It isn't in stone yet, but coach Lorenzo Romar and Tyreese Breshers agreed this morning that the true freshman power forward will likely redshirt this season.

Here's my story on today's personnel updates.

Breshers continues to have knee trouble, which is related to surgery that was performed to solve a shin injury. And with Breshers still unable to even practice full-court, and with conference play beginning Saturday, the tentative decision to sit out this season and concentrate on next season has been made.

Meanwhile, we have seen true freshman Elston Turner has been diagnosed with a high-ankle sprain. However, the early prognosis doesn't sound as long-term as that injury often implies. Turner will miss the Washington State game on Saturday, but could be back as early as the following week when the Bay Area schools visit Hec Ed.

Here's my game story.

The Huskies finished non-conference play 9-3.

Isaiah Thomas had a carrer-high 27 points.

However, the Huskies were outrebounded for the first time this season, 39-37.

They open Pac-10 play at 3 p.m. Saturday at Washington State.

16:30/2nd: UW up, 45-46.

Elston Turner has returned to the UW bench on crutches. He has been disagnosed with a left ankle sprain. Probably no prognosis until after the game.

Halftime: Jon Brockman has 14 points but only one rebound. However, that rebound was the 1,000th of Brockman's career.

He is 23 points away from becoming the first Husky ever to reach 1,500 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.

No word on Turner yet.

11:55 of the first half: Freshman Elston Turner has just been helped to the UW locker room with a left leg injury. He got tangled on the floor and Morgan State's Rico Myles fell on his leg.

UW up, 20-15.

Tipoff: We're about to get started.

Usual UW lineup taking the floor: Isaiah Thomas, Justin Dentmon, Quincy Pondexter, Jon Brockman and Darnell Gant.

7:05 No. 22 Kansas State just defeated the UW women, 73-60.

The UW men and Morgan State have just taken the court to warm up.

Tip is scheduled for 7:30.

5:45 p.m. The Kansas State women are leading the UW women, 31-28, at halftime of the first game of tonight's doubleheader.

I'll provide a final score when the game concludes.

Then we'll go to normal gameday mode. I'll click in with any pregame news, then provide some in-game updates and conclude with postgame notes and quotes.

Tipoff is set for 7:30, assuming the women don't go into overtime. Both games are on FSN.

UW is offering a rare men's/women's basketball doubleheader tonight at Hec Ed.

One ticket will get you into both the UW women's basketball game at 5 p.m. against No. 22 Kansas State and the men's game at 7:30 p.m. against Morgan State. (Although you might need to change seats.)

Here's the GoHuskies.com preview of the women's game.

And here's my preview of the men's.

Both games also will be shown on FSN.

A New York Times blog item by Thayer Evans quotes Missouri coach Gary Pinkel regarding his interest in the Washington football job:

“Washington was a place I always wanted to be a head coach. But I also have great respect for Washington. We did have a discussion, but I did not want to take the next step if I really in my heart didn’t want to do it, because of my respect to them.”

Pinkel ended up with a new contract at Missouri instead.

“I just felt that I wanted to stay here the rest of my career,” he told the newspaper. “Fortunately, Missouri felt the same way.”

Here's the blog item.

UW, of course, went on to hire USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.

And Missouri ended its season tonight with an exciting overtime victory over Northwestern in the Alamo Bowl.

Lorenzo Romar was asked this afternoon about the Huskies’ Pacific-10 Conference opener Saturday at Washington State.

“At this point, I’d like to reserve talking about that until after this Morgan State game,” he said. “We’ve got one more before we play Washington State.”

“Morgan State is a good team,” he continued. “They won 22 games last year and went to the postseason; so, they’re a good team. They go on the road and they beat DePaul. They go on the road and played Ole Miss very tough and could have won the game. They’ve only been really blown out one game. With a tough schedule, they’ve been in just about every game.”

So, if Romar wants us concentrating on the Morgan State game, here's some quick info on the Morgan State game.

MORGAN STATE (5-7)
AT WASHINGTON (8-3)
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
TV: FSN.
Radio: 950-AM

Series: UW won the only previous meeting, 118-51, on Nov. 13, 2006, in Seattle.

Statistical leaders: For Morgan State, G Reggie Holmes, 14.2 ppg; F Kevin Thompson, 6.5 rpg; G Jermaine Bolden, 4.6 apg. For UW, F Jon Brockman, 16.4 ppg and 10.7 rpg; G Isaiah Thomas, 3.2 apg.

Scouting report: This is UW’s final tune-up before the start of Pacific-10 Conference play. … The Huskies rank second nationally (behind Louisiana State) with a plus-12.6 rebounding margin. … Brockman remains less than 100 percent due to ankle and hand injuries. Forward Quincy Pondexter is fighting a groin injury. Both are expected to start. … Morgan State had won three straight before losing to St. Mary’s, 76-60, on Sunday. One of the wins came at DePaul, 79-73. … The Bears average 62.3 points per game (274th out of 330 schools) and allow 65.5 points (132nd). … Morgan State is a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The school is located in Baltimore. … A couple of ongoing UW issues remain unresolved. There is still no word on whether the Lehigh game will be rescheduled, and still no decision on if true freshman Tyreese Breshers will play or redshirt. … The UW women will play No. 22 Kansas State at 5 p.m., before the men's game. One ticket is good for both.

Next: 3 p.m. Saturday, at Washington State, Friel Court, Pullman.

It's been a while, but I'll be back on with Dave "The Groz" Grosby on KJR radio, 950-AM, at 5:35 p.m. today, talking primarily about UW hoops, I believe.

The conversation also will be streamed over the Internet.

Washington plays its final tuneup for Pac-10 play at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, when Morgan State visits.

I'll have more on the visitors later today, but here's an early look from their Web site.

Then, UW begins Pac-10 play at 3 p.m. Saturday at Washington State.

UW senior forward Jon Brockman played today with three stitches, which were needed close a cut near his left thumb suffered while using a pocket knife to open a gift.

“It was one of those plastic zip-tie things that was on my little nephew’s present,” Brockman said. “I think it was probably like a Transformer or a G.I. Joe or something like that. (I was using) a little pocket knife. … I didn’t want to get stitches at all. We bandaged it up, and it was fine. We called our friend who is a doctor and he said, ‘Go get the stitches because then you’ll be able to play a lot sooner and you won’t have to mess with it.’”

So, Brockman paid a Christmas night visit to Valley General Hospital in Monroe.

“It’s nothing serious,” he said. “It’s just so fresh of a cut we just have to wrap it up to make sure I don’t get blood on my jersey.”

Despite the cut and the bandage, Brockman managed 13 points and 11 rebounds Sunday in UW’s 75-53 win over Montana.
“During the game it didn’t bug me at all,” he said. “It’s just annoying, just another thing. … Maybe a little in just gripping the ball, but for the most part it felt pretty good out there.”
Coach Lorenzo Romar learned of the incident Friday morning during a call from Brockman’s father, Gordy.

“When I first got the call, I was concerned,” Romar said. “After, when it was done, I just kind of shook my head as I hung the phone up.”

Here's my game story.

The Huskies were happy to get the win, but disappointed with their play in the second half. The general thought was that while this was enough to beat Montana, it won't get it done when Pac-10 play tips off next weekend.

Highlights:

Star of the game: Sophomore guard Venoy Overton helped Washington put the game away early with three open-court steals which he turned into fastbreak baskets. He ended with 10 points – all in the first half – along with four steals, three rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot.

Key stats: Washington shot 50 percent in the first half, 38.2 in the second. The Huskies also hit 11 of 14 free throws in the first half (78.6), six of 14 in the second (42.9). They had five turnovers in the first half, and 10 in the second.

Key run: After about four minutes of even play, the Huskies went on a 23-0 run that settled it.
Observations: Washington won its sixth straight game. … UW sophomore Matthew Bryan-Amaning had a career-high 15 rebounds. … UW senior Jon Brockman had 13 points and 11 rebounds despite playing with a bandage on his left hand protecting three stitches needed to close a cut suffered while opening a Christmas present with a pocket knife.

Quotable: “Offensively, we were kind of all over the place, especially the second half. I think that 1-3-1 (zone Montana) set up, trapping all over the floor, kind of messed us up. We weren’t expecting it and we hadn’t played against it yet this year.” – UW sophomore forward Mathew Bryan-Amaning.

Next: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Morgan State, Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

Brockman and Thomas led all scorers with 13 each. Matthew Bryan-Amaning a game-high 15 rebounds.

Anthony Johnson of Tacoma/Stadium had 11 for Montana.

Huskies move to 8-3. They return to action Tuesday against Morgan State.

I'll be back later with notes and quotes.

Halftime: After a few minutes of sparring, the Huskies went on a 23-0 run and lead at half, 41-21.

Venoy Overton leads all scorers with 10 points -- six coming on open-court steals that he returned for layups.

Brockman has nine points and a game-high eight rebounds.

UW has hit 14 of 28 shots, Montana seven of 28.

Tipoff: Huskies going with usual starting lineup: Brockman, Pondexter, MBA, Dentmon, Thomas.

11:25: Gates are open. Small crowd -- including a really thin Dawg Pack -- so far.

Both teams have been out on the floor for warmups.

10:40 a.m. The doors to Hec Ed haven't quite opened yet. But an interesting game should play out. The Huskies should be able to handle the Griz, but they've been off the court for so long, almost anything could play out. That was kind of the point of my preview story in today's paper.

But if things go according to form, the signs point Huskies. UW is unbeaten at home, while the Griz are 1-5 on the road. And the Huskies beat the one common opponent -- Portland State -- 84-83 without Jon Brockman, while Montana lost 72-45.

The pace picks up now with this game at noon -- on FSN -- then Morgan State on Tuesday, and then the Pac-10 opener at Washington State on Saturday.

Normal gameday game plan here: any news that breaks before tip, then a running blog through the game, followed by postgame notes and quotes.

An early look at today's game:

Here's my preview story.

Here's a quick scout box:

MONTANA (6-6 OVERALL, 0-1 BIG SKY)
AT WASHINGTON (7-3)
Noon Sunday, Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

TV: FSN.
Radio: 950-AM
Series: Washington leads, 40-9; however, Montana has won three of the last four. The previous meeting in Seattle was in 1994: an 80-73 Griz overtime victory. The most recent meeting was an 88-77 UW win in the first round of the 2005 NCAA tournament at Boise, Idaho – the Huskies’ first tournament win under coach Lorenzo Romar.

Statistical leaders: For Montana, G Anthony Johnson, 12.7 ppg; F Jordan Hasquet, 5.8 rpg; G Ceylon Elgin-Taylor, 4.3 apg. For UW, F Jon Brockman, 16.8 ppg and 10.7 rpg; G Isaiah Thomas, 3.3 apg.

