At the start of the 2011-2012 college basketball season I had high hopes for my Alma mater. Although the Washington Huskies lost point guard Isaiah Thomas to the NBA and veteran leader Venoy Overton to graduation the team added Abdul Gaddy (coming back from injury) and highly touted recruit Tony Wroten Jr. Making the NCAA tournament and winning 20+ games seemed like a realistic expectation. 2/3 of the way through the season I can hear Lee Corso in my head saying, "Not so fast my friend."
The Huskies got off to a slow start playing mediocre ball which culminated with an inexplicable loss to South Dakota St. Tony Wroten is a special talent, but he has trouble getting his teammates involved. Terrence Ross and CJ Wilcox have both struggled to find their place in an offense that is predicated on Wroten's score first mentality. The more I watch the Huskies play the less optimistic I become.
Recently however the Huskies have presented me with an unexpected surprise. I don't usually get excited over a player fouling out with 0 points and 7 rebounds in 16 minutes, but when it's your football team's starting tight end there's reason to celebrate.
If Austin Seferian-Jenkins is athletic enough to play Pac 12 basketball he is going to be a nightmare for opposing defenses. If the play of Tony Gonzalez, Jimmy Graham, Julius Peppers, and Antonio Gates (all former college basketball players) are any indication of what to expect from a two sport athlete in the NFL the future looks bright for Sefarian-Jenkins and the Husky football program as a whole.
As for the Husky basketball team, it's Pac 12 championship or bust. They have no quality wins to speak of and their inconsistent play makes them susceptible to bad losses. I have confidence in coach Romar and I'm forever the optimist when it comes to my Huskies, but if they don't win the tournament at the Staples Center in March they won't make the big dance. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
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