NEW YORK — Scott Suggs will only have one senior season and he wants it to be a full one. The senior shooting guard, who has yet to step on the floor in a game this season because of an injury, has decided to redshirt this season and will return next year for a final season of eligibility.
Head coach Lorenzo Romar announced Suggs' decision over a conference call today. The 6–6 shooting guard suffered a stress fracture in his right foot on the second day of official practice. He underwent surgery on Oct. 14 to repair the break, and was supposed to come back and be ready to play for today's game against Duke. Romar confirmed there are no further problems with the recovery.
"He's practiced the last two days, he's fully recovered, his foot has healed, he's totally fine, he has zero pain -- he's pain-free," Romar said.
But it would have taken time for Suggs to return to full form after missing so much time, and by the time he would be full go wouldn't be till the start of conference season. He would also have to share time with a guard rotation that features Terrence Ross, C.J. Wilcox and Tony Wroten.
"By the time he gets back to where his timing is on and he's knocked the rust off from sitting out, that may not be until the beginning of conference," Romar said.
Suggs discussed the situation with Romar and arrived at a decision.
"I felt like with the rehab process it might go a little quicker," Suggs said in a statement released by the school. "My original goal was to play this week in New York. As it got closer, it felt like this was the best decision."
Suggs has been a vocal leader from the bench all season, and was frustrated by the injury in his final season.
"It has been terrible watching," he said. "Not being able to play and knowing I wanted to contribute."
But Suggs wants to contribute for a full season.
"This being his senior year, he didn't want to play a half or three-quarters of the season his last go-round here at the University of Washington," Romar said. "He wanted to contribute for an entire year."
Admittedly, Suggs' decision to redshirt caught Romar a little off guard.
"I was a little surprised," he said. "It wasn't one of those things where I came to him and said: ‘You need to think about this.' He and I talked."
One of things mentioned in that talk was the fear of coming back to soon and re-injuring the foot again.
"If he were to come back, play a couple of games, and then something else were to happen, then he's lost for the whole year," Romar said. "He didn't want to do that. You can't get that year back after a certain point. So when he talked to me, it made total sense."
In a way it makes sense for the Huskies. Sure they lose an experienced and mature player that averaged 7.4 points per game, and draining 49-of-109 3-pointers.
However, it appears likely that Ross could be headed to the NBA after this season, and to a lesser extent Wroten. Combine that with the fact that Romar has yet to sign a player for the 2012 season and suddenly Suggs' presence next season would be a huge benefit.
Suggs is diligent worker and practice and expects to get better going against the Huskies starters.
"It's another year to get better," he said. " I'm just trying to get the most out of my last year."
And that will likely be beneficial to him and the Huskies.
"In the long run, I think it was a great decision on his part," Romar said.
Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483
ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports
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