Roy is top all-around player for Huskies
SEATTLE (AP) — Brandon Roy always had confidence in his game.
He applied for the 2002 NBA draft after a stellar career at Seattle's Garfield High School, where he was a consensus Top 50 national recruit who averaged 22.3 points and 10.4 rebounds as a senior.
”At the time, I wanted to see how good of a player I was,” Roy said. ”You get told all the time you're good, but you never really know.”
Roy didn't sign with an agent and didn't have the money to fly to different workouts, so he withdrew his name.
”I just wasn't ready to make that decision,” he said.
Fast-forward almost three years, and Roy is one of the West's best players.
He's a versatile 6-foot-6 junior swingman at Washington, playing for a program that reached the NCAA tournament last season after a surprise second-place finish in the Pac-10. The 20-year-old Roy is having fun in college.
”We definitely want to make it back into the NCAA tournament and hopefully this time maybe get to the Sweet 16,” he said.
Expectations are high for the No. 22 Huskies (1-0), who face Utah (1-0) in the Great Alaska Shootout on Thanksgiving night. Roy is the top all-around player on a team that features 5-9 guard Nate Robinson, who has a flashy 43-inch vertical jump.
”I'm close to 40,” Roy said. ”I jump pretty high, too.”
The Huskies opened with an 89-71 victory over Seattle Pacific on Friday, with Roy scoring 23 points and Robinson adding 22.
Last season, Roy started all 31 games and led Washington with a 5.3 rebounding average. He ranked second on the team in scoring (12.9 average), assists (102) and steals (37).
He scored a career-best 30 points in 29 minutes at UCLA in February.
”Brandon is a player who does everything,” said Huskies point guard Will Conroy, who played with Roy in high school. ”You need a player like that on every team.”
Washington coach Lorenzo Romar believes Roy has the skills and talent to play professionally. He compared Roy to Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics.
”There's no doubt he's an NBA player,” Romar said. ”He's got NBA ability. He's smooth like a Paul Pierce, that type of a player, but he's a better passer than Paul Pierce.”
Roy hopes to have a big season. He also insisted he plans to return to the Huskies as a senior.
”In order for the team to be good, I have to have a good year,” he said. ”So I've been preparing hard for that. I think I'll be more improved because I think I'll be more aggressive offensively — not take more shots, but I think I'll look to make more plays.”
The Huskies have outside shooting in Robinson, Conroy and sixth-man Tre Simmons. Roy will concentrate on slashing to the basket, hitting mid-range jump shots, setting up teammates with passes and playing defense.
”His basketball IQ is off the charts,” Conroy said. ”He just knows the game real well, and he's able to do things on the court that other players can't because of his athleticism.”
AP-DS-11-23-04 0249EST