As I watched Tony Wroten announce that he was heading to Washington to play basketball, I couldn't help but shake my head at the ridiculous spectacle of it all. If you missed it, here is some of it, courtesy of Mason Kelley's high school blog at The Seattle Times:
An entourage? Really?
It's sort of just par for the course for Wroten, who's proven to be one self aggrandizing individual throughout this whole process. Which leads me to wonder: Will his considerable talent be worth the trouble for the Huskies?
Wroten even went so far as to ask on Twitter in the days leading up to his announcement why Kentucky wasn't recruiting him anymore. It's believed that he's been in the bag for Washington all along, which would mean he only went through the dog-and-pony show with Louisville and Seattle U to raise his own profile, something that stands in stark contrast with the ethos of Lorenzo Romar's philosophy.
Romar's Huskies play team ball (no matter what the naysayers will try to lead you to believe); this is a guy who's promoted himself as an individual for the better part of four years on a level not seen before by any incoming Romar recruit. And while Romar, like Bill Belichick, has an unshakable belief in his ability to mold guys like this, I wonder if he'll be able to get through to him with all the distractions of home around him?
Fox Sports' Jeff Goodman says he's seen this story before. And it rarely ends pretty.
I've seen it too often with recruits who are consumed by the recruiting process instead of just going out and letting their play dictate the story.
It's become a red flag.
Some are more concerned with the number attached to their name in the recruiting rankings than the number attached to the score at the end of each game.
See Darius Washington Jr., or Willie Warren, who have done nose-dives since being ranked near the top of their classes.
Those guys loved to talk the talk. In fact, it was all about themselves - and it wound up costing them dearly.
Whatever school Wroten picked, it's a virtual certainty that he sees it as a one-year layover on the way to the NBA. Here's to hoping the Tony Wroten show doesn't blow up the good thing Washington has going as one of the top basketball programs in the Pac-10.
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