University of Washington Sports

It’s been a long time coming, but I have written another sports column. After watching the Huskies barely beat Georgia last night, in a game where they honestly played horribly, especially in the first half, I have decided to give my two cents on the state of Husky athletics. 

 Basketball

Venoy Overton

First of all, what the hell was Venoy thinking? In exchange for one night of fun, he has since been accused of two counts of statutory rape and is charged with the gross demeanor of providing minors with alcohol. He could have potentially ruined the Huskies season, his UW legacy, and the rest of his life.

Luckily, Lorenzo Romar decided to go easy on Venoy and just suspended him for the Pac 10 Tourney, so the Huskies were allowed to have his help during the NCAA Tournament. While most Husky fans are relieved to have him back, the reality is that he should have been kicked off the team for the rest of the season, especially in light of the BYU player getting suspended the entire season for having consensual sex with his girlfriend, a violation of BYU’s ethics code. Obviously, Venoy’s charges are far more severe.

I wonder why Romar took such a lenient stance. Did he take pity on his senior, who would be missing the last games of his career? Or did he worry about the team’s chances without the scrappy defender? Whatever Romar’s reasoning was, I think he made a mistake.

But the biggest punishment may end up to be the effect it has on his legacy at UW. Assuming this team does not win the NCAA tourney (which would make every player an instant Husky Legend), Venoy will be very unlikely to be included in the same class as former role-players like Will Conroy, Ryan Applebee, or Brandon Jones. Those guys are all welcome back at UW games, superstars at Hec-Ed, but Venoy will be a statutory rapist who let down his teammates. The one upside is that the charges have been reduced so dramatically, that he won’t have to face any serious jail time. But he will have to live with the consequences of his actions. Time will tell how this affects his legacy.

Who Will Have the Better UW Career: Ross of Gaddy?

Since freshman Terrance Ross took over for the injured Abdul Gaddy, we’ve seen brilliance in him that says he will be an amazing player over his career. His dunks are breath-taking. I saw him throw down a backdoor alley-oop from Isaiah Thomas that not many freshmen could handle. Ross has lit up the scoreboard as well, scoring 46 points in three games in the Pac 10 tourney.

Gaddy, on the other hand, had a fairly awful freshman year and did not live up to the hype coming into his UW career. He looked outmatched and unready to play in college, which could be attributed to his being only 17 years old. He did show glimpses of potential, including some incredible no-look passes. At the start of this year, he had dropped weight and was playing much better, before his injury in January ended his season. But he has never been the scoring threat that Ross has been (or Wilcox, but I see him as more of a Scott Suggs-type three point gunner).

So which of these two will have the better legacy at UW? Ross has more upside and NBA potential because he is taller. But Gaddy is the better ball handler, passer, and team enabler.

Have you seen the Dawgs without Gaddy, Thomas, or Overton? They start panicking like its DEFCON zero as they try to get the ball past mid-court. That is why Thomas played almost the entire game, every game, during the Pac 10 tourney; resting him made the team fall apart. Ross, Wilcox, and Suggs look like they couldn’t stay calm at a day spa without Thomas beside them.

With Venoy graduating and I.T. having only one year left, Gaddy will become the leader of the Huskies. And in two years, Ross will have to step up and become a leader as well. Hopefully, by then UW will have a new, young player to help with the ball handling.

So who will have the better career? It is difficult to say, but Ross has to be the frontrunner, just because Gaddy missed half of his sophomore year, putting him one behind Ross in the long-term. But if Gaddy becomes the player scouts thought he could be, and becomes an I.T.-type leader, his legacy could prevail the greater one.

NCAA Tournament: Round Two vs. North Carolina

If you were to tell me at the start of the season that UW’s basketball team would have to play North Carolina in the second round of the tourney, in Charlotte, I would have given up all hopes right then.

That’s like telling a Tar Heel in the mid-90s that they had to play football against the Huskies in Seattle. Not a position you want to be in.

But this year, the matchup could be favorable. Sure, the Heels are essentially playing a home game, against a team from the opposite side of the country.

The key is Washington’s superior guards. The Tar Heels weakness is their guards, whereas Isaiah Thomas is one of the best in college basketball.

North Carolina’s top scorers are F Harrison Barnes and F Tyler Zeller, who average 15.3 and 15.0 points per game, respectively.

As long as the Huskies come out strong to remove the crowd from the game (which they never do), then they should have a shot for the upset victory.

Husky Football: Draft Prospects

Currently, Mason Foster is expected to be taken somewhere in the second round, which is fantastic for a guy that wasn’t even receiving serious offers from many colleges. He should have a solid pro-career. I can’t make a prediction, because you never know how players will adjust from college. But he has all the tools, and we’ll have to see how that translates to the NFL.

The bigger Husky star is QB Jake Locker, expected to be picked late first round to early second. Had he declared for the draft last year, he would have certainly been a top ten selection, but instead decided to stay for his senior year which allowed him to cement his legacy, earn a degree, and win the Holiday Bowl.

Is anyone else really hoping that the Seattle Seahawks will draft Jake Locker?

Think about it; everything has worked perfectly to allow this scenario to happen. The Hawks have the 26^th pick, which could possibly still make them eligible to draft Locker if no team selects him. Last year, the Hawks had the 6^th pick, and it seemed unlikely that Jake would fall that low had he entered.

Despite Matt Hasselbeck’s strong playoff games, it cannot be ignored that he is approaching the end of his career (or the point where he becomes a veteran backup QB), mostly because of continued injury problems. He is also on the last year of his current contract.

The Hawks traded for Charlie Whitehurst and paid him starter dough in the hopes that he was the quarterback of the future. It is now fairly evident that he is not that good.

So if the Hawks need at quarterback, do they select the hometown kid is they get the chance? I’d say yes. He has such a HUGE upside, being able to throw and run, has shown tremendous leadership, and has experience playing in Seattle weather conditions. At the very least, the positive energy from the fans would be worth the relatively low risk.

Tthe more I think about it, this seems more and more likely. Pete Carroll’s Trojans were beaten by Locker’s Huskies, so the Seahawks coach knows how good he is. And we’re talking about arguably the most popular player in Seattle! Seriously! Top five has to be (in no order) Ichiro, Isaiah Thomas, Locker, Hasselbeck, and Felix Hernandez, and there is no reason to believe Locker isn’t the top of that list.

So, please, Seattle Seahawks management, do the right thing. Keep Jake in the Pacific Northwest.