National Basketball Association

Is Washington Huskies Basketball Coach Lorenzo Romar On Hot Seat?

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:18 p.m. ET

Fansided, Bret Stuter/FanSided via The Husky Haul

After a devastating loss at home to the Utah Utes, 94-72, Washington Huskies Basketball Coach Lorenzo Romar Could Be On The Hot Seat

The Washington Huskies are now sub-.500 for the fourth time this season, with a 9-10 record. They fell to the Utah Utes at home by the score of 94-27. This is the same team with top NBA prospect Markelle Fultz, a versatile guard who projects to come off the board as high as number one.

Heading into the game, the Huskies knew that they needed to deliver one of their best games to win the game. On one hand, the team lost their place on defensive assignments. On the other hand, players got into foul trouble at key moments in the game.

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In the end, the Washington Huskies basketball team is a long shot to land an invitation to the NCAA tournament. Again.

University of NBA Huskies

But the University of Washington has been getting great basketball players through the program. If you list them, it’s nearly a who’s who of the NBA:

Player	Yrs at UW	NBA Team	Yrs in NBA	NBA Debut
Marquese Chriss	2015-2016	Phoenix Suns	2016	10/26/2016
Spencer Hawes	2006-2007	Charlotte Hornets	2007-2016	11/10/2007
Justin Holiday	2007-2011	New York Knicks	2012-2016	4/3/2013
Dejounte Murray	2015-2016	San Antonio Spurs	2016	TBA
Quincy Pondexter	2006-2010	New Orleans Pelicans	2010-2016	11/6/2010
Terrence Ross	2010-2012	Toronto Raptors	2012-2016	10/31/2012
Isaiah Thomas	2008-2011	Boston Celtics	2011-2016	12/26/2011
C.J. Wilcox	2010-2014	Orlando Magic	2014-2016	12/3/2014
Tony Wroten	2011-2012	Memphis Grizzlies	2012-2016	11/17/2012

NBA Ready Recruiting

The program maintains an incredible pipeline of NBA ready talent.

While guard Markelle Fultz is the star of 2016, the team has 5-star small forward Michael Poerter Jr., 4-star shooting guard Daejon Davis, 4-star shooting guard Jaylen Nowell, 4-star point guard Blake Harris, and 3-star power forward Mamoudou Diarra commiting to the 2017 recruiting class.

That recruiting is one of the gifts of head coach Lorenzo Romar. That, and winning. Well, the winning happened earlier in his career with the Huskies.

Romar gets players to the University of Washington Basketball program, and then ships them off to the NBA lickity-split. It’s not uncommon. The one and done rule is plaguing the NCAA basketball programs throughout the nation.

But other programs win. Duke University, the University of Kentucky, even Gonzaga maintain a level of success despite the constant siphoning of talent from the NCAA school into the NBA.

Why not Washington?

Dec 11, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Washington Huskies guard Markelle Fultz (20) talks with head coach Lorenzo Romar during a first half break in play against the Nevada Wolf Pack at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavili. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Schemeless transition

The answer may lie in the scheme of the Huskies basketball team. Per Mark Titus in an expose on September 30, 2016, he summed up the Huskies scheme in this way:

“Romar’s system can be summed up as: Play fast on offense and switch everything on defense. That’s pretty much the laziest approach to basketball strategy that exists. If you don’t know much about the sport and want to see athletic guys fly around a court for two hours, Washington games can be incredibly fun to watch.”

That’s both an endorsement and a charge. In fact, the entire article by Titus explores the “Is this the last stand for Lorenzon Romar?” subject.

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In the end, Titus agrees that the team will likely miss the NCAA tournament again, will have a player drafted in the top five in the 2017 NBA Draft, and Lorenzo Romar will be back to coach again next year.