COACHES COACHES COACHES HEAD COACH LORENZO ROMAR 8th SEASON AT UW n seven years, Coach Lorenzo Romar has elevated Washington to the elite level I of college basketball. The charismatic coach plans to stay at the top after leading the 2008-09 Huskies to HUSKY ATHLETICS their first outright Pac-10 Championship since 1953. Romar’s Huskies were 26-9 in 2009 and 14-4 in the Pac- 10 Conference to finish a game ahead of UCLA. He earned Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors for his efforts -- the second time he has been so honored at UW. Washington earned its first-ever No. 4 seed for the 2009 NCAA Tournament. They beat No. 12 seed Missis- sippi State 71-58 in the first round before dropping a close 76-74 decision to No. 5 Purdue. Romar begins his eighth season at Wash- ington in 2009-10 and has a slew of stellar in- coming recruits and a strong core of returning players. Despite losing All-Pac-10 member Jon Brockman, Romar’s 2009-10 squad should push for another Pac- THIS IS HUSKY BASKETBALL 10 title. Romar has 135 wins since 2004, the most wins over a six-year Coach Romar has taken the Huskies to the NCAA span in school his- Tournament four times in seven seasons. tory. He coached reeled off 12 wins in its final 13 Pac-10 outings. Capping the run was a 75-62 triumph over No. 1 and previously OUTLOOK UW to back-to-back Sweet 16 berths undefeated Stanford in the final regular-season game. His (2005 & 2006) for the Huskies won all three meetings with highly ranked Arizona, first time in school his- sweeping the season series for the first time since 1984. tory. UW participated in The remarkable 2004 season was ended by a 102-100 three consecutive NCAA Tour- loss to UAB in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. naments, from 2004-06, for just the second Romar is in his 14th year as an NCAA head coach after PLAYERS time. compiling a 238-169 record in his previous 13 seasons. His Romar already ranks fourth among all-time seven-year record at UW entering the 2009-10 season is UW coaches with 145 victories. He posted his 145-81. 100th UW win on Feb. 12, 2007 against Stan- He was named to head up the program at his alma ma- ford. ter on April 3, 2002. A point guard for the Huskies’ 1978-79 Romar was honored at the 2006 Final Four and 1979-80 teams, Romar is the 18th head coach in Wash- as the winner of the John Wooden “Keys to ington’s 103-year history. He is the first African-American Life” Award following a season in which he coach to lead the Washington basketball program. COACHES directed the Huskies to a 26-7 record. UW was His inaugural Washington campaign concluded with a 13-5 in Pac-10 play, finishing as the conference 10-17 record. UW placed ninth in the Pac-10 with a 5-13 runner-up for the third straight season. UW won mark. The young Husky roster included only one senior and two NCAA tournament games before an over- six freshmen. time setback against top-seed Connecticut. Romar is well respected among his peers as his selec- He guided the Huskies to a 29-6 record in tion as the head coach for the U.S. under-18 national team 2005, tying the 1938 squad for the highest win can attest. He led the U.S. juniors, including Husky Spencer total in school history. UW finished second in Hawes, to a gold medal at the 2006 FIBA Americas cham- the Pac-10 standings with a 14-4 mark, but pionship. went onto to win the school’s first-ever confer- He served as an assistant to head coach Tom Izzo on the 2003 USA Basketball Pan American Games staff. 2008-09 REVIEW ence tournament championship. After receiving their first ever No. 1 seed, Washington is Romar’s third stint as a head college the Huskies posted two NCAA Tournament coach. During three-year tenures at Pepperdine (1997-1999) victories and advanced to the Sweet 16. and Saint Louis (2000-2002), he gained a reputation as a Romar was named the 2005 Pac-10 Coach hard-working coach admired for integrity and dedication. of the Year and Black Coaches Association At both Pepperdine and Saint Louis, Romar helped to National Coach of the Year. revive programs to a competitive level. He led the Waves RECORDS Romar fashioned a spectacular turn- to a pair of second-place finishes in the West Coast Confer- around during his second season when UW ence and an NIT invitation in 1999. During his first season posted a 19-12 record in 2004 and partici- at SLU, the Billikens upset No. 1 Cincinnati in the second pated in the NCAA Tournament for the