The Monday Morning Wash
by John Berkowitz on Jan 18, 2010 5:35 AM PST
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PrintThe Husky basketball team got their season back on track with a sweep over the bay area schools this past weekend. Washington didn't just win they dominated both Stanford and California in the most important series of the season so far.
Up next for the Huskies is the annual road trip to Los Angeles. the Huskies who were swept on the road in Arizona need a sweep in LA to climb back to the top of the conference before taking on Washington State the week after to wrap up the first half of the Pac 10 season. A 6-3 record in the first half should put Washington who has found itself as of late in great position to win its second straight Pac 10 title.
Washington also has interesting non conference game against Seattle U lined up the Tuesday before the WSU game. Expect a lot of hype to surround this game since it matches to old friends in Lorenzo Romar and Cameron Dollar not to mention SU big man Charles Garcia who followed Dollar the the Redhawks after not getting admitted to UW.
Garcia started the season hot and was on of the leading scorers in division one and had NBA scouts attending every one of his games. His performance has tailed off lately because of foul trouble and Dollar actually benched him during a victory against Utah Valley State because he didn't like the way he was playing.
According to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times who interviewed Dollar after the game:
Dollar said Garcia was benched because of "just a couple of defensive miscues, a couple of uncontested shots. Same things other guys do, just the spotlight shines pretty bright on him. (He was) kind of a little bit out of it, so we went with some other guys."
Garcia may have star potential on most nights but he hasn't been helping his team win lately. In a 51 point victory over Oregon State a few weeks ago he sat on the bench most of the game in foul trouble. Despite his considerbale talents it is looking like SU is a better team without him in the lineup. The benching is Dollar's way of reinforcing that. It will be interesting to see how he bounces back from that.
Ronnie Fouch Transfers to Indiana State
QB Ronnie Fouch has transfered to Indiana State in search of playing time. Fouch will be a junior next season and be able to compete for the starting job. The loss of Fouch means UW will only have three scholarship QB's on the roster next season. It also means that Ronnie didn't exactly like the odds of starting his senior season after Jake leaves. Indiana State is coached by former UW assistant Trent Miles.
Recruiting
The Huskies completed their biggest recruiting weekend of the year by getting two new verbals from CB Gregory Ducre and DE Haouli Jamora. No word as yet that they solidified the commitment of WR Keanon Lowe from Jesuit HS in Portland who was among the visitors.
Washington now has 28 verbals for the 2010 class with only two open spots left that have been reserved for players such as DT Kerifi Taula, DT Ricky Heimuli, LB Hayes Pullard, and LB Josh Shirley. The Huskies also have a couple of potential back ups for those slots in LB Garrett Gilliliand and OT Michael Criste. RB Melvin Davis and LB Chris Young may have to enroll in winter of 2010 because of academics so it seems UW has all the pieces they need to finish this class on a high note the first week of February.
Washington will have visitors on campus the next two weekends leading into signing day. Chris Young and Melvin Davis take their SAT's on the 22nd and will visit after that. The Huskies also expect visits from Taula and Heimuli.
Washington also picked up its first verbal for 2011 earlier in the week when Athlete Brendon Bigelow from Fresno decided to become a Dawg. Bigelow who is recovering from knee surgery is regarded as one of the top recruits in California for 2011. Bigelow is an extemely fast athlete who could line up at either RB, WR, CB, or S. This clip from you tube shows what type of an athlete he is.
Tennessee hires Derek Dooley
Louisiana Tech coach Derek Dooley was named coach at Tennessee on Friday. Dooley is the son of former Georigia coaching legend and AD Vince Dooley. He is also a Nick Saban disciple who spent seven years working for Saban, five at LSU and two with the Miami Dolphins.
The 41 year old Dooley has been at Tech the past three years and has a 17-20 record overall with one bowl appearance. Dooleys team fell to 4-8 in 2009 which made him an unlikely candidate to move up in the coaching ranks this off season.
