Wednesday, April 24, 2013 @ 11:59am

Draft guru thinks Trufant could sneak into first round

Coming off a senior season where Washington cornerback Desmond Trufant was named first-team All-Pac-12, the Tacoma native is the Huskies' clear top prospect in this week's NFL Draft. The question is, just how soon will he be taken?

UW's Desmond Trufant was a first-team All-Pac-12 cornerback last season. (AP)

Russ Lande of the National Football Post told "Bob and Groz" Tuesday that he thinks Trufant won't have to wait long to be drafted, though there are a few hurdles in his way.

"He's a guy that's probably gonna go between 20 and 35," Lande said. "He's a really athletic corner. He's willing to put his hands on guys and play physical. He's got loose hips. He can change directions. There's a lot to like about him."

There's a lot to like about several other cornerback prospects, though. Alabama's Dee Milliner and Florida State's Xavier Rhodes have emerged at the top options at the position, and Lande expects Trufant to be lumped into a second tier with Houston's D.J. Hayden, Boise State's Jamar Taylor and Georgia's Sanders Commings.

"I think the problem (Trufant) is gonna have is, when you get beyond some of the elite guys, whether it's Dee Milliner and Xavier Rhodes, you have a bunch of intriguing guys like D.J. Hayden, Trufant, Sanders Commings and Jamar Taylor. All four are generally bunched in a lot of teams' rooms very similarly.

"It all depends which one of those four the team that's picking a cornerback (first) likes the most. So he's in a good spot to be drafted early, it's just a matter of how early. ... Trufant could go 15-20, he could go 40 or 45."

Friday, April 19, 2013 @ 7:33pm

Washington promotes Neighbors as new women's coach

Washington made the announcement of Neighbors' promotion on Friday night. Neighbors agreed to a five-year deal that will pay him $350,000 in the first season and increase by $20,000 each year thereafter.

Neighbors, 44, spent the last two seasons as an assistant to McGuff. He's never been a head coach at the college level, serving as an assistant at Xavier, Arkansas, Colorado and Tulsa before coming to Washington.

Neighbors will inherit a team that is coming off consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time since the mid-1990s. The Huskies should be very good in 2013-14 with two McDonald All-American's – Katie Collier and Kelsey Plum – joining all-Pac-12 selection Jazmine Davis.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013 @ 4:07pm

Washington adds pair to 2013-14 recruiting class

Washington coach Lorenzo Romar announced the signings on Wednesday. The two join an incoming class that includes McDonald's All-American Nigel Williams-Goss, Darin Johnson and college transfers Perris Blackwell and Gilles Dierickx.

Taylor, a 5-foot-11 guard, helped lead Pacific Hills High in West Hollywood, Calif., to the California Division IV state title. He averaged 22.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists this past season.

Anderson played last season at Moberly Area Community College in Missouri. He was ranked as one of the top 50 junior college prospects in the country and averaged 17.2 points and 10 rebounds last season.

Friday, April 12, 2013 @ 1:43pm

Former UW, WSU coach Harshman dies at 95

SEATTLE (AP) - Marv Harshman, who spent 40 years coaching college basketball in the state of Washington and was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985, died Friday at 95.

The University of Washington, where Harshman concluded his coaching career in 1985, confirmed Harshman's death. Current Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar _ who played for Harshman at Washington _ said he spoke with Harshman's son, Dave, Friday morning after his former coach passed away.

"We obviously lost a legend. I learned so much from Coach. He is one of the main reasons I'm here at the University of Washington," Romar said in a statement. "I went to Washington expecting to play with a legendary coach; I didn't know I would get the bonus of playing for a legendary person. He will be missed by all of us."

Harshman was a basketball fixture in the state for nearly half a century. He started his coaching career at his alma mater, Pacific Lutheran, where he led the then-NAIA school to a spot in the national championship game in 1959.

From the NAIA level he moved across the state to Pullman, where he coached at Washington State for 13 seasons. He went 155-181 coaching on the Palouse, and then moved to Seattle for his final coaching job at Washington.