Scouting report: Big Sky coaches and media both picked Montana to finish second in the conference behind Portland State. … The Grizzlies are 1-5 on the road. … Six-foot-11 center Brian Qvale leads the Big Sky with 1.67 blocked shots per game. G Ryan Staudacher leads the league in 3-point accuracy (57.7). Johnson and Jordan Hasquet rank fifth and sixth respectively in Big Sky scoring average. Hasquet ranks 12th on Montana’s all-time scoring list (1,223). Johnson moved into the starting lineup after coach Wayne Tinkle’s suspension of assists-leader Elgin-Taylor. Elgin-Taylor did not travel to Seattle. … Four Grizzlies have Washington roots: junior guard Staudacher, Kirkland (Lake Washington H.S.), sophomore guard Michael Taylor, Brewster (Eastern Washington U.), freshman guard Shawn Stockton, Spokane (Ferris H.S.); and junior guard Anthony Johnson, Tacoma (Stadium H.S., Yakima Valley C.C.). Johnson’s wife, Shaunte Nance-Johnson, plays for the Montana women’s basketball team. … Romar said his team is in good health. Brockman (ankle) will start. Freshman forward Tyreese Breshers (shin) remains out, but no decision on redshirting has been made.

Next: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, vs. Morgan State, Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

The UW basketball team is back at practice after a longer-than-planned break. The team always planned to take some time off for Christmas, but that canceled Lehigh game has kept the Huskies out of competition for Dec. 20, and since they had a week off before that, coach Lorenzo Romar said his team is playing a football-like game-a-week schedule now.

He admits he's curious to see what his team brings when they finally tipoff again at noon Sunday against Montana (6-6 overall, 0-1 in the Big Sky).

Otherwise, no big news with the team. Romar said Jon Brockman's sprained ankle is coming along.

He said still no decision has been made of playing or redshirting Tyreese Breshers.

And he said no particular progress has been made toward making up that Lehigh date. However, the school hasn't thrown in the towel yet, and therefore has no advice for those holding Lehigh tickets except to hang on a while longer.

Fox Sports has a nice holiday feature online, listing their holiday wishes for all 119 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

Here's their wish for Washington: To have gotten the right ex-USC offensive coordinator.

Here's the whole list.

And finally, here is my holiday good wishes to all you, with my thanks for reading.

UW didn't play today, but they may have gotten some RPI help anyway as Portland State -- who UW beat by one point earlier this month -- shocked Gonzaga in Spokane.

Also, last night former Husky Adrian Oliver had his second straight big game for San Jose State, scoring 31 this time. That gives him 58 points in his first two games as a Spartan.

Washington center Juan Garcia has been named to the 84th East-West Shrine Game roster -- the West roster, naturally.

The game will be played Jan. 17 at the University of Houston’s Robertson Stadium.

It's a nice cap to the college career of a really good guy who fought back from what seemed to be a career-ending foot injury for a sixth and final season in purple.

After opening with news about the cancellation of today's game, my story in today's paper sort of U-turns into a review of how the Huskies are doing 10 games into this season.

For those who didn't read down that far:

The Huskies reached the season’s one-third mark with a 7-3 record and an ongoing five-game win streak.

The signature win so far was an 83-65 rout of Oklahoma State. The losses came in a blowout to Kansas, a near-miss against Florida, and a season-opening upset at Portland. However, coach Lorenzo Romar seems to believe that even that frustrating loss may have contributed to the improvement he now sees.

“If we win that game, and maybe we play a little better against Kansas, maybe we feel like we’re a little better off than we are and maybe some of those wins would become fools gold,” he said Monday. “I think the way that it has turned out, I think everyone has their attention on how we can really be the best we can be.”

Jon Brockman leads the team in scoring (16.8 ppg) and rebounding (10.7). True freshman Isaiah Thomas of Tacoma has become an immediate contributor as UW’s assists leader (3.3) and No. 2 scorer (13.7).

With fewer ball-handling responsibilities, senior Justin Dentmon has a career-high 13.5 scoring average, and he leads the team with 15 3-pointers.

Junior Quincy Pondexter has had his usual highs and lows, but they’ve averaged out into solid contribution as UW’s fourth-leading scorer (9.7) and second-leading rebounder (5.7).
Sophomore forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning came on strong over the past three games to raise his season averages to 9.3 points and 4.7 rebounds.

The Huskies are scoring 77.4 points per game, while allowing 65.7. That point differential ranks fifth among Pac-10 teams.

They lead the league in scoring and rebounding margin, but are last in 3-point field goals and in 3-point field goal percentage defense.

“I think we really have made progress from a month ago,” Romar said. “I like what our team is doing; I like the direction that we’re headed. We are nowhere near the finished product. But I like where we’re headed. We have almost two weeks to go before we open (Pac-10 play), so we’ve got to continue to get better.”

Romar was asked about the work to be done before his team's Pac-10 opener Jan. 3 at Washington State.

“The things that we’ve been getting better at, continue to get better at,” he said. “Continue to get better on defensive end, continue to share basketball and take care of it. Those type things. Play 40 minutes of solid basketball. I think that’s the ultimate goal that we’d like to get.”

There might be one advantage to the Huskies and Lehigh canceling their Tuesday game: Jon Brockman gets some extra rest on his sprained ankle.

Otherwise, coach Lorenzo Romar sounded disappointed at the turn of events. Every game is a test, he said, and the Huskies were eager for another before pausing for their holiday break.

Romar said it is unlikely that the game can be rescheduled before the start of conference play. But he is hoping the game can be rescheduled, in part because the team would like a chance at another victory to impress the NCAA tournament committee on Selection Sunday.

He didn't rule out the possibility of UW playing a makeup game against some other opponent -- although that seems less likely since other opponents would likely already have their full allotment of games.

In any case, Romar said that instead of playing a game tomorrow, the Huskies will practice and perhaps scrimmage before taking their holiday break. They'll return on Friday to begin preparation for their Sunday game against Montana.

Lehigh was in the air on a commercial flight about two hours out of Newark, N.J., when the flight turned around due to the weather conditions at SeaTac airport.

A quote from Romar:
"They were on the plane for two hours headed out to Seattle and they had to turn around because they said that SeaTac didn’t have the necessary equipment to allow them to land safely. … We definitely cannot fault Lehigh for not being able to get here."

A quote from Brockman:
"My ankle feels a lot better. It is still a little swollen, so I just need to do the things necessary to get the swelling out and get it strengthened. I haven't taken any steps backward in terms of how it feels, so that is a good sign. I'm just trying to take it day by day, do what the trainers ask me to do and get in back into full strength. Maybe this break will help me do that."

Washington's men's basketball game against Lehigh, scheduled for 3 p.m. Tuesday, has been canceled... or at least postponed.

The Mountain Hawks were actually in the air when the decision was made, and the team turned back to New Jersey, where they had moved to 7-3 with a win over Monmouth.

Given the geography between the two schools -- Lehigh is located in Bethlehem, Pa. -- the holidays and the approach of conference play, rescheduling seems difficult.

Here's the current Lehigh schedule. And here's UW's.

Here is part of the university's press release:

Due to the inclement weather that has affected the Pacific Northwest, the University of Washington's men's basketball game against Lehigh University that was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon has been cancelled.

The two teams are hoping to reschedule the contest.

The Unviersity of Washington has suspended operations and the Husky Ticket Office is closed today due to the weather.

Washington is currently scheduled to return to action on Sunday, December 28 in a noon tipoff against the University of Montana.

Ron English, who had been mentioned as a possible candidate for the Huskies' defensive coordinator job has instead taken the head job at Eastern Michigan.

Guard Adrian Oliver, who left UW about this time last year, scored a career-high 27 points last night in his debut for San Jose State.

Here's the report.

Got home OK. Lots of fluffy snow that provided traction. Most other drivers being responsible. Still, good to be back home, and I'm hoping all the fans and other reporters did, too.

Here's my game story.

This one was over at halftime. Washington moves to 7-3 on the season. The Huskies return to action at 3 p.m. Tuesday, hosting Lehigh.

Brockman was the leading scorer with 17 points, although he had a season-low five rebounds.

UW was 21 of 34 on foul shots; EWU 1 of six, with the one coming with just over three minutes left in the game.

Final crowd estimate was probably in the 2,000-2,500 range.

I'm heading down for some notes and quotes, but I might try to get home before posting anything else.

Halftime: After a sloppy start, the Huskies got it going. Right now they just look the far more athletic team. They're getting inside and finishing. The Eagles are getting inside and getting blocked -- six so far.

Easter has no points off turnovers, no second-chance points, no points off fast breaks.

The Huskies have hit 57 percent from the field, the Eagles 34 percent.

Isaiah Thomas leads all scorers with 12 points.

Jon Brockman looks OK but not 100 percent: five points, one rebound. I'd sit him a lot through the second half if things continue as are.

MBA strong again: six points, three rebounds.

Due to the weather, neither the cheerleaders nor pep band are here. They are missed.

15:57/1st The Huskies went about three and a half minutes before hitting their first field goal -- an Isaiah Thomas 3. It's 7-7 now in a fairly slopping game.

The PA announcer has just invited everyone in the upper level to come on down to the lower bowl. However, the lower bowl is pretty well filled. It's certainly the smallest crowd of the season, but not half bad.

7:05 p.m. We're about to tip off, and there are probably 500-700 fans in here ... which is more than I expected. Especially considering the weather ... and the fact that school is out. Yet there's a nice sampling of Dawg Pack.

6 p.m. Relief. The Eagles are in the house. And since the Huskies and the game officials are also here, the game will go on.

5:55: Hmm. The Huskies are out on the court warming up. However -- and this is where that 'hmm' comes from -- the Eastern Washington team bus hasn't yet arrived. They did get over the mountains and into town yesterday. But they haven't made it to the arena yet.

Meanwhile, about 25 or so fans have made it into the arena.

And -- get this -- there are scalpers outside! I just went out to move my car to a less snow-drifty location and a couple of guys actually asked me if I had any extras. Now, it is just my hunch that there are going to be about 9,500 extras tonight, but I presume the man knows his business better than I do.

5:35 p.m. For better or worse, I've made it to Hed Ed for tonight's Eastern Washington-at-UW basketball game. The roads were OK in an exciting sort of way. However, I would urge all civilians to watch from the comfort of their living rooms.

And it certainly seems that most folks are taking that advice. The parking lot was a winter wonderland undisturbed by tire tracks. There weren't even parking attendants to take your money. Which makes sense: That would be very nasty duty out there tonight.

Anyway, for at least the next few hours this will seem like a normal night again. I'll pop in here with any pregame notes, then keep a running blog through the game, then head back for what will likely be unusually short game notes before beginning a hopeful slog for home.

