It's fair to say that the Washington Huskies are in the poll position when it comes to Class of 2011 basketball recruiting in the Northwest. They have both of the top local products interested and a bunch of other Top 100 players on their radar. It's a good place to be but it doesn't come without a little stress.
Percy Allen of the Seattle Times notes that Lorenzo Romar won't be able to land all of his targets because he lacks sufficient scholarship spots and because the skill sets of top recruits are too similar. He specifically points to a pair of guards -- Jabari Brown and Tony Wroten Jr. -- and a pair of power forwards -- Norvel Pelle and Angelo Cho.
Recruiting is such a dicey game and the variables are constantly changing. According to a couple Pac-10 observers, the Huskies will land either Wroten or Brown because their games are similar and it's believed they can't play with each other. Not sure if I agree with this assessment because Wroten is a pass-first player who projects as a point guard in college and Brown looks to be a shooting guard.
The same observers said Chol and Pelle, a pair of 6-8 forwards, also won't sign at the same school because of their similarities.
I tend to agree with those observers who see Wroten and Brown as being too similar to both fit at Washington, as each will eventually dominate the ball on the next level. Certainly a coach like Romar could make it work. But both players likely know its in their own best interests to find a program with a little less competition for touches.
The real cat-and-mouse game between players, coaches and schools begins now.