The annual UW coaches/media golf tournament was held this morning at Washington National Golf Club.

It's a fun event that was instituted when Tyrone Willingham arrived. I played today with assistant coaches Bob Simmons (about a seven handicap) and J.D. Williams.

However, once we came off the course, Tyrone broke the news that coaching great Bill Walsh had died earlier in the day.

Willingham's career benefited greatly from the Minority Coaching Fellowship created by Walsh in 1987 when he was with the 49ers. And their paths crossed again in 1994 when Willingham followed Walsh as head coach at Stanford.

Willingham spoke highly of Walsh and revealed that he had paid a final visit just the day before.

Willingham released the following statement through the university:

"The world lost a great man in Bill Walsh. He had a tremendous impact on me, both personally and professionally. Coaches throughout all levels of football have lost an innovator and teacher who had a truly significant impact on the game. Very few people will be able to say they were able to change the course of history. Bill’s development of the minority coaching program at the collegiate and professional levels literally changed the face of football. His sphere of influence was significantly greater than any coach of his time. He will truly be missed."

Somehow missing from my Media Day reports of yesterday was an amazing quote from new Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson. He pointed out that Washington is one of the few Pac-10 schools that doesn't return its primary starting quarterbck from last season.

Then he added, "But they have Jake Locker. Locker, to me, coming out of high school, was the best I've seen."

Erickson also had a good quote about USC, saying, "They should be in the league I was real successful in: the NFL."

Erickson was joking about his NFL record at Seattle and San Francisco. But he was only slightly exaggerating his respect for the Trojans.

And speaking of joking, the Pac-10 seemed to pick up a couple of outgoing, funny and quote-friendly coaches in Erickson and Stanford's Jim Harbaugh. That's always a quality welcomed by the media covering the conference.

Pac-10 media day offered a chance to get in some time with UW coach Tyrone Willingham. I got in some one-on-one time with him to talk about officiating for a story I'll have in the Friday paper. Specifically, I talked to him about whether an NBA-like officiating scandal could occur in college football. His answer -- and the answer of most everyone I spoke to –- was yes.

Otherwise, there wasn't much pure Husky news released. Tops might be Willingham's seemingly optimistic attitude that the loss of a couple of his key recruits will be only temporary. He seems to have faith they will show up on campus by the time school starts.

Meanwhile, here are a few of his comments to the big group of Media Day reporters:

ON THE SCHEDULE
The Pac-10 plays one of the most demanding schedules in the nation, and I think we have all of those tough teams on our schedule. I don't think there's anyone that has a tougher start than our first three games, but we also think our conference schedule is demanding. Syracuse is an important game for us to play on the road, and then we have to turn around and play against Cinderella darling Boise State, followed by Ohio State. There is no question that it will be very challenging, but it is an opportunity for us to go out and prove ourselves."

ON USC
You have a very positive situation when you have a nationally dominant team, as well as a conference that is as competitive as we will be this year. I said this when I came back from Notre Dame: I think the teams have gotten better and you have to be prepared to play your best games no matter who you are facing each game. It's a very competitive conference."

ON BEING PICKED NINTH IN THE CONFERNCE RACE
“Is it a fair assessment? I don’t know, it’s never crossed my mind. It is important where we finish at the end of the season; and I think that some years ago projections had been slightly off as far as who finished where. But we are excited. The team is starting to understand the character it takes to be a champion.”

Each team also brings a player along, and UW selected defensive end Greyson Gunheim. He also was asked about the schedule and the conference.

GUNHEIM
"It is a challenge, a big opportunity, for us to play three big teams in three huge games. We are excited to go out there and prove how hard we've been working this summer. ... I think the conference is so competitive, every game if you don't bring your A game, you are in a lot of trouble. Games go down to the last second or one big play. I think we are in the best conference, and I'm really excited. I love playing the big games."

The 39 members of the media picking in this season's Pac-10 football poll all picked the USC Trojans to win the conference championship this season.

The media picked Cal second, Washington State eighth and Washington ninth, ahead of only Stanford.