Last I've heard, UW intends to play it's game tonight despite a lot of public officials' recommendations that folks stay home to ride out the expected winter storm.

(Speaking of that, note the misguided headline on the EWU game notes: Eagles escape snow but have to face Huskies...)

Here's my story from today's paper.

Here's a quick scouting report:

EASTERN WASHINGTON (6-4 OVERALL, 1-0 BIG SKY CONFERNCE)
AT WASHINGTON (6-3)
7 p.m., Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

TV: FSN
Radio: 950-AM

Series: UW leads 9-1. The Eagles’ only win came in 2003. Since then, the Huskies have won five straight in the series, including 82-68 last season.

Statistical leaders: For EWU, G Benny Valentine, 16.8 ppg and 3.2 apg; C/F Brandon Moore, 6.7 rpg. For UW, F Jon Brockman, 16.8 ppg and 11.4 rpg; G Isaiah Thomas, 3.4 apg.

Scouting report: Washington comes in with a four-game winning streak. Brockman is expected to play after sitting out the Sunday win over Portland State due to a right ankle sprain. … EWU lost Thursday to Missouri-Kansas City, 68-61. The Eagles’ previous losses had come to Big Ten teams Illinois and Minnesota. … Eastern leads the Big Sky in defense, allowing 67.2 points per game and holding their opponents to 39.9 percent shooting from the field. … The Huskies and Eagles share one common opponent: Washington lost at Portland, 80-74; EWU won there, 63-58. Eastern is 2-3 on the road; UW is 6-0 at home. … Moore is from Graham and graduated from Bethel High School in 2005. The only other Puget Sound area player on the EWU roster is freshman forward Abebe Demissie, who played at Rainier Beach in Seattle.

Next: 3 p.m. Tuesday, vs. Lehigh, Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

Talia Crichton, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound defendive end from Lakewood, Calif., has given his oral commitment to attend the University of Washington, according to Realdawg.com and Dawgman.com.

Realdawg quoted Lakewood High School head coach Thaddeus MacNeal as saying, "He's just a beast. We play against the top talent in California."

MacNeal also said Crichton had offers from Nebraska, Colorado, Utah and Arizona.

UW leading scorer and rebounder Jon Brockman practiced today and is listed as probable for the 7 p.m. Saturday game against Eastern Washington.

The Eagles are reported on their way by bus, and assuming they make it, the game is expected to be played at its scheduled time, regardless of the next winter storm expected to reach the Puget Sound area Saturday night.

Obviously, I'll blog in as quickly as possible if anything happens to change that.

Finally, the video above is a nice feature on Brockman put together by the UW sports information office.

Eastern Washington, which is scheduled to visit UW at 7 p.m. Saturday, lost last night to Missouri-Kansas City.

Here's the report from the EWU Web site.

Josh Moten, a California quarterback (Narbonne H.S.) with the athleticism to end up at some other position, has become the first oral commit of the Steve Sarkisian era at UW, according to Realdawg.com, Dawgman.com, Udubsports.com and probably some other folks that don't have me on their mailing list.

Moten attended Narbonne H.S., where he through for over 2,100 yards and seven touchdowns last season. He also ran for 829 with 10 touchdowns.

Moten comitted during an in-home visit by newly named UW assistant Johnny Nansen. He chose Washington over offers from Colorado, San Jose State, and North Carolina A&T.

However, BearTerritory.com is reporting Garfield High star Deandre Coleman -- perhaps UW's prime recruiting target this season -- has decided to attend Cal.

Here's an item of interest to UW fans from TNT reporter Doug Pacey's high school coverage today:

The season has hardly begun and already the accolades are mounting for Abdul Gaddy. The Bellarmine Prep senior point guard is among 10 players across the nation that is being considered for the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Naismith Boy’s High School Player of the Year Award.

Former Bellarmine Prep standout Avery Bradley also made the cut. Bradley has helped Findlay Prep of Henderson, Nev., climb to No. 2 in USA Today’s Super 25 rankings.

And more on Gaddy from GoHuskies.com.

New UW football coach Steve Sarkisian has announced the hiring of three members of his coaching staff.

Here's the story from the Wednesday paper.

Here are the hires.

Jim Michalczik offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. He has spent the past six seasons at Cal, where he was assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.

Demetrice Martin, secondary coach. He comes from Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif, where he was an assistant coach of a 12-2 team that went to the state title game.

Johnny Nansen, special teams and defensive staff. He is a former Cougar who spent the last five seasons at Idaho, coaching linebackers, defensive line and special teams.

Sarkisian also introduced Jared Blank as director of player personnel. Like Sarkisian, Blank comes from USC, where he has served as director of player personnel for the last 18 months.

That position, Sarkisian just explained, will involve recruiting issues, making sure there a reasonable balance between linemen, receivers, tailbacks, etc., and development of players.

A few other Sark notes:

* He failed to land USC assistant Rocky Seto as his defensive coordinator, noting that USC can be a hard place to pry people away from. He said has has a couple of other candidates in mind, but declined to name them.

* He confirmed that no members of Willingham's staff will be retained. He said he wasn't especailly looking for that clean a break, but that "it just worked out that way" and "was the right thing to do... only time will tell."

* He had to use his recruiting skills to lure Michalczik from Cal.

* He'll call the plays, but he'll work with Michalczik on game planning and other issues. He especailly seems interesting in Michalczik's skills in handling the running game and blocking schemes.

* Nansen and Martin are already out recruiting.

* He said his meetings with players have convinced him that they are "starving to win."

* He expects some player postition changes ... some happily, some less so, but all for the good of the team.

* He said he is having fun, and he wants his players to have fun, too.

* He has hired a strength coach and assistant... both from USC.

* He expects another round of hirings to be annouced in about a week.

* His last name is pronounced sar-kee-zhun.

We just got a little time with basketball coach Lorenzo Romar. The big topic today seemed to be players moving into their roles with this team. I'll write more about that later.

The pure news today was Romar's continued belief that Jon Brockman's injured ankle should be ready for practice by tomorrow or Thursday, but should certainly be ready for game action Saturday when Eastern Washington visits.

Also, still no decision on play/redshirt for true freshman Tyreese Breshers.

Washington football coach Steve Sarkisian is expected to introduce several members of his football staff Tuesday afternoon.

One of the newcomers is expected to be Jim Michalczik, offensive line coach and assistant offensive coordinator at California, who will become offensive coordinator at UW.

“It was an incredibly tough decision,” Michalczik told the Contra Costa (Calif.) TimesContra Costa (Calif.) Times. “Leaving the Bay Area, leaving these kids, leaving coach (Jeff) Tedford, who gave me the opportunity here. This is a pretty good opportunity. It was literally too good to turn down.”

Michalczik is a native of Port Angeles, and he played at Washington State from 1986-88.

USC secondary coach Rocky Seto also is known to be weighing an offer from Sarkisian, perhaps to become defensive coordinator.

It is uncertain how many staff announcements will be made Tuesday. However, there are growing indications that no members of Tyrone Willingham’s staff will be retained.

No one seemed too disappointed after.

Washington (6-3) was disappointed about letting Portland State back in the game. But they were happy to show that they can win without leading scorer and rebounder Jon Brockman. And they sound eager to see what Brockman and Matthew-Brian Amaning might be able to do on the floor together as this season moves along.

Meanwhile, Portland State coach Ken Bone seemed pleased that his team kept its composure well enough to fight back and nearly pull the upset.

And Phil Nelson and Quincy Pondexter -- friends from the UW 2006 freshman class -- seemed to enjoy playing against each other.

Here's my game story.

Highlights:

Star of the game: Subbing for the injured Jon Brockman, sophomore forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning did a pretty fair Brockman impersonation. In his first start of the season, Bryan-Amaning had a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds. He added two steals, an assist and won praise from coach Lorenzo Romar by committing no turnovers.

Key stats: Both teams were bad from the free throw line. UW hit 15 of 26 four shots (57.7), PSU hit 19 of 35 (54.3). Both teams featured balanced scoring: UW had three players scoring 20 or more points, PSU had five players scoring in double figures. Washington controlled the boards, 46-35.

Key run: Portland State used a 16-1 run to cut Washington’s lead to one point in the final minute. However, a Quincy Pondexter tip-in of an Isaiah Thomas miss provided a crucial two points and a timely lift.

Observations: Brockman, UW’s leading scorer and rebounder, suffered a right ankle sprain in practice Saturday. He is expected to miss more practice this week, but should be ready for UW’s next game. … A relatively small home crowd had a nice hand for PSU coach Ken Bone, a former UW assistant. And there wasn’t much booing for PSU forward Phil Nelson, who transferred from UW. However, there was some heckling when Nelson missed eight of his first 10 shots, including a couple of airballs. … Single-game tickets for all remaining home games go on sale at 8:30 this morning.
Quotable: “We chatted a little bit. Phil is one of my good friends. I miss the dude. He’s really funny. I was talking to him a little bit, trying to get into his head. As you can see, he’s still a good player; he knocked those big shots down at the end. We’re still good friends after the game.” – Quincy Pondexter, on guarding former teammate Phil Nelson.

Next: 7 p.m. Saturday, Eastern Washington, Hec Edmundson Pavilion; FSN.

Final: Portland State went on a late 12-0 run to turn what seemed to be a comfortable UW evening into a nail-biter.

Phil Nelson -- who had been a non-factor most of the night -- nailed three 3-pointers to pull the Vikings close.

Justin Dentmon hit a couple of free throws late, and UW needed both of them as Dominic Waters hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to set the final score.

Matthew Bryan-Amaning led UW with 23 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out late.

Halftime: Several Huskies stepping up nicely in Brockman's absence. Quincy Pondexter and Justin Dentmon have 13 each, MBA has 12. Isaiah Thomas got UW's first four points, but has only six at half.

Big Sky player of the year Jeremiah Dominguez leads the Vikings with 11, including 3-of-4 on 3-pointers.

Phil Nelson hasn't scored on 0-for-3 shooting.

Even without Brockman, UW has 23 boards to PSU's 15.

Tipoff: Certainly the smallest crowd of the season here so far ... not surprising considering the weather and the forecast.

The student section could hardly whip up a decent boo as the Vikings took the court. (And they did nothing special when Phil Nelson was introduced.)

4:50: Matthew Bryan-Amaning will start in place of UW forward Jon Brockman, who suffered a right ankle sprain in practice Friday.

The rest of the lineup is unchanged: Isaiah Thomas, Justin Dentmon, Quincy Pondexter and Darnell Gant.

Meanwhile, PSU guard Jeremiah Dominguez -- who had been listed as a gametime decision with a finger injury -- is in the starting lineup.

