Wroten Stays Home

I took 5 minutes out of my work day to watch Garfield HS star basketball player Tony Wroten, Jr announce his college choice. If you have ever seen one of these press conferences, you know how ridiculous they are. A teenager, barely old enough to drive, has flashbulbs blinding him as he chooses a hat off of a fold-up table (you know, the kind they break in WWE). Normally there are 3-5 hats to choose from. The kid talks a little about each school and then pretends like he doesn't know his choice. Sometimes he will try to trick the audience (I once saw a hat inside a hat that no one even knew was there). It's so dramatic and the kid eats every second up.

The whole situation is ridiculous, but the more I think about it, the more I am able to shrug it off. I mean, I have never been in the situation where I had the world by the balls. If I had college coaches salivating over me and if I was constantly being asked about my future, I may try to have a little fun too. I suppose it's only natural.

All that aside, let's talk more about Wroten. The kid was, if I remember correctly, the top ranked point guard in the country as a sophomore. His junior year he injured himself playing football and had to sit the entire year. He is back for his senior year at Garfield and is currently ranked the 4th best PG (35th overall). After two minutes of deliberation, Wroten chose UW over Seattle U, Villanova, Louisville and UNC. It was a great signing for UW - one that will continue keeping us highly ranked.

I can't help but think of the original Seattle guys to stay home. Before I moved to Seattle, UW was a joke. No one wanted to go there. Then around 2001-02 the quartet of Will Conroy (Garfield), Tre Simmons (Garfield), Nate Robinson (Rainier Beach) and Brandon Roy (Garfield) decided to stay local. In 2004-05 they made it to the sweet 16. A year later, they went 26-7 and earned a 1 seed in the tournament. They played such an exciting style, that it suddenly became cool to be a Husky basketball player.

Since then they had a few down years, but local kids still decided to stay at home. The list runs long: Jon Brockman (Snohomish), Spencer Hawes (Seattle Prep), Venoy Overton (Franklin), Isaiah Thomas (South Kent), Abdul Gaddy (Bellarmine Prep). Now we can add Wroten to the list. When asked what it was like to wear purple, Wroten said that he grew up wearing purple and there was no other choice. One can't help think that Conroy, Roy, Nate and Tre were a big part of his decision. Afterall, they were rocking Hec Ed 5 years ago, when Wroten was in his formative years.