The poll results:

1.) USC
2.) California
3.) UCLA
4.) Arizona State
5.) Oregon State
6.) Oregon
7.) Arizona
8.) Washington State
9.) Washington
10.) Stanford

The Pac-10 football media day will be held Thursday in Los Angeles.

Early in the day, they will announce the results of the annual media predictions, and I'll try to post those as soon as possible.

Then, we'll get a pretty steady diet of meetings with the Pac-10 coaches and some key players, and I'll post any highlights as time permits.

Also, just a few minutes after the event concludes, I'll have a brief radio conversation about the event with the Groz on KJR, 950-AM at 2:20 p.m. The conversation also will be streamed over the Internet.

The Western Athletic Conference’s desire to add a basketball team could click nicely with Seattle University’s desire to find a league for its eventual Division I basketball program.

As of now, it's far more of a notion than a proposal. But the intriguing concept was raised this week in San Jose, as the WAC held its annual football preview for the media.

Expansion or contraction is seldom far off the radar for the fluid WAC, which over the past decade has had as many as 16 members, as few as few as eight, and is currently home to nine institutions reaching from Louisiana to Hawaii and New Mexico to Idaho.

Nine members works fine for football, providing eight conference games for each school with a natural bye week built in. However, nine is a problematic number for basketball because one team always lacks an opponent, and it creates undesirable one-game road trips, rather than the more comfortable even number of travel partners. As a bonus, another member would reduce the burden of out-of-conference scheduling for all WAC schools by two games – including one annual home game.

“A nine-team football conference is ideal. It works, and it work perfectly,” WAC commissioner Karl Benson said. “It doesn’t work for basketball. Our basketball coaches have made it clear that a 10th team would be better from a scheduling standpoint. But I don’t think we’re at a point where it’s urgent.”

The logical solution is adding a non-football member. That’s a step the WAC hasn’t traditionally taken, but the idea has been floated without being shot down.

“We would not rule out a non-football member,” Benson said Tuesday. “But at this time we’re certainly not even considering either a non-football or a football member.”

Meanwhile, the WAC’s interest coincides interestingly with that of Seattle University, which has stated its intention to move up to Division I basketball but was initially rebuffed by the West Coast Conference.

The WCC seemed to make sense because it’s a non-football conference and a geographical fit. But the WAC also is a geographical fit. And if they’re not looking to add a football member.

So, hmmm.

The coaches of the Western Athletic Conference and the media who cover the league agree that the Washington Huskies will play the two best teams the league has to offer this season.

Coaches and media in San Jose this week for the annual WAC football media days each picked Hawaii to win the 2007 league title and for Boise State to come in second. Those were also the only two schools given first-place votes in either poll.

Boise State, the five-time defending WAC champion coming off of an unbeaten season, will visit Husky Stadium on Sept. 8, while the Huskies will conclude its regular season with a visit to Hawaii on Dec. 1.

WAC COACHES' POLL
1.) Hawaii (6 first-place votes)
2.) Boise State (3)
3.) Nevada
4.) Fresno State
5.) San Jose State
6.) New Mexico State
7.) Louisiana Tech
8.) Utah State
9.) Idaho

WAC MEDIA POLL
1.) Hawaii (32)
2.) Boise State (26)
3.) Fresno State
4.) Nevada
5.) San Jose State
6.) New Mexico State
7.) Louisiana Tech
8.) Utah State
9.) Idaho

The two coaches reacted with a similar gracious dismissiveness.

"I think the team that’s favored should be favored," BSU coach Chris Peterson said. "We had a heck of a game with those guys last year on our own home court and it was a great game. They have a lot of guys coming back, starting with (quarterback) Colt Brennan. He’s as good as anybody in the country. I certainly don’t disagree with (Hawaii’s ranking); but at the same time, preseason polls mean nothing to me."

"Expectations are always that way when you win, and I think that having Colt back fosters some of those thoughts," Hawaii's June Jones said. "I don’t feel any different than I do any year when we start the season: You have to get lucky, and you have to win on the road and all of those things. I don’t put too much into preseason polls."

CSTV and the Washington ISP Sports Network have extended their online partnership, including a new look to the GoHuskies.com Web site.

And, since that's obviously a key site for UW fans, you may notice that I've added a full-time link to it at the right under my photo.