4:40: Brockman is on the sideline in his warmups, but not participating in the pregame work with his team. (Neither is Breshers.)

Brockman also is limping. (For those thinking ahead, after tonight, UW is off until Saturday when Eastern Washington visits.

4:35: UW leading scorer and rebounder Jon Brockman did not warm up with the team and the explanation is a spained ankle suffered Friday in practice. His availability is being called a gametime decision.

Meanwhile -- related or not -- freshman Tyreese Breshers is in uniform. Breshers has been out all season due to the lingering affects of a shin injury. Coach Lorenzo Romar had hinted that this might be the week where Breshers plays or decides to redshirt.

3:45: A few players have drifted out onto the court, including Phil Nelson who right now is exchanging greetings with Artem Wallace and Joe Wolfinger at center court.

3:30 p.m. No troubles driving up to Hec Ed. Here's hoping the return trip is as easy.

Planning the normal gameday blogging: pregame notes if they happen, then a running blog during the game, and then some final notes and quotes before slipping and sliding home.

Tip is 5 p.m., and the game is on FSN.

Former Washington golf coach O.D. Vincent has been named to the position of senior associate director of athletics at the University of Washington, director of athletics Scott Woodward announced today.

Here's the release from the university.

My story in this morning's paper deals primarily with Phil Nelson, now with Portland State and one of three members of the freshman class of 2006 who left UW.

Here's a roundup on the whole group:

SPENCER HAWES, 7-0 center
As UW freshman: Started 24 games; 14.9 points, 6.4 rebounds.
Now: Second year at Sacramento (NBA); 12.3 points, 7.3 rebounds.

PHIL NELSON, 6-7 forward
As UW freshman: Started nine games; 4.7 points, two rebounds.
Now: At Portland State, averaging 10.1 points and three rebounds.

ADRIAN OLIVER, 6-4 guard
As UW freshman: Started 13 games; 4.7 points, two rebounds.
Now: About to become eligible at San Jose State.

QUINCY PONDEXTER, 6-6 forward
As UW freshman: Started 22 games; 10.7 points, four rebounds.
Now: UW starter averaging 9.1 points, 5.8 rebounds.

If you have tickets to the game or are thinking about going, but are concerned about the weather, here's the DOT traffic map, which might help with your decision.

The UW basketball team returns to action Sunday. My preview story deals with the return of former Husky forward Phil Nelson ... and takes a look at UW's 2006 freshman class that has now scattered to the wind ... all except Quincy Pondexter.

Meanwhile, a quick look at the game:

PORTLAND STATE (7-1)
AT WASHINGTON (5-3)
5 p.m. Sunday, Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

TV: FSN.
Radio: 950-AM
Series: UW leads, 7-0, all at home. The Huskies won, 84-65, last season.

Statistical leaders: For PSU, F Jamie Jones, 12.6 ppg and 8 rpg; G Andre Murray, 3 apg. For UW, F Jon Brockman, 16.8 ppg and 11.4 rpg; G Isaiah Thomas, 3.6 apg.

Scouting report: Both teams arrive with three-game winning streaks. They have one common opponent: UW lost to Portland, 80-74; while PSU won, 81-76. … The Vikings are off to their best start since 1954-55, when they were an NAIA school. Their lone loss came to Hampton in overtime at the Great Alaska Shootout. … PSU is coached by former UW assistant Ken Bone, and former UW player Curtis Allen is on his staff. The roster includes former UW player Phil Nelson, has started every game this season, averaging 10.1 points. He is one of five Vikings who averaged at least 10 points per game. … Senior guard Jeremiah Dominguez, last season’s Big Sky Conference player of the year, is questionable with a finger injury. … Portland State is 4-39 all-time against teams from the Pacific-10 Conference. UW is 72-15 against teams from the Big Sky.

Next: 7 p.m. Dec. 20, vs. Eastern Washington, Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

USC has decided to promote John Morton into the offensive coordinator position being vacated by Steve Sarkisian's move to UW.

However, there may be even more changes ahead if Sarkisian is successful in getting some USC assistants to join him in Seattle.

Here are a few interesting paragraphs from an LA Times story:

Rocky Seto, USC's secondary coach, is mulling Sarkisian's offer to become Washington's defensive coordinator.

"It's kind of exciting," said Seto, whose wife is from the Seattle area.

"We're thinking about it. We're praying about it."

Sarkisian also has approached Yogi Roth, USC's quarterbacks graduate assistant, and Jared Blank, assistant director of football operations, about joining him at Washington.

Defensive coordinator Nick Holt and offensive line coach Pat Ruel took themselves out of consideration for jobs on the Huskies staff when Sarkisian was awaiting an offer from Washington.

And here's the full story.

Basketball coach Lorenzo Romar had implied that this might have been decision day on whether freshman Tyreese Breshers gets a green light to play or redshirts. Apparently neither happened, as Breshers (shin) looked solid enough in practice today, but apprently still only in the half-court.

Similarly, no update on football wide receiver Devin Aguilar, a former Colorado prep basketball player of the year who is interested in walking on to the basketball team.

The Huskies return to action at 5 p.m. Sunday against Portland State, featuring coach Ken Bone and forward Phil Nelson -- both former Huskies. The game will be on FSN.

UW held its annual football awards banquet tonight in downtown Seattle. Here is the list of winners:

Guy Flaherty Most Inspirational
Daniel Te’o-Nesheim

101 Club Academic Award
Robert Lukevich

Team MVP Award
D’Andre Goodwin (Offense)
Mason Foster (Defense)

Sports Radio 950 KJR Players of the Year
D’Andre Goodwin (Offense)
Daniel Te’o-Nesheim (Defense)
Chris Stevens (Special Teams)

KING-TV Most Improved Player
Michael Gottlieb (Offense)
Donald Butler and Nate Williams (Defense)

John P. Angel Lineman of the Year
Juan Garcia (Offense)
Daniel Te’o-Nesheim (Defense)

L. Wait Rising Lineman of the Year
Daniel Te’o-Nesheim

Earle T. Glant Tough Husky
Paul Homer

Chuck Niemi Big Hit Award
Johnie Kirton

Tyee Sports Council Community Service Award
Desmond Davis

Bob Jarvis Offensive Scout Squad MVP
Gregory Christine

Mark Drennan Defensive Scout Squad MVP
Greg Walker

Brian Stapp Special Teams Scout Squad MVP
Adam Long

Travis Spring Most Outstanding Freshman
Jermaine Kearse (Offense)
Everrette Thompson (Defense)

Husky Fever 12th Man Award
Ronnie Fouch (Offense)
Chris Stevens (Defense)

Academic Excellence Award
Ryan Perkins

Captains Award
Juan Garcia, Michael Gottlieb, Johnie Kirton, Daniel Te’o-Nesheim

Kurt P. Gegner Memorial Award
Stan McDonald (Equipment Room Staff)
Kyle Shoun (Video Operations Staff)

My annual season-ending take on the state of UW football ran in the Wednesday paper, looking ahead to Steve Sarkisian's first team and on what was left in the cupboard from Ty Willingham.

For blog purposes, here are what I consider two key paragraphs. This one, which reminds that most Pac-10 coaches -- even the successful ones -- rare make a huge win-loss difference in their first season:

Among the top current Pacific-10 Conference coaches, Jeff Tedford is the exception, lifting California from one win to seven in his first season. Pete Carroll bumped USC only from five wins to six. Oregon’s Mike Bellotti inherited a nine-win team and won nine games in his first season. Oregon State’s Mike Riley inherited an eight-win team and won eight games. Arizona’s Mike Stoops took over a two-win team, nudged it forward to three wins in his first season, and didn’t get the Wildcats to a bowl until this season – his fifth.

And this one, which is kind of my bottom line as of now:

If the 2009 season started today, the Huskies would be favored in two games: home dates against Idaho and Washington State.

As currently planned, Sarkisian will face Louisiana State in his first game, and USC in his third. The schedule goes on to include all the other Pac-10 teams, plus a trip to Notre Dame: 12 games in 12 weeks.

Athletic director Scott Woodward said that could be tweaked. But no change short of membership in the Western Athletic Conference is going to present Sarkisian with anything but a steady diet of teams more talented than his own.

Willingham’s Huskies peaked at five wins. If Sarkisian can manage that in his first season, Woodward and president Mark Emmert will look like geniuses.

And you guys? Any early thoughts on what would constitute an appropriate and encouraging first season for the new staff?

Prize UW basketball recruit Abdul Gaddy scored 27 points last night as Bellarmine opened its season with a loss to Mount Tahoma.

Here's the game story from TNT reporter Doug Pacey.

Linebacker E.J. Savannah, Washington’s leading tackler in 2007, will re-enroll in January and has been welcomed back onto the team by new coach Steve Sarkisian.

Savannah had been suspended last fall from the team by previous coach Tyrone Willingham for academic and other reasons. Savannah decided to transfer, but never enrolled at another school.

He has one season of eligibility remaining.

The move seems to back up what Sarkisian called his biggest message to his team when he met with them on Monday.

"This is a clean slate," he said. "Whatever has gone on before I wasn't here, we're starting off on a brand new foot, with me, with the program. I think, for a lot of guys, it's a chance for a new beginning. That it's going to take a lot of hard work, we need to finish up finals really well this week and when we come back in January, we're going to do this thing together, we're going to compete together, we're going to battle together and we're going to become a football team together and we're going to have fun doing it."

That apparently also goes for tailback Brandon Johnson, who missed practiced in the final week of the season and was left home when the Huskies traveled to California for their final game.

Sarkisian has confirmed today that Johnson also has been welcomed back in good standing.

For now, the USC reporters know new Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian better than any of the UW writers.

So, this take from the LA Daily News is especially interesting. It knocks down some rumors than had been raised locally, while floating some names I hadn't heard before.

UW freshman forward Tyreese Breshers is still limited in practice by his long-term shin injury, and coach Lorenzo Romar said that a decision will likely be made later this week about whether he will play this season or redshirt.

Meanwhile, Romar also said that UW football player Devin Aguilar is eager to play basketball -- and Romar is eager to have him, if the idea gets the blessing of new football coach Steve Sarkisian. (Previous coach Tyrone Willingham was on board with the idea.)

Aguilar, who is 6-feet-tall, was a standout basketball player in Colorado.

New UW football coach Steve Sarkisian met with the existing staff this morning. He informed some coaches that they will not be retained, and left a few others in limbo while he decides. (Here's our story from the Tuesday paper.)

However, he said he doesn't want to name which is which yet, and therefore we probably shouldn't expect official staff news until next week.

It is known that offensive line coach Mike Denbrock was released. And all indications are that Sarkisian wants to bring in his own coordinators, which would mean Tim Lappano and Ed Donatell are likely going.

