The good folks over at SB Nation’s UW Dawg Pound just finished debating how well Seattle-area class of 2011 point guard prospect Tony Wroten Jr. would fit at the University of Washington.
Frankie: Purely as a basketball player, Tony Wroten Jr. is the perfect player for Lorenzo Romar, as an athletic point guard that can create for his teammates at will. He can get the ball to his shooters for open looks, finish creatively at the rim, and get easy looks for his bigs as well.
Kevin: One thing that Wroten doesn’t have is the pure go-get it attitude and grittiness that some of these other recruits have. He constantly complains to referees and teammates and shows bad body language when things don’t go his way. However, I think Romar has been able to get every player to play hard for him. It won’t be the Tony Wroten show if he becomes a Husky. He’ll have to work hard to gain the respect of the coaching staff and his teammates.
Frankie: We all know how much he loves the spotlight. In someways, that could be good for UW, bringing attention to the program. But he also has had a tendency to get down on his teammates, and to never take the blame for anything. I’ve seen him give up in big games before when his team gets down. Wroten will not be a one and done player simply because of his diminished athleticism following ACL surgery. As a point guard, he doesn’t need elite vertical athleticism (something which, contrary to popular belief, he never had).
He is still a strong vertical athlete, however. The problem with the ACL tear is that after recovery, lateral quickness is what is most affected. Big point guards typically lack the elite lateral quickness to play effective on-ball defense. Wroten had that before his surgery, and that’s what made him such an elite prospect. Now it’s up to him to get back what he lost. He can still be a terrific basketball player, I think a good comparison for him is Shaun Livingston given his size, injury history, and court vision. Because of his pure basketball skill, I think Wroten should be Romar’s number one target for 2011.
Head over to SB Nation’s UW Dawg Pound for a full breakdown on the University of Washington’s Class of 2011 targets.