Washington Huskies Basketball: Debating Lorenzo Romar

Lorenzo Romar has done a great job in getting the Washington men’s basketball program to multiple Sweet 16’s in his tenure. However, Romar has become a hotly debated topic as the Huskies are currently dead in the water as a program. The question to be asked is it okay for this program to be average and does Romar need more time to fix things.

Well, its not okay to go through a four-year cycle where the Washington men’s basketball program assuming they miss the NCAA Tournament once again. The Huskies on average to be conservative should be an NCAA Tournament 80 percent of the time over a five-year period.

The only reason I don’t say 100 percent is factoring in getting shafted by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee on occasion. The lack of a premier basketball only training facility is a glaring flaw that needs to be addressed. But, there are too many resources available  for Romar’s program to be so up and down.

This job is a power five conference job in a top 15 media market. The Seattle area also has a strong high school basketball scene in most years. It also has a Director of Athletics in Scott Woodward that is not afraid to be proactive when situations need to be addressed.

Just look at the hiring of Chris Petersen for football and on a different scale the investment made in the baseball program. These two moves alone have football and baseball in position for long-term success.

So for those Husky fans who will claim that Romar is the best coach that Washington can get and they should not fire him. My question in return is how do you know that for a fact that Scott Woodward would not be able to get a better coach than Romar.

Bottom line, if Romar fails to make the NCAA Tournament this season that means he will have made the NCAA Tournament only six times in 14 seasons. That also means eight seasons of NIT, CBI, or no postseason appearances at all which is a pretty staggering thought to think about.

In short, Romar has had plenty of time at the helm and there needs to be significant progress forward this season to restore my confidence in the direction of  Washington men’s basketball as a program.