Another interesting factoid about Dooley is this you tube video of him doing his best Frank Kush/Jim Leavitt imitation by slapping one of his Tech players on the sideline back in 2007. I find it interesting that in a year where three division one head coaches were fired for the way they treated their players that the Volunteers took a chance on this guy after watching this video which has been floating around for three years.
On one hand the kid is wearing a helmet and I doubt it even fazed him. I grew up in the old school were a coach slapping your helmet or grabbing your face mask to get your attention wasn't that big of a deal. The thing is it wasn't right back then and it isn't right today.
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technically, I believe that we will only have two scholarship QBs next season
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
Jake is off scholly from his Angels deal
I thought I’d clarify for my dense brethren on the site. It took me a second.
WR Keanon Lowe
when did he soften on the dawgs i havn’t seen anything on that ? Do we have any shot at any of the line backers still on the market?
I heard...
…that the ducks, who apparently still have plenty of room after striking out with their “national” recruiting effort, are now recruiting him hard.
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
When Oregon decided to pursure him as a WR
The Ducks have a good class going but the national recruit thing isn’t working out as well as they hoped.
by John Berkowitz on Jan 18, 2010 10:45 AM PST up reply actions
Rumor today is that Ducre is enrolling early
If that is the case it opens up another spot if needed in the 2010 class.
by John Berkowitz on Jan 18, 2010 10:49 AM PST reply actions
D Line
Our biggest concern going into next season is Dline and possibly LB. Could any of these recruits step in and play next season? With DTN and Darrion Jones, do we have anyone who can step up? Otherwise it won’t be realistic to be an upper tier team.
by Fighting Husky on Jan 18, 2010 12:48 PM PST reply actions
For a variety of reasons, I would expect a number of freshmen to play next year. I would expect that, barring injury, guys like Sione Potoae, Victor Burnett, Andrew Hudson, Darius Waters and Chris Young (if he qualifies) are strong candidates on the defensive side to not redshirt.
Because of the small class last year and the number of guys in that class that played early, we currently have a graduating class of just 7 kids for 2013; that’s one of the reasons I expect a number of guys from this incoming class to play right away, to help boost the size of that class so that the Huskies aren’t stuck with a very small number of new scholarships to offer that year.
Good analysis Kirk
As usual you are spot on!
I really hadn’t gone that deep yet.
by John Berkowitz on Jan 18, 2010 7:08 PM PST up reply actions
yeah a rotation of crichton, aldrich, elisara, ta’amu, duncan and thompson doesn’t sound adequate does it?
Not sure if you’re being sarcastic or not, but my take on these guys:
Elisara – Pretty good 3-tech when healthy, but his chronic stingers are an issue
Ta’amu – Starting to become a factor; if he continues to work hard with Lewis he should grow into being a pretty good NT
Thompson – A tweener – not fast enough for DE and not big enough to be an every down interior guy; can be effective as an interior pass rusher, but really needs to find a spot and develop himself for that role
Aldrich – Showed some potential when he played, but a chronic knee injury really limited his playing time; might be something that keeps him from every fully developing
Crichton – Needs to get a lot bigger and stronger
Duncan – Improving, might develop into a decent backup
None of those guys are so outstanding that some of the incoming freshman couldn’t potentially beat them out for playing time. Besides which, as I’ve noted above, the staff will probably want 7-10 guys to play this year just to even out the graduating classes, otherwise they’ll have just 7 guys graduating in 2013, which obviously severely limits their recruiting that year.
Don’t forget about – Semisi Tokolahi, De’Shon Matthews & Chris Robinson. Also, we need to remember that Thompson was never more then about 85% all year because of a injured ankle. Holt loves him and has said that he will be a monster if they can get him to 100%.
Yep – I was just addressing those PandG had named, but I would expect Tokolahi to be a factor if healthy, pushing Ta’amu at the NT spot. We have no idea what Robinson will bring until seeing him in Spring practices. Matthews his a deep depth guy at this point. He seems like another ’tweener, not big enough for the 3-tech and not fast enough for DE.