first round of the Conference USA tournament and went on to time since 1999. win the championship and the league’s automatic berth into In 2004, Romar guided the Huskies the NCAAs. to their first second-place regular-season During each of his final two seasons at Saint Louis, his HISTORY finish since 1986 and their first Pac-10 teams defeated Washington. The Billikens beat UW 69-61 Tournament championship game ap- on Dec. 5, 2000 in Seattle and 71-70 on Dec. 29, 2001 in pearance since 1987. St. Louis. After opening the conference Seattle was the site of one of Romar’s great coaching campaign with an 0-5 record, UW moments. As an assistant coach, he helped UCLA to an 89- 74 WASHINGTON HUSKIES 2 0 0 9 - 1 0 MEN’S BASKETBALL COACHES COACHES HUSKY ATHLETICS LORENZO ROMAR cont... 78 triumph over Arkansas in the Kingdome to win the 1995 perdine was the second-most improved ROMAR AT A GLANCE NCAA Championship. Cameron Dollar, an assistant coach NCAA Division I team in in 1997-98, on Romar’s Saint Louis and Washington staffs, was one of trailing only Connecticut. Birthdate: ........November 13, 1958 the stars for the Bruins during that national title contest. In his final season at the school, Romar built a reputation at UCLA (1992-96) as one of Romar guided Pepperdine to a 19-13 Birthplace: .....South Gate, Calif. the nation’s top recruiters and was credited with recruiting record and a bid to the NIT, the Waves’ much of the talent that formed the core of the Bruins’ title first postseason appearance in five Colleges: .........Washington, 1978-80 THIS IS HUSKY BASKETBALL team. years. Cerritos (Calif.) CC; 1976-78 Cincinnati, 1992 (criminal justice) In three years at Saint Louis, Romar compiled a 51-44 The season after his departure, (.537) record, including wins over nine different confer- Pepperdine earned an NCAA Tourna- High School: ..Pius X HS ence champions. His 51 wins rank No. 7 among all-time ment berth with the majority of players (Compton, Calif.) SLU coaches and is the fourth-best three-year total in the Romar recruited. One of those players school’s history. was Brandon Armstrong who was the Wife: Leona Romar was named head basketball coach at Saint Louis 23rd selection overall in the 2001 NBA Daughters: ......Terra, Tavia & Taylor on March 26, 1999. In his inaugural season at the school, Draft. Romar guided the Billikens to a 19-14 record that marked Prior to his stint at Pepperdine, Romar was the top bounds during his junior season while posting team-leading the third best debut season-record in Saint Louis annals. assistant under Jim Harrick at UCLA from 1992-1996. totals of 80 assists and 35 steals. He shot 51 percent from In directing the Billikens to the Conference USA Tourna- He recruited such talent as Toby Bailey, Cameron Dollar, the field and 72 percent from the free throw line. ment title and an automatic invitation to the NCAA Tourna- J.R. Henderson, Kris Johnson, Jelani McCoy and Charles As a senior in 1979-80, Romar played all 28 games for ment, Romar became the first Saint Louis coach to accom- O’Bannon. the Huskies who posted an 18-10 record, including a 9-9 plish either feat in his debut season. The 1999-2000 season That recruiting bonanza helped lead the Bruins to back- conference mark. Washington participated in the National marked many other notable firsts as well. to-back Pac-10 championships in 1995 and 1996. UCLA Invitation Tournament. He led all UW playmakers with 99 OUTLOOK Romar became the first coach in history to lead SLU into registered a 31-2 record in 1995 and won the NCAA crown. assists while averaging 9.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per the NCAA Tournament in his debut season after winning the UCLA’s record during Romar’s four-year assistant coach- game. school’s first conference tournament title. Saint Louis upset ing tenure was a stunning 97-28 (.776). Romar served as team captain his senior year. He was a No. 1 team, Cincinnati, for the first time since the 1952. A native of Compton, Calif., Romar graduated from Pius the recipient of the Most Inspirational Award both years, an The 2000-01 SLU squad posted a 17-14 record and be- X High School. He earned his associate degree from Cer- honor voted on by his teammates. came the first team in Conference USA history to defeat ritos (Calif.) Community College in 1978 before studying at The Golden State Warriors selected Romar in the sev- perennial power Cincinnati in back-to-back games.