrid option. I would argue that Roy’s return brings Washington solidly into the top 15. The possible addition of Webster may well boost the Huskies to an Elite Eight team and possibly beyond.
It also would improve Webster’s standing among NBA scouts and ultimately stuff his pocket with even more millions.
Is the prospect of playing with Roy in his freshman year, along with the exposure he would receive as a top prospect on an elite team, enough for Webster to be a Husky?
Let’s say Webster stays for his sophomore year and shines again. As a 20-year-old, with two years of college basketball in his background, could Webster improve his position in the draft to, say, the top 5 and beyond?
Of course.
And that doesn’t even cover the personal growth Webster could experience in even two years, growth that NBA money can’t approach.
“You learn so many lessons in college that stick with you for the rest of your life,” Romar said. “I don’t think the diploma, in itself, is the only education you receive. I think you receive an education in a lot of other ways than just how you do in your exams in college. It’s a complete learning experience.”
Roy himself said he would talk to Webster about his decision. Roy dodged any suggestion that he would attempt to persuade Webster to come to Washington, but it’s not unreasonable to think he would present Webster his reasons for staying.
“I’d just tell him to get the facts from everybody and do what’s right for him,” Roy said. “He has to live with the decision.”
Roy appears more than comfortable with his decision. The hope here is that Webster will be as comfortable with his.
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