Washington’s exasperating basketball season, which ended with a 68-67 overtime loss to Minnesota Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in New York, got a little more so Thursday night when Pac-12 rival Stanford crushed the Gophers 75-51 to win the NIT championship. Lorenzo Romar must be rolling his eyes over what might have been.
The Huskies blitzed the Cardinal 76-63 at Alaska Airlines Arena Jan. 21 and would have played Stanford for the NIT title had they been able to get past Minnesota, an NIT No. 6 seed. But UW, the No. 1 seed, came out flat (which they did numerous times during the season), trailed by as many as 15, rallied to force overtime, and then committed a series of inexcusable mental lapses that allowed the Gophers to prevail.
“We just didn’t bring it,” Romar admitted.
Several UW players heaped criticism on themselves in the wake of the loss, including junior point guard Abdul Gaddy and senior forward Darnell Gant.
“It’s our mentality sometimes,” Gaddy said. “We are not able to dial in. We had a senior leader (Gant) who kept telling us, `Get going! We’re blowing it!’
“What we showed in the second half (when the Huskies rallied) was the up-tempo Husky team,” added Gant, who played his final game for Washington. “The get all in your face and you can’t do anything team. Then toward the end, we had the mental lapses. We were real immature in the overtime period just like we were late in the season in games we should have won.”
What the 2012-13 Huskies will look like will become clear in the next two weeks, during which a series of key dates will confront both Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten, Washington’s two leading scorers and the two Huskies named first-team All-Pac-12.
April 3 is the first of those dates. College players that want an assessment from the NBA’s Undergraduate Advisory Committee must apply for one by that date. The committee must deliver the assessment by April 6.
For both sophomore Ross and freshman Wroten, the procedure amounts to a formality. Both are projected as first-round draft choices, Ross in the top third of the round, Wroten mid-to-late in the round.
The next, and most important, milepost is April 10. If a player desires to remain in college, he must withdraw his name from draft consideration by that date, which is the day before the start of the next signing period for college letters of intent.
Thus, Ross and Wroten have about two weeks to make life-altering decisions, which will become 2012-13 season-altering decisions for UW should either or both decide to depart.
In the wake of Washington’s loss to Minnesota, Ross, who led the Huskies with 21 points in that game, said he hadn’t yet made up his mind.
“I don’t know what the future holds,” he said. “I’m just going to take it a day at a time and think about it.”
Ross said he would consult with Romar and his mother, Marcine Ross, before reaching his decision.
The most recent mock drafts project Ross going between Nos. 18-21 and Wroten going anywhere from Nos. 22-27. NBAdraft.net, for example, projects Ross to Atlanta with the 19th pick and Wroten to Cleveland with the 26th.
Ross and Wroten have to determine whether their short-term interests outweigh their long-term ones. While both clearly have NBA talent, neither is ready yet to become an impact player in the NBA. In fact, some believe if they left UW now it would take them anywhere from two to four years to do so.
On the other hand, Ross and Wroten would become millionaires if they opted for the NBA and the guaranteed contracts that go to first-round picks.
Under rookie salary cap rules, Ross, rated the third-best shooting guard in most assessments, would receive a first-year salary of approximately $1.786 million, and slightly more than that his second (both sums guaranteed) based on his projected draft placement.
Wroten, currently rated the fourth-best point guard, would receive approximately $1.242 million next year, and slightly more in his second season (also guaranteed), based on where he is projected to be taken.
Over the next two weeks, both players will have to determine whether they would be better served developing skills for at least another year at UW, which most scouts advise, or whether they should opt for guaranteed money about $3.567 million in Rosss case and $2.48 million in Wrotens.
Washington’s main loss right now is Gant, the only player in school history to be a part of at least 100 Husky wins. UW’s main gain at the moment is the return of Scott Suggs, who missed 2011-12 with an injury.
Washington is next scheduled to play in the 2012 Naismith Tip-Off Tournament Nov. 11 and Nov. 13 against Loyola (Md.) and Albany at Alaska Airlines Arena. The makeup of the Husky team that will play those games will be determined on or before April 10.
4 Comments
Don’t forget the loophole. This article is so incomplete, it’s a good thing the public is not relying on this site for general sports news. The NBA rule requires players to declare their intent to enter the draft later in the month. April 29th or something like that. If a college player says nothing until then, he would be considered a member of his college team. If at that point, he declares for the draft, there is nothing the NCAA can do. The NCAA rule is really superfluous, and only the NBA rule has any relevance to fans or players.