Sarkisian has a similar USC/Raiders background as Lane Kiffin, who recently got the Tennessee job and is establishing his staff there. However, Sarkisian said there is little overlap in which assistants each man is after.

In addition to meeting with the staff, Sarkisian said he did some local recruiting and had a nice meal with his family.

He plans to remain here through Thursday, then return to USC Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and then return here Sunday night.

New UW coach Steve Sarkisian met with Tyrone Willingham's football staff this morning, apparently telling most of them that they won't be part of his staff.

Unofficial word is that a couple have been kept on -- KJR is reporting that it's defensive line coach Randy Hart and linebackers coach/recruiting coordinator Chris Tormey. If correct, next season will mark Hart's 22nd at UW.

I just bumped into offensive line coach Mike Denbrock in the hall, and we exchanged goodbye-and-good-luck handshakes, so he certainly got the word that he won't be back.

For all the excitement of yesterday, this is the downside of coaching changes.

Defensive coordinator Ed Donatell is the only coach with a UW contract that runs through next season.

I should be back around 2 p.m. with the official word.

Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu was at USC while new Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian was on the staff there.

Here are some of Tatupu's thoughts, by way of TNT Seahawks writer Frank Hughes:

How he saw him affect QB Matt Leinart's progress
They were real close. Same with all the other quarterbacks down there. He learned from (Norm) Chow. That's a great person to learn from, a quarterback guru. The things he's done have just been tremendous there. He's had some hands in who-knows-how-many Heisman Trophies. Hopefully, he'll go out and put together some more for himself.

On Sarkisian being a good fit for Jake Locker
I think it would be a great opportunity for him to work with Sark. It's just going to be exciting to see what's going to go on up there. He'll be up here, so I'll probably sit down with him once or twice, get in contact with him. He's a great coach. I'm just happy he finally got his opportunity.

Comparing Sarkisian to coach Pete Carroll
He's got the same kind of energy and enthusiasm and I think that's important. He'll bring that competitive edge and life, not just to the games but to practice, and I think that's as important, that preparation for the game. And he'll bring that edge to it. There are going to be some exciting things happening.

On the USC atmosphere of having people like Snoop Dog on the sidelines
It might be tough to get Snoop up to the Pac Northwest. But if anybody's got connections, I think he'll be able to pull it off. Is Pearl Jam still in the area?

On recruiting
That's really what Pete does better than anybody. He can out-recruit almost anyone. In college, they changed the rule where coaches can only make so many trips, or there's a certain amount of time when they can't go out, and he was pretty adament, he was not happy about that. That's what Pete does.

On telling players they should come to UW instead of USC
If I was the coach, and I'm sure this is what he'll be saying, you tell the players: 'You can go to SC, and you'll probably play your junior or senior year, or you can come here and play four years here. You don't have to sit behind a two-time, three-time All-American.'"

Here is our whole package of Sarkisian coverage from the Tuesday paper.
And here is some more of what new UW coach Steve Sarkisian said about the UW football program -- the one he inherits, and the one he hopes to build:

*His goal is to win games, qualify for bowls and eventually win championships.
Quote: “It's about time for us to get back to the Rose Bowl. It's about time for us to get back competing for conference championships; it's about time for us to get back competing for national championships, and that's what our goal is.”

*UW has the existing facilities to do that.
Quote: “These are winning facilities. From where I've been and what they had and what this place is and what we have here, the facilities are great. We'll go play.”

*He hasn’t decided if any of the current staff will be retained and said some members of the existing USC staff might follow him. He said he has the budget to assemble the kind of staff he wants.
Quote: “There are some guys that will join on board here very quickly. … We’re shooting to get the best coaching staff in America assembled here, and I don’t want to settle just to put a staff together as quickly as possible.”

*His top immediate priority is recruiting. He seems to especially value speed. He believes his Southern California connections will help him in that prime recruiting area. But he also said he wants to make sure the best in-state prospects stay home.
Quote: “This is too good of an institution, too good of a program for a kid to want to leave. There’s no question, we’re going to put a wall up around the state of Washington, around Seattle and the surrounding areas and these kids are not going to leave any more. We’re going to keep them here, and we need to do a good job when we get out of here of identifying the top talent on the West Coast and go after it and go get it.”

*Winning and losing are both habits, and he wants to rid the program of the latter and build the former. He said that when USC played UW this fall, he saw the Huskies as a team that expected to lose.
Quote: “There’s a lot of talent on this football team, we just need to change the way they think. Obviously, there’s going to be a lot of learning from everybody involved.”

*He will handle the play-calling and that he expects to run a pro-style offense similar to his USC offense.
Quote: “We’ll hire an offensive coordinator, but I’ll still call the plays. The offense will very similar (to USC), obviously we’ll play to the strengths of what we have, whether is offensive line, running back, quarterback, wide receiver.”

*He wants that offense to take advantage of Locker’s unique talents without turning him into a one-man show.
Quote: “He's a guy that obviously we can build our program around, but he is not going to be our program, we're not going to put it all on him. We're going to take our time and we're going to develop a football team around him that he is going to be a part of.”

*He has some ideas of what he wants in a defensive coordinator.
Quote: “I want us to play hard, I want us to play fast, I want us to play with great effort. Scheme-wise, I’ve got some really good guys in mind; it’s just a matter of working through logistics and finding a way to get them.”

*Someone on his staff will hold the title of quarterback coach, but Sarkisian also plans to be involved mentoring UW quarterbacks.
Quote: “We will have a quarterback coach title because it takes a lot of work to mentor a quarterback, takes a lot of off-season work, in-season work. So, we will have basically two of us heading this thing up. But I will work hand-in-hand closely with (Jake Locker and Ronnie Fouch) and the guys we bring in. They will play well.”

*His first message to the team was that everyone is beginning anew. (It was a message that Locker said excited a lot of players.)
Quote: “Whatever has gone on before I wasn't here, we're starting off on a brand new foot, with me, with the program. I think, for a lot of guys, it's a chance for a new beginning. … We're going to do this thing together, we're going to compete together, we're going to battle together and we're going to become a football team together and we're going to have fun doing it.”

*He wants his team energized.
Quote: “Emotion is a big part of college football, more so than in any other level of college football, in my opinion. They feed off of fans, they feed off of students, they feed off the emotions of the game and we need to be an emotional football team, an enthusiastic football team, one that loves playing with one another. I expect our sidelines to be electric, I expect them to be jumping up and down and cheering for one another and having fun with one another. That’s what college football is about.”

Washington defensive end Daniel Te’o-Nesheim was named today to the All-Pac-10 second team.

Four Huskies received honorable mention: linebacker Mason Foster, center Juan Garcia, receiver D’Andre Goodwin and safety Nate Williams.

Among the top honors, Oregon State tailback Jacquizz Rodgers was named player of the year and freshman of the year, USC linebacker Rey Maualuga was named defensive player of the year, and Mike Riley of Oregon State was named coach of the year.

The full list of honored players is available at the Pac-10 Website.

Jake Locker says he "really enjoyed" his first meeting with new UW coach Steve Sarkisian. Locker said that Sarkisain's history of working with quarterbacks like Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart is one of the things he's most excited about.

Locker sounded a little less enthusiastic about the USC-style pro offense -- Locker admitted that he likes to run and that an offense that lets a quarterback run is part of the reason he picked UW. However, he also said that he's open to whatever his new coach installs. And he allowed that the pro-style is the part of the game that he still most needs to develop.

He said Sarkisian's background of success at USC -- helps him and likely will help a lot of the Huskies -- buy in to whatever the new coach is selling.

He said the thing that may have been most exciting to the team was Sarkisian's promise start everyone with a clean slate, starting now. ... That and Sarkisian's energy -- the players seemed to like Sarkisian's heightened energy level.

Finally, Locker also said that his injured thumb is healing. Range of motion is now similar to that of his uninjured thumb. And three days ago he picked up a football for the first time. He hasn't thrown one yet, but he considers this a start.

So far so good.

Steve Sarkisian hasn't signed a recruit, called a play or won a game. But he made a good first impression here in his introductory press conference.

He seemed to be having fun. He answered questions. He didn't refer to himself in the third person.

What else?

He promised open practices ... open to fans as well as media.

He wore a purple and gold tie.

He didn't get 100 words into his opening statement before paying homage to Don James.

His goal is to win championships.

He said he has the facilities to do that.

He said he has the budget to assemble a staff to help him do that.

He said he wants to rebuild a recruiting wall around the state of Washington.

He said he has met with the team, but not yet with the existing staff, who are under contract until summer.

He said his top immediate priority is recruiting, then he will return his attention to USC during the holiday down period and thru the Rose Bowl, then he's back here for all Huskies all the time.

He said winning and losing are both habits, and he wants to rid the program of the latter and build the former.

He said the schedule -- which begins with LSU and continued with 12 games in 12 weeks -- is the schedule. (However, Scott Woodward implied it might be adjusted before fall.)

He said he will retain the play-calling and that he expects to run something very similar to his USC offense, regardless of Jake Locker or other personnel issues here.

He said he never assumes a player will redshirt, but he seemed cautious of bringing in juco players.

He stressed that emotion is a huge part of the game.

He said he defines success as winning games, getting to bowls, winning championships.

He said he will give someone the title of quarterback coach, but that he will also work closely with mentoring UW quarterbacks.

He agreed that Oregon, Oregon State and Cal have upgraded since UW's glory days of the '90s, but he still believes UW can compete on the level it once did.

Here we go.

I'm at the Don James Center at Husky Stadium where the Steve Sarkisian press conference will begin at 9:30.

The era is off to a great start by sportswriter standards: there's coffee and gingerbread cookies.

But if you can't get here, the event will be shown on Gohuskies.com, and I also hear that Channel 5 and 13 and FSN intend to show it, and that KRJ 950-AM radio will boradcast live. FSN also plans to repeat it at 12:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m

I'll be back with info after the event.

New UW coach Steve Sarkisian's introductory press conference is at 9:30 this morning and is open to the public. It will be held in the Don James Center, on the north side of Husky Stadium.

If you can't make it, it also will be streamed live -- and then as a video archive -- at the GoHuskies.com Website.

And, of course, I'll blog highlights here and write quite a bit for the Tuesday paper.

New UW football coach Steve Sarkisian flew into the area this morning, arriving around noon on a private plane with his family.

After checking into a hotel, his wife and children took a tour of area, while Serkisian went to the UW campus and met with some athletic department personnel and took a tour of the football faciities. He also took some publicity photos, met with athletic director Scott Woodward and was scheduled to attend a couple of receptions with donors tonight.

He also was given a solid recruiting update and reportedly seemed pleased with the organization of the recruiting efforts so far.

Monday morning will be devoted to his introductory press conference, but then he plans to head right into recruiting, which seems to be his first priority, along with assembling a staff.

