All good things must come to an end

does this look like a ferret to you?

Although my Huskies got spanked by a good (and thuggish) Louisville team, they still did Seattle proud with their play this year. Since starting 0-5 last year in Pac-10 play and losing to teams like Wyoming, no one expected them to be in a position to challenge for the title. Not only have they made the tournament the last two years, but now they have laid the foundation to being a perennial power. People fail to remember that programs like Duke weren' t always powerhouses in basketball.

People give much credit to Coach Lorenzo Romar and deservedly so. Because of Washington's history of basketball futility, many expect Romar to jump ship when more established programs call for his services. I don't think that this is likely considering he is a Washington alum and appears to really enjoy his capacity as a mentor and educator as well as coach. It also helps that he just got an extension to his contract through 2008. The UW is lucky to have him as he wasn't even their first choice when Bob Bender was fired. Chalk his hire up as one of the few things that Barbara Hedges did right (see Neuheisel).

I think that with a top-10 recruiting class and a style of basketball that will attract more premier recruits, Washington may stay a power for many years to come. Expect to hear the names Brockman and Webster a lot next year. The key to the continued success will be Romar's ability to keep the best basketball players at home. The nation doesn't realize it, but this area is home to a lot of NBA talent. If only the Huskies would have been able to keep hometown talents like Doug Christie, Jason Terry, Jamal Crawford, etc...The most recent one that hurt was last year's neck and neck recruiting battle for Marvin Williams. He's a likely top 5 pick this year as a freshman and another reason why UNC may win it all. He would have looked nice in Purple and Gold alongside Nate.

Who knows what will happen with the team next year with tough graduation and early draft losses of Nate Robinson, Will Conroy and Tre Simmons. Martell Webster may be able to replace Tre and Ryan Appleby (quick PG who transferred back home to Washington after a small stint at Florida) may be able to fill in for Conroy, but losing Robinson--who is the sparkplug of the team--may be tough. At the very least, however, you can expect the Dawgs to be in the top 10 for many years to come.