Over the next couple of weeks I'll try to add more links for handy reference throughout the football and basketball seasons.

Tyreese Breshers, one of the top-rated players on the west coast, has decided to play basketball for the Washington Huskies, according to Greg Hicks of ScoutHoops.com and other recruiting sites.

Breshers is a 6-foot-6, 260-pound power forward from Los Angeles. He projects as a strong shot-blocker with considerable potential for low-post scoring.

He had considered the Huskies, then indicated he would go cross-country to Miami, but now seems settled on Seattle -- although he won't be officially committed until signing day in November.

He is heading into his senior year of high school, and would be part of UW's 2008 freshman class.

Just as the Pac-10 will release its media poll next week, the Big East released its preseason predictions today.

Syracuse, Washington's season-opening opponent, was picked last in the league.

Here's their one-paragraph summation of the Orange:

Syracuse was picked to finish eighth in the league. The Orange added three more victories to the win column in 2006, under the tutelage of second-year head coach Greg Robinson. SU finished 4-8 overall, including a 1-6 mark in conference play. Syracuse brings back 12 starters this season. Last year's BIG EAST sack leader, defensive end Jameel McClain, returns for his senior campaign.

Basketball coach Lorenzo Romar said today that any team discipline against junior forward Artem Wallace for his role in a Seattle hit-and-run case will take place behind the scenes.

Romar said that means Wallace will not be kept out of any "regular season games," leaving open the possibility that Wallace could be held out of the Huskies' season-opening exhibition game.

Wallace had been investigated by Seattle Police regarding his involvement in a hit-and-run incident in West Seattle's Alki neighborhood last May.

Police eventually decided to pursue hit-and-run and negligent driving charges only against the driver of the vehicle in which Wallace was a passenger.

However, that left open the possibility for internal disciplinary measures by the team.

Last season, the 6-foot-8, 240-pound center started seven of 31 games and averaged 2.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 11.3 minutes. He seemed to come on especially toward the end of the year, when he became a powerful compliment to Jon Brockman along the Huskies' front line and started showing more offensive skill around the basket.

Romar has long touted Wallace's upside potential, and he projects as a key part of the solution in filling the hole left by Spencer Hawes' departure to the NBA.

Meanwhile, Romar also said that it is not yet known if incoming freshman point guard Venoy Overton of Franklin High School will qualify academically for the coming season. The other three recruits -- forwards Matthew Bryan-Amaning, Darnell Gant and Justin Holiday -- seem safely onboard. And Isaiah Thomas of Tacoma maintains that he will join the Huskies in 2008.

I know football season is just about here when I get an email from the Pac-10 asking for our annual predictions for the coming football season. That email arrived last week.

This year's poll results will be revealed on July 26, but my picks are due in by the end of the week.

I'm not certain on my final vote yet, but I figured I'd go with a tentative list here, which would give me a chance to take in any of your input before sending in my final picks in a few days.

For now:

1.) SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: This pick gets no points for originality, but I don't see another way to go. This looks like a clear national championship contender, one of the best teams of the Trojans' ongoing dynasty, and potentially one of the great college defenses ever.

2.) UCLA: The Bruins return 10 starters on offense and 10 on defense from that team that doomed USC's national championship hopes last season. If nine Pac-10 teams are playing for second place this season, UCLA seems to have as good a chance as anyone. And if the Trojans are BCS-bound, that could keep the Bruins are home for the Rose Bowl.

3.) CALIFORNIA: The offense looks loaded again, assuming small/quick Justin Forsett isn't took big of a drop-off from Marshawn Lynch. Defense has some holes to fill, but Jeff Tedford has the program rolling.

4.) OREGON STATE: Everything seems in place on offense except the biggie: The Beavs will be breaking in a new starter at quarterback. Enough talent returns for another first-division finish.

5.) ARIZONA STATE: The offense looks ready. The defense, less so. But I'm a big Dennis Erickson believer. Especially in the short term.

6.) ARIZONA: It looks like Stoops has worked his magic on the defense. The offense remains a question mark. It could need some time to adapt to the new spread. But if it clicks instantly, the Wildcats could make a major jump.

