ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Thursday was the last game Washington seniors Will Conroy, Tre Simmons and Hakeem Rollins will play as members of the Huskies. It could be the last time fans see Nate Robinson and Brandon Roy in a UW uniform as well.
Though neither junior was ready to commit after Washington’s loss to Louisville in the Sweet 16, it’s been clear all season that both are considering early entry to the NBA Draft.
“I’m not going to decide until after the tournament,” said Robinson, a two-time first-team Pacific-10 Conference all-star and a third-team Associated Press All-American this season. “I haven’t even started thinking about it yet. Now that the season’s done, I can probably focus more on it.”
Robinson entered his name in the draft last year but withdrew it and returned to Washington, where he led the Huskies in scoring for the third year in a row. It seems probable that he has played his last game as a Husky.
Roy is another matter, though. The 6-foot-6 swing man battled a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered in the Great Alaska Shootout all season. His knee was never healthy and might leave NBA scouts with a question mark.
While Roy says he’s “more 50-50 than ever,” he sounds like someone ready to come back for his senior year.
“I wanna try to be 100 percent,” Roy said. “I think this team could be really good next year. If I was able to be around here in the spring and give them 100 percent of myself then I feel we could be a better team next year. I feel like it would be better for the team if I let them know one way or the other what I’m thinking of doing.”
Roy said he would likely take about three weeks to let his knee heal before coming to a decision.
Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said he wants each player to come to their own decision.
“It’s about what they feel is best for them,” Romar said. “They know that better than anyone. I trust that they’ll evaluate everything and come to that decision. Whatever decision they come to, if it’s the best decision, I’m going to support it.”
Roy admitted that getting close to reaching the Final Four left him leaning more toward coming back for his senior year to “try to make this program continue on.”
“I feel obligated,” Roy said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys coming in, and seeing the league this year, it’s tough to win as a young player. I wanna be able to help the program go to newer heights.”
Rough sequence: Forward Bobby Jones had the most difficult sequence of the night. First, the junior missed all three free throws after being fouled on a 3-pointer. Then, running down court on defense, he was leveled by a hard screen by Louisville forward Otis George.
“I was thinking about missing those free throws and next thing I know, I’m on the ground,” Jones said. “I don’t know if it was clean or not, I didn’t see it. All I know is I got hit hard.”
Different approaches: Washington and Louisville took different approaches to playing in the high altitude of Albuquerque. The Huskies came to New Mexico on Monday to get an extra day to acclimate their bodies. Louisville didn’t arrive until Tuesday, feeling like the effect of the altitude is overrated.
“I don’t think it’s really a factor,” Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. “The Olympic people do all the research. They say there’s no factor unless you’re here for 21 days. You’re not going to get acclimated. Everybody is in the same boat. The only thing that is different is you must hydrate your players more than you would elsewhere.”
Obviously, Romar disagreed, and his players said they felt stronger as the week went on.
“I think if you walk in here and get off the plane and go play a game, it’s a factor,” Romar said.
Louisville tough guy: Cardinals guard Taquan Dean has had a rough year. The sweet-shooting guard battled mononucleosis yet still managed to be one of Conference USA’s top guards. In the second half Thursday, Dean sprained an ankle and Pitino said he’s worried Dean might not be ready for Saturday’s regional title game.
But his teammates have confidence Dean will be on the court.
“Taquan’s a tough kid,” Francisco Garcia said. “He’s going to play no matter what. He’s going to have a broken leg and he’s going to be running around.”
Following the UL model: Romar said that Louisville is one of the program’s he hopes to emulate in building Washington from a great team to a consistently great program.
“I don’t think there’s any question Louisville is traditionally one of the top programs in America,” Romar said. “That started a long time ago. What they have today is a very, very special program. And there are several of those throughout the country. It is very hard to get there. We have had programs that have dabbled with it and are trying to get to a point where they establish some tradition but weren’t able to sustain it. But there are others that year in and year out are right there, and they are one of them.”
Nate finally gets one: Despite a nightmarish night for Robinson (1-for-7 shooting), he finally got his first dunk of the tournament. With 9:54 to play, he made a steal and broke away from the pack, going in for a two-handed slam, helping the Huskies make their final push before fading as Louisville’s Dean answered with a 3-pointer.
“It would feel better if we would have won,” Robinson said. “I was hoping it would get us going but they hit that shot and we couldn’t get anything going.”
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