If Thompson and Elisara continue to battle injuries, I could easily see Potoae getting playing time. And depending on the health and effectiveness of Aldrich, Crichton and Pulu, I could see Hudson getting playing time as well.
Hmmm
My guess would be that Crichton and Pulu take BIG steps foward next year courtesy of Ivan Lewis. Hudson would most likely look like those two did this year – has potential but clearly not ready for prime time…
Pulu was ready from a physical standpoint IMO – plenty of size and strength. His bigger issue was learning the position after having been a MLB in HS. That’s not to say that Pulu can’t get stronger and faster, but I don’t think his physique was his biggest issue this past season.
Crichton definitely needs to get bigger and stronger, so more time with Lewis will be a big help. He’s got the motor, and he’s got quick feet – he should become a pretty good pass rusher. But he got swallowed up on running plays.
Hudson probably isn’t big enough right now to be a big factor. But if he’s got that “it” factor, he might still carve out some playing time, especially considering the injury issues of Aldrich and Thompson. I’d love if we had the depth to be able to afford to redshirt him, but I think there’s a good chance he plays.
Hudson could have enough size by fall…they are all growing boys.
by John Berkowitz on Jan 19, 2010 1:54 PM PST up reply actions
We have no idea on those three
Flip of the coin right now.
by John Berkowitz on Jan 18, 2010 7:18 PM PST up reply actions
2 more spots still open
I’m willing to bet that we go with a LB and DT w/ these last two spots on the recruiting class. I’d love to get both Pullard and Shirley, but we also have to prioritize things too. We need to go strong and hard for bigs on the D line every offseason.
So is it going to be Pullard or Shirley? And a DT? I think that is a pretty safe bet. John please give us a heads up on Lowes status when it comes in. We need this kid- he’s a player where you can put in on both sides of the ball and he’ll make plays.
All I saw was purple
My guess is...
that Lowe is gone. It seems to me if he was going to firm up his commitment to UW then he would do it right after he got home. The fact that he’s gone underground, to me, says he’s leaning hard towards changing his commitment. While I’d like to have him at UW I don’t see this as a huge lose – our future at WR looks bright -VERY bright if we get Kasen Williams next year.
Lowe
A bit of a mystery…no interview on his trip yet.
by John Berkowitz on Jan 18, 2010 7:21 PM PST up reply actions
Pullard isn't coming
Shirely maybe a 20% chance.
Good bet is Criste and Gilliland round up the class.
by John Berkowitz on Jan 18, 2010 7:20 PM PST up reply actions
I heard...
Jesse Scroggins decomitted from USC- is this true? And what is the status of that big time JC O line prospect?
All I saw was purple
Not true
and nothing new on the JC OL prospect.
by John Berkowitz on Jan 18, 2010 7:25 PM PST up reply actions
VJ Fehoko Lovers
Looks like his star has been steadily falling. Doesn’t look like Tech has interest with a new staff on board. Word has it he will end up at Utah State. That is a pretty dramatic fall from the Pac 10 and Big 12 to the depth of the WAC.
by John Berkowitz on Jan 19, 2010 10:20 AM PST reply actions
Interesting...
… I know that his measurables don’t all add up, but I was under the impression that he was more of a motor guy. His production at the high school level cannot be overlooked. I wish him well.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
Size and speed
He is 5’10 225 and runs a 40 in the 5.0 range.
Where does a guy like that fit in at a D-1 football program?
He is a good football player but he is a tweener and those guys don’t project well.
by John Berkowitz on Jan 19, 2010 1:56 PM PST up reply actions
What big news?
You aren’t talking Kiffin are you?
by John Berkowitz on Jan 19, 2010 1:59 PM PST up reply actions
Never, ever use bleacher report as a source
Ever. These stories are crap and have been floating for quite a while. Tennessee fans scorned and throwing mud at Kiffin. It has nothing to do with USC and their sanctions and Kiffin will not be losing his job. Bleacher report is a place where anyone can post anything, as has been discussed.
not so fast
…. ESPN corroborated the rental car crash story – but not the part about the co-eds being passengers. There are slivers of truth buried in the hubbub.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
nearly all of the article was debunked still
No TMZ, the picture was nothing, and I don’t see much in the recruiting. Its stepping out in a dangerous ledge with regards to slander.
