Seen and heard at Hec Ed Pavilion: Lorenzo Romar's standing O, Dawg Pack poetry, Washington is 'Tougher Together'
- Updated
The Huskies left No. 9 Arizona stunned on Saturday night when Dominic Green hit a buzzer-beating 3 to lift Washington. The win was UW's fourth straight, and snapped Arizona's seven-game streak. From Lorenzo Romar's return to Seattle, to some poetry by Washington's student section, here's the best from Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
By Bruce Pascoe / Arizona Daily Star
Tougher Together
UpdatedWashington staged a โblack-outโ of sorts Saturday, with the Huskies wearing black uniforms and students given free black T-Shirts with the team slogan โTougher Togetherโ splashed on them. (Arizona wore white uniforms in response, at the request of the Pac-12.)
The mantra adopted by new coach Mike Hopkins is plastered over all manner of items at U-Dub these days. You can even buy a black or purple hoodies with that slogan for $44.90.
But according to the Tacoma News-Tribune, the words are also the product of the Huskies having addressed the topic of social injustice. Hopkins arranged for Washington vice provost Ed Taylor to meet with his team to discuss the issues, and Taylor asked each player to select a word that is important to them.
UW guard David Crisp selected โequality,โ according to the News Tribune, and expressed appreciation for the discussion.
โThatโs why I love Coach Hopkins. He didnโt put a muzzle on us and say, โYou guys donโt say nothing,โโ Crisp said. โHe said, โIf you guys feel strongly about this, letโs present that. Letโs do something about it.โโ
Standing O for Romar
UpdatedUA associate head coach Lorenzo Romar didnโt need an introduction at Hec Edmundson Pavilion: Fans greeted him with a standing ovation as he walked on to the court during the playersโ final warmups.
But he received one anyway. As the Wildcats and their coaches were being introduced, the PA announcer paused after mentioning head coach Sean Miller and assistant Mark Phelps.
โAnd the associate head coach, an old friend,โ the announcer said. โPlease welcome back the second-winningest coach in Husky basketball history, Lorenzo Romar!โ
Washington then played a tribute to Romar on its video board and fans stood up to cheer him again.
Romar was 298-196 (60.3 percent) in 15 years as head coach before Washington fired him last March. He joined the Wildcats a month later.
Big news
UpdatedLorenzo Romar dominates today's Seattle Times sports section: pic.twitter.com/5IiQK4K1fW
— Bruce Pascoe (@BrucePascoe) February 3, 2018
Romarโs return dominated the top half of the Seattle Timesโ sports section cover Saturday, with a both a feature story and column written about him.
Times columnist Larry Stone said Husky fans should give him a standing ovation for raising the standard of the program.
โThis yearโs Huskies, against all odds, now have a shot at making the NCAA Tournament,โ Stone wrote. โIt was Romar who made that a realistic expectation... in the Romar years, Husky fans learned how to raise their intensity to the next level.โ
Winning
UpdatedSeattle is not only the city where UA guard Allonzo Trier grew up, but also the city where he made his name as a basketball player.
To Romar, at least.
While attending Romarโs camps at Washington as an elementary schooler, Trier made it impossible to get out of Romarโs head.
โHe was the one who handed out the awards,โ Trier said. โThey kept calling my name because I was winning every award. Every time Iโd go sit back down, Iโd come back up to get another one. He was like, โWhy is this kid?... What the heck?โ
โHe kept his eye on me as I continued to play basketball. Heโs kind of watched me blossom into the person I am today.โ
But when Trier developed into a five-star prospect from the class of 2015, though, Romar couldnโt convince him to return to Washington.
โHe always said I wished I could have coached you and I wishedโ he could have, Trier said. โItโs a blessing to be able to have that chance finally.โ
A breather (sort of)
UpdatedHaving installed Kevin Sumlin as Arizonaโs football coach last month, Dave Heeke is back to a normal athletic director routine that included an appearance at Saturdayโs game.
If there is such a thing as normal.
โIn college athletics, thereโs never a normal,โ Heeke said, smiling. โBut Iโm glad we have Kevin in place and weโre in rhythm. Iโm looking forward to everything.โ
The trip to Seattle was hardly filled with leisure. Heeke said he flew into Seattle earlier Saturday and planned to return on the team charter immediately after the game. The Wildcats were expected to arrive at about 3 a.m.
Dawg Pack poetry
UpdatedThere wasnโt a lot of love for Miller and the Wildcats in the โDawg Pack Dirtโ sheet left on every seat in the student section.
Among other things, the debriefing memo took aim (often with profane language) at Millerโs sweatiness, Trierโs positive PED test before last season and, of course, the federal investigation into college basketball that included the Wildcats.
โArizona isnโt strictly a โbasketballโ business at all,โ it concluded.
The Dirt sheet also included a poem for Miller. It ended with this passage:
โLetโs cheer and jeer to get in his head,
โAs heโll moan and groan to Larry Scott instead.
โAnd yes heโll remember this Saturday often,
โAs we tamed his lame kitties in manner ill forgotten.
โHeโll question his choice to wear pure cotton,
โAnd remark on the day that Hec-Ed turned his team rotten.โ
Quotable
UpdatedโWhereโs Coach Richardson? #BookHimโ โ sign in Washington student section
The big number
Updated8
White wooden chairs an acrobat stacked together, and stood upside down on, during the halftime show at Hec Ed.
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More information
- Photos: No. 9 Arizona Wildcats fall to Washington Huskies in buzzer-beater fashion
- Last-second 3 helps Washington sink Arizona Wildcats in Seattle
- Arizona-Washington postgame: Miller blames defense, praises Huskies
- The Wildcast, Episode 76: Arizona's 105th-ranked defense is at home in the Pac-12; mailbag
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