Regarding the specific situations for Ross and Wroten, your story fails to point out that if Wroten is projected to get drafted at 26 then that means he is only a handful of spots away from the no guaranteed contract zone known as the second round. Players drafted in the second round can find themselves cut and or relegated to the developmental league for an indeterminate period. i.e. forever. Even as a first round draftee and a million or three, Wroten would not see much playing time if he doesn’t learn to drive and finish to his right OR at the least a stop and pop jumper from ten feet. Can he do it? Good question. He’s been playing since he was a wee lad, and has not learned it yet.
Then the question becomes: Should Wroten declare for the draft before his projected spot drops below the first round? Which is the same question as: Can Wroten develop for the Huskies? Will Andrew Andrews come out of red shirt exile and threaten some of Wroten’s minutes for the Huskies? Wroten was sitting on the bench during much of the Huskies come-back versus Minn. If Wroten returns the whole world will be watching to see if he can eliminate the mistakes he made fairly routinely. If he gambles too much on defense or cannot increase his assist to turnover ratio then his draft stock value drops well below the first round. Especially if Andrews is as good as many have suggested. Suggs has paid his dues and is chomping at the bit for playing time. Last year he won the competition for playing time with Wilcox and Ross (though Ross was winning it at the end of the season), Suggs was reportedly the most improved player in the preseason practices with the Huskies. I remember in the Percy interviews with each player, Wroten said his biggest surprise was how good Suggs was. And Suggs is primarily a SG. So is Wilcox. Is our projected lineup: PG, SG, SG, SG, C? It’s possible.
Wroten will be getting drafted based on the potential he represents, but not for what he has done. If he does less next year he could be in real trouble, draft-wise.
Thanks for the additional insight good points. IMHO Wroten is in a tough position – like you pointed out he could slip to the second round – remember IT was last player selected in draft last year – Q Pon 26th player selected – Brockman 2nd round – their games much more complete than Wroten. (Not sure where any of the above projected to go in draft.) Wroten as you pointed out has so many BIG flaws and you did not even mention his FT percentage – that is a big gamble ($2.5 million for some team in the first round) do not see that much potential with the all the flaws.
Don’t forget the loophole. This article is so incomplete, it’s a good thing the public is not relying on this site for general sports news. The NBA rule requires players to declare their intent to enter the draft later in the month. April 29th or something like that. If a college player says nothing until then, he would be considered a member of his college team. If at that point, he declares for the draft, there is nothing the NCAA can do. The NCAA rule is really superfluous, and only the NBA rule has any relevance to fans or players.
Regarding the specific situations for Ross and Wroten, your story fails to point out that if Wroten is projected to get drafted at 26 then that means he is only a handful of spots away from the no guaranteed contract zone known as the second round. Players drafted in the second round can find themselves cut and or relegated to the developmental league for an indeterminate period. i.e. forever. Even as a first round draftee and a million or three, Wroten would not see much playing time if he doesn’t learn to drive and finish to his right OR at the least a stop and pop jumper from ten feet. Can he do it? Good question. He’s been playing since he was a wee lad, and has not learned it yet.
Then the question becomes: Should Wroten declare for the draft before his projected spot drops below the first round? Which is the same question as: Can Wroten develop for the Huskies? Will Andrew Andrews come out of red shirt exile and threaten some of Wroten’s minutes for the Huskies? Wroten was sitting on the bench during much of the Huskies come-back versus Minn. If Wroten returns the whole world will be watching to see if he can eliminate the mistakes he made fairly routinely. If he gambles too much on defense or cannot increase his assist to turnover ratio then his draft stock value drops well below the first round. Especially if Andrews is as good as many have suggested. Suggs has paid his dues and is chomping at the bit for playing time. Last year he won the competition for playing time with Wilcox and Ross (though Ross was winning it at the end of the season), Suggs was reportedly the most improved player in the preseason practices with the Huskies. I remember in the Percy interviews with each player, Wroten said his biggest surprise was how good Suggs was. And Suggs is primarily a SG. So is Wilcox. Is our projected lineup: PG, SG, SG, SG, C? It’s possible.
Wroten will be getting drafted based on the potential he represents, but not for what he has done. If he does less next year he could be in real trouble, draft-wise.
Thanks for the additional insight good points. IMHO Wroten is in a tough position – like you pointed out he could slip to the second round – remember IT was last player selected in draft last year – Q Pon 26th player selected – Brockman 2nd round – their games much more complete than Wroten. (Not sure where any of the above projected to go in draft.) Wroten as you pointed out has so many BIG flaws and you did not even mention his FT percentage – that is a big gamble ($2.5 million for some team in the first round) do not see that much potential with the all the flaws.