By all accounts, Lorenzo Romar is a great guy. If you have a son or daughter, you want them to be around LoRo. If you’re a recruit, you want to be wooed by him. If you’re a university administrator, you want him representing your school. He’s a class act, he doesn’t cheat, and he doesn’t treat players or media like second class citizens.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t win either.
And thus the debate that has festered for five years now comes to a full boil as Husky faithful witness another lost season filled with sloppy play, no scheme, and a highly touted player who will bolt for the NBA as soon he’s allowed to escape Montlake. That there is even a debate at all is due solely to a Junior College program masquerading as Nathan Hale High School, and a belief among some people that Hale’s own one-and-done 18-year old phenom, Michael Porter, is single-handedly going to take the Huskies to the promised land. I do not doubt for a minute that Porter is every bit as good as he appears to be. He could well be the most physically gifted player to ever walk onto the court at HecEd. But…and there is always a but with LoRo…
When has Romar ever done anything with great talent? This is, after all, the same coach who has had Nate Robinson, Isaiah Thomas, Brandon Roy, CJ Wilcox, Terrence Ross, Jon Brockman, Spencer Hawes, Tony Wroten, Andrew Andrews, Marquese Chriss, Dejounte Murray, Tony Wroten and, of late, Markelle Fultz all put on the purple and gold, and yet what is there to show for it?
In 15 years at the UW, a Romar-coached basketball team has made exactly zero trips to the Elite 8 and only three times has made it as far as the Sweet 16. Barring a miracle, this will be the sixth consecutive year the UW has missed the Big Dance. If basketball fans in the PNW want to watch good college basketball being played, they need to hunt down a Zags or Ducks game. Thank God for cable.
The problem with LoRo’s system is, well…there is no system. As near as I can tell, his strategy revolves around getting one or two highly touted recruits each year, coach the talent out of them, and then watch them bolt for the NBA after a year. There is no continuity, no offensive or defensive discipline, no passion, and no emphasis on basic fundamentals like free throw shooting, playing even marginal defense, rebounding, or mastering the art of inbounding a ball properly under your own basket. If you take a look at really good programs, like the Ducks, Zags (and Butler when Brad Stevens was their coach), all of these fundamentals are table stakes. In addition, good programs find two, three and four-star recruits, hang onto them for a few years and develop those players so they actually get better from one year to the next. None of these boxes can be checked under LoRo’s watch. He and his assistant coaches have proven they are incapable of coaching a player “up.”
There are two common arguments coming from people who begrudgingly think Romar should be given one more year. The first is that if he’s let go, the UW will lose Porter and other great recruits who will get the ship righted. They’re probably right, and in fact the ship may get righted if Romar is given one last chance. But what’s to prevent Porter from bolting for the NBA after one year and leaving the program right back where it started, devoid of a system and winning culture?
The second argument is that there is no “Chris Peterson” waiting in the wings to take over if LoRo exits stage left. To which I say there are a number of good options, including trying to lure someone like Tony Bennett back to the Northwest. Or moving LoRo upstairs to become assistant AD and having Roy and Conroy take the program over. Or having Mike Neighbors make the transition from women’s basketball to men’s. Or bringing in an up-and-coming mid-major coach to create long-term stability. Or hiring a 7th grade CYO coach who knows how to teach a kid to block out.
This team and this program needs a fundamental re-set. Even with a gaudy crop of recruits coming in next year, it will at best be nothing more than a brief respite from the losing that has permeated the program for the past decade.
I love the man, just not the coach. It’s time.