Harshman spent 14 seasons on Montlake before retiring in 1985 and had his most success there. He won 20 or more games with the Huskies four times and went to the NCAA tournament three times. He coached Romar from 1978-80, and called Detlef Schrempf the best player he ever coached. Harshman went 246-146 at Washington, the second-most victories all time at the school behind Hec Edmundson. He retired with more than 600 victories at the college level.

Additionally, he served on the U.S. Olympic Committee from 1975-1981 and was the head coach of the U.S. team that won the gold medal at the Pan-Am Games in 1975.

Even as his health declined, Harshman remained a fixture at Washington games, attending a few per season until a couple of years ago.

"I've gone to many banquets and award shows where he was being honored and he just was revered by so many people; everyone from Bobby Knight to Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) and on and on and on," Romar said. "I could always say I played for Marv Harshman and right away those great ones know who he is _ not just in the state of Washington."

Tuesday, April 9, 2013 @ 12:04pm

Washington's Seferian-Jenkins charged with DUI

SEATTLE (AP) - Star Washington tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

The Seattle City Attorney's Office filed the misdemeanor count against him Tuesday, saying his blood-alcohol level was 0.18 percent, more than twice the state limit of .08 percent.

Seferian-Jenkins was arrested March 9 following a late-night car accident. A police report said he had a bloody nose consistent with hitting his face on the windshield and the strong odor of alcohol. He was transported to a hospital for treatment.

Seferian-Jenkins was indefinitely suspended from the team following the arrest. Prosecutors said he would be sent a summons to appear in court at a later date.

He was a third-team All-American selection by the AP last season.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013 @ 11:38am

Seferian-Jenkins remains suspended after DUI charge

Washington tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins has been charged with driving under the influence stemming from his arrest last month in Seattle's University District.

According to a release from the City Attorney's Office, Seferian-Jenkins registered a blood-alcohol level of .18 percent – more than twice the state's legal limit – when he was arrested following a car accident on March 9.

Washington coach Steve Sarkisian said in a statement released by the school Tuesday that Seferian-Jenkins remains indefinitely suspended following the DUI charge and that he "has already begun to take the necessary steps to return at the appropriate time."

Sarkisian suspended Seferian-Jenkins indefinitely four days after his arrest, telling reporters that his status would be re-evaluated once police completed their investigation.

Related: Sarkisian faces tough decision with Seferian-Jenkins.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013 @ 12:57am

Sarkisian faces tough decision with Seferian-Jenkins

By Jim Moore

If you're Steve Sarkisian, what's the proper punishment for Austin Seferian-Jenkins?

To this point, the Huskies' tight end has been suspended indefinitely by Coach Sark after he was arrested on suspicion of DUI near Ravenna Park on March 9.

Toxicology results are pending. Once revealed, a decision will be made on charges in the case.

Sarkisian told Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times and other reporters: "We will make the decisions necessary based on our team rules and our school policies that are fair to him and fair to us, and we will move forward and we will support him ...

"I do know Austin is in the right frame of mind, that he is going to learn from this, and he will be better for it in the end."

After the incident Seferian-Jenkins said: "Coach Sarkisian holds our team to high standards on and off the field, and I fell short of those standards this weekend. I apologize for letting down my family, my team and the entire University of Washington community. I will take full responsibility for my actions and work to use this as a learning experience."

In a Condotta story, according to the police report, Seferian-Jenkins was found standing outside the vehicle and had the "strong odor of an alcoholic beverage, thick-tongued speech and watery, bloodshot eyes."

If you're Sarkisian, does missing the rest of spring football qualify as proper punishment? Or should he miss fall practice and a game or two as well?

I really don't know what I'd do if I were Coach Sark. Maybe he'll tread lightly, and Seferian-Jenkins will get a slap on the wrist. But if he's too lenient, he'll be roundly criticized.

If he opts for stronger discipline, Seferian-Jenkins could miss the opening game against Boise State. If he really wants to make a statement, he could suspend Seferian-Jenkins for the Boise State game and the Illinois game after the bye week.

But then he'd hear about it from those who think he was too harsh and others who know that Washington's chances of beating Boise State and Illinois are reduced without Seferian-Jenkins.

Those in the leniency camp will say it's his first offense, that he's a good kid, he's learned his lesson and it won't happen again.

Those in the other camp won't tolerate drunken driving no matter the circumstances.

