This has been almost a homecoming week for the Washington Huskies’ lost freshman class of 2006.
On Sunday, Phil Nelson visited with Portland State.
Tonight, Adrian Oliver returns to Hec Edmundson Pavilion with his new team: San Jose State.
And there to greet them both was Quincy Pondexter, the lone member of his highly ranked freshman class to see things through to his senior season.
“We wanted to leave our mark on Husky basketball,” Pondexter recalled this week. “We all had a lot of talent and were really hyped, and we wanted to live up to those expectations right away and be one of those North Carolinas, one of those Dukes, a team that’s in the Final Four every year. Unfortunately it didn’t happen.”
Instead, after one disappointing season together, the class scattered. Center Spencer Hawes was one and done, becoming a first-round draft pick of the Sacramento Kings. Nelson returned to his home state in search of more playing time. Oliver also returned closer to his home in Modesto, Calif., citing family issues.
‘Adrian’s been the man all his life – and he should have been, he’s really good,” UW coach Lorenzo Romar said this week. “And in our situation it wasn’t happening overnight. There also was – some use it as an excuse – but in his case when things didn’t happen as quickly as he liked, he got more and more homesick.”
Oliver was no freshman bust. He moved instantly into the Huskies’ rotation. Before leaving six games into the 2007-08 season, he had played in 37 games, started 13, averaged 4.5 points and scored in double digits four times.
But if he wasn’t instantly “the man” at UW, that’s what he has become at San Jose.
He debuted there with a 27-point outburst against Northern Colorado – the highest known point total in any Spartans’ opening game – and scored 80 points over his first three games. He became San Jose’s scoring leader with an average of 17.1 points, and was second in the Western Athletic Conference with a 17.6 average in league games.
None of those things has surprised Romar.
“We know about him: very good basketball player,” he said. “Sometimes (if a young player) would have had a little more patience and just waited, it would have worked out fine for them.”
Romar doesn’t have to look any further than Pondexter to prove his point.
Pondexter was just as frustrated as any of the other freshmen that their arrival marked the end of a three-year UW run in the NCAA tournament.
He also struggled with personal ups and downs.
“Quincy went through a period early where it was everybody else’s fault,” Romar said. “Then he went through a period where he thought, ‘I’ve got to do some self-inventory and take care of some things,’ and he started working his tail off.”
As a freshman, Pondexter played in all 32 games, started 22 of them, and won honorable mention on the Pacific-10 Conference all-freshman team. But as a sophomore, he slipped back to just nine starts and his scoring average dropped into single-digits for the first time he could recall.
“When times get rough (leaving) crosses everybody’s mind,” Pondexter said. “I might have thought about it just a second. But there was no way that I was going to leave – there was none at all. My family really helped me get through the tough times by telling me to keep my head up and everything was going to work out.”
His family’s assurances seem to be coming true.
Last season, Pondexter won the Industrial Award as the team’s hardest-working player.
This season, he is averaging 22 points and 11 rebounds per game, and won this season’s first Pac-10 player of the week award.
His teammates say the 14th-ranked Huskies’ only senior is filling the leadership void left by Jon Brockman’s departure.
Romar believes his lone surviving recruit from 2006 is playing as well as anyone in the country.
“I can’t imagine anyone that’s playing better than Quincy is right now,” Romar said. “You’re talking about a guy that’s 6-6, averaging a double-double, shooting almost 70 percent from the field and shooting 95 percent from the foul line, and defending, and diving on the floor for loose balls. That’s pretty good.
“So, how does he compare on a national level? He’s playing as well as anyone.”
Don Ruiz, 253-597-8808
blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports
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