When I was in Los Angeles a few weeks ago for the UW-USC game, I attended a USC practice. That was the week that Tyrone Willingham's release had been announced, so I asked coach Pete Carroll a couple of questions about that, including something about one of his assistants name Steve Sarkisian.

Well, now of course that story reads a little differently, now that we know Sarkisian will be introduced at 9:30 a.m. Monday as coach of the Huskies.

So here's a link to the full original story, in which Carroll discusses Sarkisian, Lane Kiffin, and the possibility of the right coach awakening the sleeping giant of UW football.

And here's just a Carroll quote on Sarkisian:

“When you hire a guy who’s done what Steve’s done, you know you’re getting the offense. You’re getting all of the technology, you’re getting all of the history, you’re getting all of the potential. You’re getting a guarantee of the system and all that kind of stuff, and there’s a lot of proof of what that can be. I think that’s a sure-bet deal. He’s been in charge of half of this team for a long time. … All of that, and Southern California – born and raised here. The best single recruiting anywhere is in L.A., and that’s huge for any school, particularly one that’s located around the West. And he’s bright and articulate and handles himself, and he’s a great competitor.”

The story also contained this little tidbit on Sarkisian:

Southern California offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, who is mentioned as a possible candidate for Washington’s coaching vacancy, has been in the spotlight at Husky Stadium?

Sarkisian was BYU’s starting quarterback in Washington’s 29-17 victory over the Cougars at Husky Stadium on Sept. 14, 1996. He was 23-of-35 passing for 279 yards and two touchdowns, but was sacked eight times. That was BYU’s lone loss during a 14-1 season.

Thanks to Eric Williams for getting UW's 88-52 basketball win over Texas Southern on Saturday while I handled football.

Here's the story on the football game and the end of the Willingham era.

Here's the look ahead to the Steve Sarkinian era, which will begin at 9:30 a.m. Monday with an introductory press conference open to the public.

Eric Williams checks in from Hec Ed with a halftime report:

The Huskies took 8-2 lead early and threatened to break the game open but a couple poor decisions on offense kept Texas Southern close.

The most egregious was big man Matthew Bryan-Amaning attempting an around-the-back pass on a two-on-one fastbreak, which was quickly picked off by the Tigers and converted into a one-handed slam by Michael Drewy at the other end.

Bryan-Amaning found himself on the bench soon after, as Lorenzo Romar gave him a stern talking-to after a timeout.

Texas Southern actually tied the game at 14-all, but the Huskies went on another run and led by as many as 16 in the first half.

The Tigers remained in the game via some clutch outside shooting by Matthew Miller and Sollie Norwood. Miller had two 3-pointers in the first half, including a long-range bomb to beat the 35-second clock from the "W" near midcourt.

The Huskies have played man-to-man defense the entire first half and applied good pressure, forcing 11 turnovers. On offense, Jon Brockman is having his way inside, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds. And Quincy Pondexter continues to play aggressive but controlled. Pondexter finished with eight points. The Huskies shot 52 percent from the floor in the opening half.

Only hours after the Huskies completed a historically abysmal 0-12 football season with a 48-7 loss at Cal, the UW faithful cheered the future during the hoops game against Texas Southern at Hec Ed.

Eric Williams reports:

With 11:54 left in the first half, the Huskies ran a video collage of some highlights from the school’s glory days, and announced Steve Sarkisian as the next head football coach. The announcement received a standing ovation from the crowd.

“I’m thrilled to have Steve heading up our football program,” UW president Mark Emmert said in a press release. “He’s a very talented, energetic coach with a great work ethic and values that match the UW. His challenge is very clear – we believe he’s entirely up to it, and we look forward to a return to the glory years for Husky football.

The school will introduce Sarksian as Washington’s 23rd head football coach on Monday at the Don James Center at 9:30 a.m. The public is invited to attend.

“After a very thorough search, I am convinced that Steve is the right man to lead the University of Washington football program,” said UW athletic director Scott Woodward. “He exhibits the right combination of integrity, toughness and passion as well as an extremely strong desire to win. There are a number of characteristics that we were looking for in a head coach and we were really excited that Steve possessed every one of them.”

Said Sarksian: “I am excited about the opportunity to become the head coach at the University of Washington. I share the same expectations as the Husky Fan base and I fully expect that we will return Washington to the top of the Pac-10 conference and compete for national championships. I want to thank Mark Emmert and Scott Woodward for this opportunity and I am ready t oget to work on behalf of this great institution.”

From Eric Williams at Hec Edmundson Pavilion:

We’re just about to get things started at Hec Ed. Here’s some notes with the Huskies (4-3) hosting Texas Southern (0-7) this evening.

It’s the first time these two teams have met. The Tigers are 0-7 on the season, and have played just on the road to start the season, traveling to seven different states for games.

Texas Southern is led by 6-foot-6 swingman Deandre Hall, averaging 16.7 points a contest. Deante Jones, a 6-8 big man, is the team’s top rebounder at seven rebounds a contest.

There are no injuries or changes to the Huskies' lineup to report. The probably starters for Washington are Isaiah Thomas and Justin Dentmon at guard, and Quincy Pondexter, Jon Brockman and Darnell Gant up front.

It will be interesting to see if the Huskies can continue to build on the improvement they made the last two games. This contest against Texas Southern is one of six very winnable games – all at home – that the Huskies will play before beginning conference action Jan. 3 at Washington State in an afternoon tip.

Along with defending and rebounding well, Washington needs to continue to get it done at the foul line. Seattle shot a respectable 20-of-28 in an 83-65 win against the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Thursday, raising the team’s overall free throw percentage to 61 percent.

Expect the Huskies to get out and run and try to put away Texas Southern early. The longer the Tigers hang around, the more confidence they’ll get and the Huskies then might have a game on their hands.

I’ll post an update at halftime.

Here's the release from the Huskies.

Here's some reaction:

Sarkisian:
“I’m excited. It’s been a great program in the past and they’re obviously down now. But I’m going to get them back to fighting for a championship.”

University president Mark Emmert:
“I’m thrilled to have Steve heading up our football program. He’s a very talented, energetic coach with a great work ethic and values that match the UW. His challenge is very clear. We believe he’s entirely up to it, and we look forward to a return of the glory years for Husky football.”

UW freshman Kavario Middleton:
“It’s a little revitalizing. Having a young guy coming in providing energy, it’s a little exciting.”

Linebacker Mason Foster:
“I think it’s going to turn around real quick. I heard he’s a great coach. He coached at a real good program, so hopefully we can just turn this around fast and take this year and never have this feeling in your stomach again, because it hurts.”

TRENTON TUIASOSOPO on his memories of the USC offense:
“Just up-tempo, just trying to run the ball down your throat and trying to get the first down on second down.(UW defensive coordinator Ed Donatell) was good friends with (USC coach Pete Carroll) and gave us the downlow really on their offense. … I thought it was basic, but up-tempo.”
Donatell and other UW assistants are under contract until the end of the school session. Typically, a new coach will bring in a mostly new staff, while often keeping some holdovers to help with continuity and serve as a bridge to recruits. Donatell is the only coach thought to have a contract that would assure him of a UW paycheck for another season, but he said Saturday he isn’t certain that’s the case.

From senior Michael Gottlieb:
“I have all the respect in the world for Coach Willingham. It’s just unfortunate that the marriage didn’t work out. It’s not his fault, it’s not our fault, it’s just a collective team fault. But I think the guys have a great future coming forward here. I think they’re going to really surprise some people next year. I’m definitely envious.”

A quick review:

Player of the game
Cal tailback Jahvid Best carried 19 times with 311 yards. That’s the most individual rushing yards in the single game in Cal history, the second-most surrendered by a Washington defense (UCLA’s Maurice Drew ran for 322 in 2004) and the fourth-most in Pacific-10 Conference history. The performance also gave him the Pac-10 regular season rushing title.

Husky of the game
UW linebacker Mason Foster had a game-high 13 tackles, including three tackles for loss. That gives him 105 tackles for the season and moves him into a tie with Oregon State’s Greg Laybourn for the Pac-10 lead.

Key plays
On Cal’s second play, Best went off tackle for 60 yards and a touchdown. Best opened the second half similarly: an 84-yard touchdown run that increased Cal’s lead to 38-0.

Personnel report
UW starting quarterback Ronnie Fouch suffered a concussion when hit while sliding after a second-quarter scramble for a first down. He did not return. … His replacement, walk-on Taylor Bean completed eight of 17 passes with one interception and also ran for the Huskies’ only touchdown in the first extensive playing time of his career. … Willie Griffin led UW rushers with 60 yards on 24 carries. … Linebacker Trenton Tuiasosopo has been granted a sixth season of eligibility, but he said he has not yet decided if he will use it. … Sophomore tailback Brandon Johnson did not travel for disciplinary reasons.

Extra points
UW will carry a 14-game losing streak into next season. The Huskies became the first winless UW team in more than a century and the first 0-12 team in the history of the Pacific-10 Conference. … The Huskies averaged 12.67 points per game and allowed 38.58. Their total 463 points allowed is most in school history, as is their average of 451.75 yards allowed per game. The UW offense averaged 263 yards per game. … Captains for the final game were Chris Stevens, Michael Gottlieb, Daniel Te’o-Nesheim and Juan Garcia. … After the game, Cal accepted an invitation to the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco. … A crowd of 50,038 allowed the Bears to barely keep alive a streak of 31 straight home games drawing 50,000 or more.

Next
Steve Sarkisian will be introduced as coach Monday. The 2009 team is expected gather for spring work in early April. Next season is scheduled to begin with a Sept. 5 visit from Louisiana State.

Meanwhile, any thoughts on the game, the season, the era? Any light at the end of this tunnel?

11:33/4th: Lots of subs in for both sides. Cal drove down and kicked a field goal, making it 48-7.

Start of 4th quarter: Husies begin the final quarter of the season ... and the Willingham era.

2:50/3rd: Taylor Bean completed a 31-yard pass to Hawkins, then ran it in on a bootleg, and the Huskies are on the board, 45-7.

Luke Kravitz played a lot of tailback that drive. I don't know if that's related to injury or if Willingham's just providing some carries for a good-guy senior Husky in his final game.

9:43/3rd Apparently Jahvid Best has called it a day, with a school-record 311 yards. That's the most ever by a Bear and the second-most ever by a UW opponent. However, Cal kept right on without him for another TD, making it 45-0.

13:57/3rd:Best goes 84 yards for his fourth TD. Cal, 38-0.

Halftime: Cal has 325 total yards, Washington 58.

We have gotten word that Fouch will not return.

0:05/2nd: Cal took over on its own 11 with 33 seconds left. And scored. A Best run off tackle for 53 yards. A 30 yard pass. A six yard pass. Cal, 31-0.

