University of Washington coach Lorenzo Romar has had the pleasure of playing with as well as coaching numerous high caliber players during his pro and collegiate career. As an NBA player, Romar played in the same backcourt alongside Isaiah Thomas, Tiny Archibald, and Bernard King. As a coach, he has commandeered NBA talents like Brandon Roy, Nate Robinson, and Quincy Pondexter.
To belabor the point, coach Romar is considered one of the truly genuine and well respected head coaches in the business, and has shown a knack for putting players in the right position to succeed. He also is one of the nation’s premier recruiters, annually reeling in Top 10 ranked recruiting classes.
One of the gems of this season’s incoming freshmen class is elite level point guard Tony Wroten Jr. Wroten, a distant cousin to OKC Thunder guard Nate Robinson, was once the top rated recruit in his class but sustained a nasty knee injury on the football field during his junior campaign. The top notch recruit rehabbed hard and appeared to be close to his original explosive self his entire senior season in HS, before committing to the University of Washington.
At 6’4 and 205 lbs, Wroten is in the mold of the flashy, highlight reel variety similar to that of John Wall at Kentucky a few seasons ago. Surely coach Romar hopes Wroten meshes well with the returning Abdul Gaddy and high scoring Terrence Ross to form one of the most potent backcourts in the nation, making it easier for the Huskies to make their 4th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament come March.
After officially getting Wroten on the practice floor with the onset of Midnight Madness, Romar decided to take the praise for his star PG to another level in a recent interview with a Seattle newspaper stating that Wroten reminds him of NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson.
Here’s when Romar is asked about player comparisons for Wroten:
“Magic Johnson. … I’m not going to tell you right now he’s going to be a 14-year NBA all-star and first five of the all-time greatest player (and) he is Magic Johnson. I’m not going to tell you that. He has the potential of be a great basketball player. I just know that he has that size to where he can look over the defense. Magic was 6-9 and Tony is right at 6-5. … Sometimes guys see things, but they see it a second late. He sees things right as they are developing and he delivers the ball on the spot. And he can do that while going full speed. And those are things that Magic was able to do.”
That’s some high praise considering Wroten has yet to play in his first NCAA game. With that being said, Wroten’s passing skills are insane. His play-making skills should help put the Huskies right in the mix with Arizona, Cal, and UCLA for the Pac-12 Title.
Check out Wroten in AAU action:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