7.) OREGON: The Ducks look spectacular at the skill positions. But they've got lots of questions on defense and special teams. And with a reworked coaching staff, they may take another step back.

8.) WASHINGTON: The Huskies are getting better. But a freshman quarterback and a tough schedule make it unlikely that they will be able to climb far in the standings.

9.) WASHINGTON STATE: See if this sounds familiar: Cougs should score lots of points, but they'll also have trouble stopping people. Injuries could be devastating, because there's not much depth. And the troublesome kicking game could turn some close games the wrong way.

10.) STANFORD: Too many holes to imagine new coach Jim Harbaugh making much progress in his first season.

Two top receivers from Washington’s most recent football recruiting class did not receive qualifying SAT scores and will not be on campus when fall practice begins Aug. 5.

Anthony Boyles of Gardena, Calif., and Devin Aguilar of Denver each told Internet recruiting sites today that they hope to take the test again in September and enroll in time to join the team this fall, although both would likely redshirt.

Both players were considered prime catches from this recruiting class, and Scout.com rated Boyles as the nation’s No. 18 receiving prospect.

The Huskies begin fall football practice on Aug. 5, and soon thereafter will hold their annual Kickoff Luncheon and Picture Day.

Details are now online at the Gohuskies.com Web site.

My story on the hoped-for renovations to Husky Stadium makes the case that paying for those renovations won't be easy.

Still, Todd Turner also makes clear that he's believes the money can be raised -- somehow -- and that simply moving over to Qwest Field isn't on his current list of options.

However, the story neglected to mention one other option that seems to have been ruled out: As expensive as a major renovation would be, Turner said a completely new stadium would be more expensive still, and that is not being considered.

Meanwhile, here is a link to Todd Turner's original blog entry.

That long-awaited new contract for basketball coach Lorenzo Romar is on the desk of UW president Mark Emmert and should be signed and officially announced within the next week to 10 days.

Romar and UW athletic director Todd Turner agreed on a contract extension way back in October. However, the official document was delayed as the sides worked on wording -- and then it was held up a while longer so that the new contract for Romar could be similar in structure to the one signed by newly hired women's basketball coach Tia Jackson.

(Turner, by the way, said no similar extension for football coach Tyrone Willingham has been discussed by either side. "We're just supporting him like crazy," Turner said. "We want that guy to be incredibly successful.")

Former Husky center Spencer Hawes scored 19 points in his pro debut with the Sacramento Kings last night.

Details here.

The Associated Press reports that no charges will be pursued against UW center Artem Wallace in connection with his will May 6 arrest for involvement in a hit-and-run incident in West Seattle's Alki neighborhood.

Seattle police have decided to pursue hit-and-run and negligent driving charges only against the driver of the vehicle in which Wallace was a passenger.

Coach Lorenzo Romar may still have his own discipline against Wallace, however, it now seems likely that 6-foot-8, 240-pound junior will remain a member of a team and a key part of the solution in filling the hole left by Spencer Hawes' departure to the NBA.

Last season Wallace started seven of 31 games and averaged 2.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 11.3 minutes. He seemed to come on especially toward the end of the year, when he became a powerful compliment to Jon Brockman along the Huskies' front line and started showing more offensive skill around the basket.

Former UW center Spencer Hawes signed his first pro contract today with the Sacramento Kings.

(And he will be joined by a familiar face in training camp, and the Kings also signed former Arizona Wildcats guard Mustafa Shakur.)

Exactly one month before the start of fall football camp, the Huskies have placed their 2007 football media guide online.

Lots of good information there for those counting down the days.

Multiple sources, including Scout.com are reporting that top recruit Jrue Holiday has chosen UCLA.

Holiday had narrowed his choices to UCLA or UW, where his brother Justin will be a freshman this season.

(And here is a national perspective from USA Today.)

The updated UW football roster is now posted on the UW Web site, including a few new numbers: linebacker Donald Butler is now No. 9, while defensive tackle Jovan O’Connor has the more linebacker-like No. 55.

The Stockton Record recently selected Curtis Shaw as its boy athlete of the year.

Shaw, one of several highly regarded running backs in UW's incoming freshman class, is brought to life well in this story,