William Howard Deemed Ineligible… Likely Headed Back to France.

William Howard contacted me on Thursday night to inform me that the NCAA has deemed him academically ineligible. Howard is still waiting for his SAT score and says there may still be a chance for him to come to Washington based on the results of that score. While it wasn’t clear from our communications his specific academic situation or why he was deemed ineligible, it seems that the most likely scenario is that the NCAA deemed him ineligible before they factored in his SAT score or they were unclear if he even took the test. Howard is apparently still appealing this and says he’ll know his final answer soon. He does still sound like going to Washington is his first choice.

It seems like Husky coaches probably had already sensed that things were headed in this direction, which is why they have been looking at other options for that last scholarship of 2012, including bringing in another French bigman in the name of Mouhammadou Jaiteh this past week.

With offers out to 4-star recruits like 6’9″ Marcus Lee, 6’9″ Goodluck Okonoboh, and 3-star recruits 6’9″ Kyle Washington and 6’7″ Jordan Bell, there are opportunities to beef up the front line in 2013. But, there still remains major question marks about what the Huskies will do about 2012. Perris Blackwell seems unlikely to be eligible until 2013 and Martin Bruenig and Shawn Kemp Jr. did not inspire confidence last season. It sure would be nice to get someone on the roster to potentially help out in 2012 and spread things out a bit in terms of eligibility. If the Huskies can not add someone up front for 2012 and Blackwell isn’t eligible, Husky fans will really have to hope that Kemp and Bruenig explode next year.

So, for now I guess we’ll have to cross William Howard off the list of options. It’s too bad too, because his game really seems to fit Romar’s style. He likes to get inside to rebound, but loves to step out and drop 3-pointers. He runs the floor well and enjoys driving to the hoop. With a good free throw shooting percentage, it would be nice to have a big man we can rely on at the stripe. But, if it isn’t meant to be, hopefully Romar can pull off some additional magic with this last remaining scholarship for 2012.