3:35/2nd Ronnie Fouch was hurt on a late hit while sliding after a scramble. Taylor Bean came in and, on 3rd and 8 after a couple of runs, threw his first pass and his first pick.

7:00/2ndBest goes 20 yards for another TD. He's at 133 yards already. Cal, 24-0.

8:57/2nd 48-yard line-drive Jared Ballman punt was returned 44 yards to the UW 8. Two plays later, it was Cal, 17-0.

Early second quarter: Cal got its field goal after a Fouch fumble while trying to pass. Now he's fumbled again while trying to pass and Cal takes over just across midfield.

12:40/1st: Huskies went three and out. And on Cal's second play, Jahvid Best went off tackle untouched for 60 yards. Cal, 7-0.

Kickff: The Huskies won the toss and elected to receive.

Here we go.

UW game captains for the final game are Chris Stevens, Michael Gottlieb, Daniel Te'o-Nesheim and Juan Garcia.

Cal has finished its pregame Senior Day introductions ... and with the earthquake stadium-evacuation warnings... just in case.

Beautiful day, small crowd.

One other note: The Pac-10 offices are nearby in Walnut Creek, and Pac-10 spokesman Jim Muldoon is here. I just chatted with him, and he says that while a search procedure is in place, he doesn't expect a new commissioner to replace the outgoing Tom Hansen to be named until after the start of the new year.

10:20: I've mentioned here that Cal has finally begun on the long-awaited facilities improvement. The main piece seems to be an all-sport athletic facility, which they seem to be putting sort of into the hillside and under a stadium walkway. In any case, the pressbox side of the stadium is fenced off as a construction zone.

It'll be interesting to see what has been created, two seasons from now when the Huskies next return.

9:40: On the cover of today's game program is Cal linebacker Anthony Felder, a senior from O'Dea in Seattle.

9:30 a.m. Beautiful day in Berkeley, the students have just been allowed into the stadium.

Here's my preview of today's season ending game: Washington at Cal, noon, FSN.

Here's John McGrath's take on Steve Sarkisian. (And here's a link to the TNT homepage, which includes an online poll where you can weigh in on the UW coaching selection.)

Here's the Oakland Tribune's preview, mostly focusing on Cal quarterback Nate Longshore, among the seniors playing at home for the last time today.

We plan the normal gameday coverage: news updates here as they break before kickoff, a running blog through the game, hopefully your comments on the game and the season, and then I'll be back with postgame notes and quotes, including what will likely be our final words from coach Tyrone Willingham (whose name is already coming up in connection with the New Mexico State and San Diego State jobs.

The football game will get most of the attention today, for obvious reasons, but the basketball team plays too.

I tried to link the two in my basketball story today, asking if the football coaching change makes coach Lorenzo Romar think about how quickly his own career fortunes might turn if his team misses the NCAA tournament for a third straight season.

And typically, Romar gave a pretty interesting answer. And since I couldn't use all of it in today's paper, here's the whole reponse:

"Absolutely. No question. You're judged on your wins and losses, period. You go too long without very many wins and people start looking at you cross-eyed. If you go too long without many losses and you don't win by enough points, then they start looking at you cross-eyed. It's win, win, win, win, win. I understand that. I totally understand that.

"When I played in the NBA I always said to myself, 'Man, one day I'm going to get cut. One day I'm going to be playing in the CBA or something.' And I always said, 'How long can I go?' I remember one day I was warming up in two-line layups and I looked around and nobody was in the stands and I said, 'Dawggit, I'm here. I'm in the CBA. It happened.'

"And I know it happens to a lot of coaches. So we've been fortunate to be here going onto seven years. And I think we've been fairly successful. And that's not something where I'm waking up every morning thinking, 'Uh, oh, am I going to have my job today?' I don't look at it that way at all, I'm pretty confident that we've been doing OK and we're going to continue to go OK. But I do understand the nature of the business."

I also took the opportunity this week to ask athletic director Scott Woodward what he expects for UW basketball and what he thinks of Romar.

WOODWARD on expectations:
"We should be competing for championships year in and year out. We should be very competitive. And the thing I’m most proud of about Lorenzo is his graduation rates with kids. … These kids are great kids, and we expect them to compete at the highest level.

WOODWARD on Romar:
We have the right guy, there’s no doubt about it. But am I concerned (about missing the tournament twice)? Absolutley. And coach Romar is concerned. He wants to get back to winning as badly as I do. I see that in him and I see the way the team competes."

Finally, a quick look at UW's game today:

TEXAS SOUTHERN (0-7)
AT WASHINGTON (4-3)
6:30 p.m., Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
TV: FSN.
Radio: 950-AM
Series: First meeting.

Statistical leaders: For TSU, G Deandre Hall, 16.7 ppg; F Ricky Bowles, 7.1 rpg; G Matthew Miller, 5 apg. For UW, F Jon Brockman, 17.2 ppg and 11.5 rpg; G Isaiah Thomas and G Justin Dentmon, 3.8 apg.

Scouting report: The Tigers come from Houston and are a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. They went 7-25 last season and are winless this season against competition that has included UTEP, Cincinnati, Northern Iowa, Marquette and Arkansas – all on the road. They are scoring 62.7 ppg and allowing 75.6. … The Huskies are coming off their best win of the season, 83-65, over Oklahoma State. In that game, Dentmon became the 33rd Husky to reach 1,000 career points. UW is the top rebounding team in the nation, with a plus-15.3 rebounds per game advantage.

Next: 5 p.m. Dec. 14, vs. Portland State, Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

I've made it into the Bay Area, greeted by beautiful weather, which is expected to stick around for gameday.

It's almost hard to remember that there is another game yet to be played, considering all the coaching news dominating the conversation over a long two weeks since the Apple Cup.

And if the Huskies and/or the Bears feel that way, too, who knows what kind of game might play out.

Cal's slot in the Emerald Bowl seems settled, giving them little to play for but pride. But pride should count before a home crowd on Senior Day.

The Huskies could be inspired to get Willingham and the seniors a win, and just to avoid the infamy of 0-12. Or they might just want this whole nightmare season to be over.

We'll see soon enough.

Here's my preview story and a quick preview:

WASHINGTON (0-11 OVERALL, 0-9 PAC-10)
CALIFORNIA (7-4, 5-3)
Kickoff: Noon Saturday, Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, Calif.
Television: FSN. Radio: 950-AM.

The series: Washington leads 47-37-4. Cal has won five of the last six, but UW won last season, 37-23, at Husky Stadium. The Golden Bears have won the last two in Berkeley.

What to watch: Both schools played their rivalry game two weeks ago and then took a week off, so the level of intensity – or lack of it – could determine how the game unfolds. … Cal uses a 3-4 base defense to take advantage of its linebacker strength. … Freshman Willie Griffin will start at tailback, backed up by Terrance Dailey. Sophomore Brandon Johnson, who rushed for 121 yards vs. Cal last season, was left home for disciplinary reasons. … UW coach Tyrone Willingham has said he won’t indulge any personal emotions about his final game, but many eyes will be on him.

What’s at stake: Washington is trying to avoid the first winless season in the school’s modern football history. The Huskies also trying to end a 13-game losing streak, which is the longest in school history and longest current streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision. … Many Huskies said they would like to send Willingham and the senior class out with a win. … Seventeen Cal seniors will be playing their final home game. … The Bears are likely bound for the Emerald Bowl regardless of their result today.

TNT pick: Cal, 42-10. Who knows? This score could be far better or worse depending how mentally ready to play either team is.

There's a good discussion going on in the comments section of the Steve Sarkisian post below.

My first reaction is that the pick isn't an instant home run in the sense that it will instantly result in long lines at the UW 2009 season ticket counter.

But the real test of the pick will be what the lines look like for UW tickets in 2011 and 2112. There is rebuilding to be endured. The instant turnarounds like Jeff Tedford's at Cal are the exceptions. But I don't believe there is any reason to believe that the UW football program is fatally flaws and there's every reason to believe that the right coach, given reasonable time, can get them back to the level of Rose Bowls in the best seasons and Emerald Bowls in the down seasons.

Sarkisian is unproven, but so is everyone until they prove themselves. He's young. He's new. He knows the Pac-10 and Southern California. And he's learned under LaVell Edwards, Norm Chow and Pete Carroll.

Most of all, he represents change, something the program desperately needs.

But what kind of change?

Here's a bit from those who should know him pretty well: the Southern California newspapers:

Here's the story from the Los Angeles Daily News, which mentions that some USC fans won't mind losing him because they didn't like his play-calling. That shouldn't be too much of a red flag, since some percentage of fans always don't like the play calling.

And here's a little background from the Orange County Register and the LA Times.

Now, I'm off to Berkeley where there's a football game tomorrow.

It's just my hunch that the big news of the night is going to be UW apparently settling on USC's Steve Sarkisian as the new football coach. (See post below.)

However, it also was a very nice night for coach Lorenzo Romar's basketball team, which just knocked off Oklahoma State, 83-65 in a game they dominated the whole way.

The Huskies move to 4-3, with what was clearly their best effort of the season.

Four Huskies scored in double digits: Isaiah Thomas (18), Jon Brockman (16), Justin Dentmon (14) and Quincy Pondexter (12).

Brockman also had a game-high 11 rebounds.

Dentmon's first point pushed him over the 1,000-career-point mark.

The Huskies outrebounded the Cowboys, 44-31.

In the locker room, the attitude is that the team is coming together ... and also that they looked good enough tonight where their next game will pose a whole different challenge: Don't look past Texas Southern, who visits Saturday.

ESPN was first with the news this evening that USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian will be named the Huskies head coach.

Here's my own story.

Washington athletic director Scott Woodward refused to comment, saying only that he will maintain his policy of waiting to announce his hire when an official announcement in called.

In Los Angeles, Sarkisian went a little further, acknowledging an interview and his honor of being considered, but saying flat out that no contract had been signed.

However, all indications on campus -- where the basketball team is about to claim a very impressive win over Oklahoma State -- are that UW has found its guy.

Indications are that both schools want to hold off on the announcements until after the regular seasons end Saturday -- when UW visits Cal and USC visits UCLA.

The news ends a wild day for UW in which Texas Tech's Mike Leach and Fresno State's Pat Hill took themselves out of the running.

Sarkisian had previously confirmed his interest and an in-person interview.

Here is a quick bio from USC:

Steve Sarkisian, who is in his fourth stop at USC as an assistant coach or athlete, returned to the Trojan staff in February of 2005 as the assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach. He added the offensive coordinator role in 2007. Combined, he is in his seventh year at USC.