In the past I have occasionally made the mistake of putting myself in the drunken driver's shoes. I wondered about the consequences for him -- jail time, suspended license and costly lawyer fees, fines and insurance costs.

But the victims are the ones I should be thinking about 100 percent of the time.

It's gut-wrenching to read the story about the man who killed two grandparents while critically injuring a mom and her 10-day-old son in an accident in the Wedgwood neighborhood earlier this week. The man has been convicted twice of drunken driving, has two other DUIs pending and was driving on a suspended license. He had a blood-alcohol level of .22.

Twelve years ago, when Jerramy Stevens crashed into a Seattle nursing home and left the scene, coach Rick Neuheisel suspended the Huskies' tight end for the first half of Washington's game against Michigan.

I remember being in disbelief when Neuheisel made the announcement to UW play-by-play announcer Bob Rondeau.

As much as I love Neuheisel, that punishment was far too lenient. If he were making the call on Seferian-Jenkins, I'm guessing he'd allow him to play against Boise State and Illinois and suspend him for the first half of the next game against Idaho State.

Rare are the times that I've wished Coach Sark good luck. In fact, it's so rare it's never happened. Until now.

Whatever he decides with Seferian-Jenkins, it will be too much or not enough.

The Go 2 Guy also writes for his website www.jimmoorethego2guy.com; www.seattlepi.com; and www.kitsapsun.com. You can reach Jim at jimmoorethego2guy@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @cougsgo.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013 @ 12:55pm

Should Romar be interested in UCLA job?

By Brent Stecker

Lorenzo Romar to UCLA. Could it happen? Should it happen? Is Romar even intrigued? And why exactly are the Bruins interested?

Those are questions "Bob and Groz" address in the video below in response to reports that UCLA is interested in the Huskies coach to replace the recently fired Ben Howland.

Romar isn't coming off his greatest season -- the Huskies finished 18-16 and lost in the first round of the NIT -- but UCLA certainly has taken notes on his career at Washington, which includes a No. 1 seed in the 2005 NCAA Tournament, two Pac-10 titles, and a strong list of players that have gone on to the NBA.

Romar's already said he isn't interested. He's under contract through 2020 with Washington, his alma mater, so he's firmly entrenched at Montlake as long as he wants to be.

"I've said I don't know how many times, Washington wants me and I want to be here," Romar said Monday.

But the other side of the story is how far UCLA has fallen, which is something it seems the school hasn't recognized.

In the last 37 years, the Bruins have made just five Final Fours, a far cry from their legendary run in the 1960s and 1970s under John Wooden. Now they've cut loose Howland, who had his share of troubles after a 2012 piece in Sports Illustrated painted a picture of a program in disarray but is also responsible for three of those Final Four appearances.

The reality of the situation is UCLA doesn't realize its head coaching job is no longer considered among the NCAA's elite.

"I don't think UCLA is a great job," ESPN's Dick Vitale said on "Mike and Mike" Tuesday. "Why? Lakers, Clippers, entertainment, Hollywood. They still live in the John Wooden era. If you don't cut the nets done, you're a failure."

An anonymous high-major NCAA coach was even more to the point with his quote in a CBSSports.com blog post.

"I'd rather have the USC job than the UCLA job," the coach said. "You still get paid, you still get LA, you still get LA recruits and a nice arena, and you get all that without the possibility of getting fired for only winning conference titles."

710 ESPN Seattle's Bob Stelton also believes the school is operating outside of reality.

"UCLA fancies themselves one of the elite programs in this country when it comes to college basketball. Why? I'm not sure," Stelton said. "Based on their recent track record of success, it really hasn't been there. You have the Wooden era ... but it hasn't been that way for a very long time. ... I would say that UCLA does not have realistic expectations."

Because of those expectations, Romar doesn't seem like the right guy for the job, even though he was an assistant coach for the 1995 national championship Bruins team.

"He's a guy I don't think they look at as high-profile enough," Stelton said of Romar. "I think they feel like they deserve an elite-level coach. ... (And) I don't think they would look at him as a step up from Ben Howland. He's coming off an NIT loss. What makes him so attractive there? This was not a great year. It's not like he's (VCU's) Shaka Smart or any of these coaches that have really built up this momentum and now they're the flavor of the month."