The car crash happened but you’d think whoever wouldve covered him would be mad enough to spill by now….
by Brian Floyd on Jan 19, 2010 8:44 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
It's not a source for useful information
Put it this way, ANYONE can post on bleacher report. It’s sort of like a fanshot on SBN.
The Kiffin pictures were from deadspin’s deleted scenes from last week (not cited in bleacher report), as was the story of him Tomlin, and a DUI. All things anonymously sent to deadspin that were debunked.
The recruiting things have been discussed over and over and it appears the Orgeron used nothing more than a loophole in the rules.
I’d pick apart the rest but it isn’t worth it.
Here's the deadspin link
Deleted scenes is where they showcase the crap sent in by readers. A bleacher report guy must have ran with it
There’s probably not anything of substance to that stuff.
However, there may well be some substance to the “hostess” recruiting scandal, and it might end up being serious enough to cause Kiffin some real problems with the NCAA, especially if USC gets hit for sanctions in February from the Bush case.
Bingo
The hostess scandal is the problem. But Kiffin has plausible deniability with it, too. The hostess scandal could bring trouble for UT, but Kiffin may not. I don’t doubt he knew about it, I just don’t know if it can be proved.
Yep. Seems doubtful that the travel schedule of these hostesses wasn’t coordinated with people associated with the athletic department, and I’d be shocked if coaches weren’t aware of what was going on. But proving a connection between Kiffin and this issue could be tough.
I have little doubt that the NCAA has their sights set squarely on USC though, considering the findings that are coming next month and the numerous secondaries Kiffin committed at Tennessee. Kiffin is the new Neuheisel…
Bleacher Report
I wouldn’t post stuff from Bleacher Report here on a regular basis thinking that there is any truth to it.
The guy is drinking out of a red cup at a bar…big deal.
There are young women around him…big deal.
The guy is 33, handsome, famous, funny, in a small town….he is going to attract some attention in public.
The guy who wrote that article in BR should really consider how much fun it would be to be sued for slander. A guy like Kiffin has the power and money to squash a little bug like that pronto. If you write something like that it better be true or you could end up in a very nasty lawsuit.
It is funny that the editors at BR didn’t squash it. Their asses are out there too if kiffin decided to do something about it.
Allegations of drink driving, leaving the scene of an accident, and fooling around on your wife who happens to be incredibly hot are not to be taken lightly.
A little due diligence goes a long way
Seems most of the rumors have been debunked. He did crash his car, but there’s been no sign of anything foul. Tennessee fans are coming off as scorned lovers at this point. It’s probably time to move on and be happy with their new coach.
I wouldn’t rule out evidence emerging that does implicate Kiffin is something, but the chances at this point are looking a lot more dim.
One would think if anyone had evidence implicating Kiffin that it would’ve emerged by now – it’s been what, over a week now since he jilted Tennessee?
If they were holding back or covering up
It seems like they’d let ’er rip as soon as he announced he was going to USC.
It’s still possible, but most everything is being debunked. Plus, I see no reason Kiffin would cheat on his wife….have you seen her?
Plus, I see no reason Kiffin would cheat on his wife….have you seen her?
I’m not saying Kiffin is a cheater, but there are plenty of examples of guys with hot wives that have cheated – Tiger Woods being only the most recent notable example.
Thanks for the laugh!!!
Plus, I see no reason Kiffin would cheat on his wife….have you seen her?
Cougfan – Thanks for the great laugh, I take it by your comment that you are a quality individual with good morals. I think Tiger Woods and many other guys like him just prove how stupid the male species can be!
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
"BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON"
I know....its a joke
None of the Kiffin things are any more relevant than the Pete Carroll Malibu rumors. It all seems like mudslinging at this point
I’d never cheat on Mrs. Kiffin though!
by Brian Floyd on Jan 19, 2010 8:42 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
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