In 2006, quarterback John David Booty made the All-Pac-10 first team as he led the league in passing efficiency and total offense. He was a fifth round pick in the 2008 NFL draft.

In 2005, quarterback Matt Leinart won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting, was a finalist for the Davey O'Brien, Maxwell and Walter Camp Awards and was an All-American first teamer. He set 16 USC records (11 were Pac-10 marks and 2 was an NCAA record). He was the 10th pick of the 2006 NFL draft. USC's 4,157 passing yards in 2005 was a school record and the Trojans were fifth nationally in passing (319.8).

Sarkisian spent the 2004 season as the quarterbacks coach with the Oakland Raiders. His quarterbacks passed for more than 4,000 yards in 2004 as Oakland ranked eighth in passing in the NFL.

Sarkisian, 34, originally joined the USC staff as an offensive assistant in January of 2001. Then, after joining San Diego State briefly as the quarterbacks coach in January of 2002, he returned to USC in March of 2002 to handle the quarterbacks fulltime for 2 seasons (2002-03).

In 2003, quarterback Matt Leinart was an All-American first teamer and was the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year (he finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting) while setting Pac-10 season records for TD passes (35) and consecutive passes without an interception (212). He also had the highest passing efficiency rating of any USC quarterback (163.2). USC won its first national championship since 1978.

In 2002, quarterback Carson Palmer won the Heisman and Unitas Award en route to setting the Pac-10 career records for passing yards and total offense (he was the No. 1 pick in the 2003 NFL draft), plus he was an All-American first teamer.
USC played in the 2001 Las Vegas Bowl, 2003 Orange Bowl, 2004 Rose Bowl, 2006 Rose Bowl (BCS Championship Game), 2007 Rose Bowl and 2008 Rose Bowl.

Sarkisian spent the 2000 season as the quarterbacks coach at El Camino Junior College in Torrance (Calif.). His quarterback, Robert Hodge, earned All-American honors. El Camino played in the CHIPs For Kids Bowl.

Sarkisian starred at the quarterback position at the prep, collegiate and pro levels. He was with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League for 3 seasons (1997-99). He started in 1999 and threw 16 touchdowns.

He had a record-setting 2-year (1995-96) career at BYU, where he was coached by former USC assistant Norm Chow. He completed 549-of-824 passes (66.6%) for 7,755 yards and 55 TDs in his career. His 162.0 career passing efficiency rating is third on the all-time NCAA list. As a senior in 1996, he led the nation in passing efficiency (173.6, the seventh best mark ever) as the Western Athletic Conference champion Cougars went 14-1 and won the 1997 Cotton Bowl. He was the WAC Offensive Player of the Year in 1996, won All-American second team honors and played in the East-West Shrine Game and Hula Bowl. As a 1995 junior, he made the All-WAC team and led BYU to the WAC title. Against Fresno State that season, he set an NCAA game completion percentage record when he hit 31-of-34 passes (91.2%).

He came to BYU from El Camino Junior College, where he starred for 2 seasons (1993-94). He was a J.C. All-American first teamer as a 1994 sophomore and won All-Mission Conference honors in 1993 as a freshman. He also played baseball (shortstop) at El Camino in 1993.
He actually began his college career at USC, spending the fall of 1992 on the Trojan baseball team before transferring to El Camino.

He was a standout football and baseball player at West Torrance (Calif.) High.

He earned his bachelor's degree in sociology from BYU in 1997 after getting his associate's degree in general studies from El Camino in 1994.

He was born March 8, 1974. He and his wife, Stephanie, have 2 daughters, Ashley, 5, and newborn Taylor, and a son, Brady, 3.

SARKISIAN SNAPSHOT
BIRTHDAY: March 8, 1974
FAMILY: Wife, Stephanie; Daughters, Ashley, 5, and Taylor, newborn; Son, Brady, 3
HIGH SCHOOL: West Torrance (Calif.) HS
EDUCATION:
Associate's degree, general studies, El Camino Junior College, 1994
Bachelor's degree, sociology, BYU, 1997
PLAYING EXPERIENCE:
West Torrance (Calif.) HS
El Camino Junior College, Torrance, Calif., quarterback, 1993-94
BYU, quarterback, 1995-96
Saskatchewan Roughriders, quarterback, 1997-99

The University of Washington will retire the No. 3 jersey worn by former Huskies star and 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy.

The number will be retired in a ceremony before the Jan. 22 home game against USC.

Roy is a 2002 graduate of Seattle's Garfield High School and completed his UW career in 2006 as one of the top players in school history. He was a key player in the Huskies' 84-42 run from 2003-06 which featured three straight NCAA tournaments and back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances.

For complete release is available at GoHuskies.com.

Tailback Brandon Johnson won't travel with the team to Berkeley this weekend due to an undisclosed disciplinary reason, coach Tyrone Willingham just informed us.

Willingham said Wille Griffin will start at tailback at Cal, with Terrance Dailey in reserve.

Johnson had run for a career-high 121 yards in last season's victory over the Golden Bears.

Willingham also said cornerback Mesphin Forrester is questionable with an ankle injury, but that offensive tackle Ben Ossai will play.

As expected, Fresno State coach Pat Hill withdrew his name from consideration for the UW job today.

Far less expectedly, ESPN is breaking a lot of hearts by reporting that Texas Tech coach Mike Leach has also.

We'll get details on that as the day progresses, but those are two once-major names -- in Leach's case, he may have seemed the front-runner as recently as this morning -- that are now out of the picture.

So, who's the front-runner now? Steve Sarkisian?

More to come.

One of the most-mentioned names in the coaching search can be scratched from UW’s list: The Fresno Bee is reporting that Fresno State coach Pat Hill met with a top FSU recruit Wednesday and assured him that he will not be leaving for UW. There had been earlier reports that Hill had set a deadline this week for UW to make an offer or he would take his name out of consideration.

UW may not have been ready to meet that deadline because it is apparently still interested in Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, who is returing for a second interview, according to multiple reports. This would seem to indicate seriousness on both sides.
However, another suitor may have emerged when Auburn fired coach Tommy Tuberville. Some Auburn boosters immediately set their sights on Leach, who is the biggest name thought to still be on the coaching market.
Meanwhile, Texas Tech athletic director Gerald Myers also said that he plans to present Leach with a contract extension offer. However, Leach’s agent, Gary O’Hagan, told ESPN on Wednesday that no renegotiations have begun.

Radio station KJR reported that Jim Mora will coach the Seahawks next season, not the Huskies.

Los Angeles media reported that USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian interviewed for the UW job.

There wasn’t much public buzz around UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker in connection with the UW job, and Walker admitted as much, telling the Orange County Register that UW is “moving in another direction.” Walker is thought to be in the running for the San Diego State job.

Notre Dame clarified that coach Charlie Weis will return next season. And that, of course, means that the Irish will not become a player in the coaching market this season.

Finally, here's a link to Wednesday's KJR round-table discussion of the coaching situation, hosted by Dave "Softy" Mahler along with the Times' Bob Condotta, the P-I's Molly Yanity and me.

UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker topped Tyrone Willingham's list for potential defensive coordinators last season, but his name never seemed to get very high on the UW head coaching list this season.

Apparently, he's reading the situation the same way as he told the Orange County Register that he hasn't been contacted, and added, “I think they’re moving in another direction. I guess I wasn’t what they were looking for.”

Walker is mentioned as a possible candidate for the San Diego State job, although he hasn't had formal talks with them, either. He also had been considered at Utah State but asked that his name be taken out of consideration there.

Sorry for the lack of post today. My computer crashed, which is a bad, bad, bad, bad thing to happen in the middle of a coaching search.

In any case, I have heard -- but not confirmed -- that UW wants to meet with Texas Tech coach Mike Leach again.

However, they'd better do it fast because -- real news, not just rumor -- Tommy Tuberville is out at Auburn. And -- not surprisingly -- boosters there are already talking about making a pitch for Leach.

Also, that Fresno State's Pat Hill may have imposed a deadline for UW to decide before he withdraws his name from consideration and that UW is unlikely to pull the trigger in time. (He did something similar when he was being considered for the Oakland Raiders' job.)

If you heard the KJR radio roundtable today, Hill was sort of portrayed as a safe fall-back guy. However, if the deadline report is true, he may not be available to fall back to.

The Avalance-Journal out of Lubbock, Texas, has this report on Texas Tech coach Mike Leach's vist to UW this week. The report says the job wasn't offered, but that if it is, Leach might be tempted to step up to a program that traditionally ranks as the No. 1 program in its state as opposed to Tech, which generally rates well behind Texas and Texas A&M.

Meanwhile, the Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Telegram reports that USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian interviewed for the job on Thanksgiving.

Sarkisian was mentioned early -- as most USC coordinators inevitably are -- and he expressed interest in stepping up and won an enthusiastic recommendation from USC coach Pete Carroll. However, his name seemed to drift out of the conversation for a while ... until now.

KJR radio host Dave "Softy" Mahler is hosting a UW football round-table at 11 a.m. today.

I'll be participating along with Bob Condotta of the Times and Molly Yanity of the P-I.

It'll be on 950-AM, or you can listen online from the KJR site.

Once again, there was no official UW word on the coaching search today -- and in fact search committee member Jake Locker said he's as curious about what's going on as anyone.

However, reports did come from various corners of the country that could impact UW's options and ultimate decision:

Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, named Tuesday as Big 12 Conference coach of the year, was reported in Texas and Washington as having been in Seattle and interviewing for the UW job. However, Tech athletic director Gerald Myers said he is preparing a raise and a contract extension.

Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly -- who seemed a top UW candidate for about 12 hours -- now says that he will remain with the Bearcats, thanks in part to the university’s commitment to improve the football stadium.

Oregon announced Tuesday that coach Mike Bellotti eventually will become athletic director while offensive coordinator Chip Kelly moves up to head coach. (See blog post below.)

But even as Oregon’s news closes the door to Kelly it could open a window -- perhaps just a crack -- to Boise State coach Chris Petersen, who was honored this week as Western Athletic Conference coach of the year. Petersen has said he plans to stay in Boise. And he repeated that this week in connection to the new opening at Mississippi State. However, there had been speculation that he might have been waiting for the Oregon job to come open. With that job now filled, he could reassess UW’s possible place in his career plans.

Clemson has decided to keep interim coach Dabo Swinney on full time. Swinney was never in UW plans, but the decision removes Clemson from the list of possible competitors for other candidates.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Utah officials are interested in working out a new deal to keep hot-property coach Kyle Whittingham.

Finally, Wednesday is the one of the hot-rumored days for the coronation of Jim Mora as Huskies coach. However, even if that time element passes uneventfully, there is no indication that the Mora talk will pass with it. Several new reports, rumors or speculations arose Tuesday ... some certain he’s in, some certain he’s out.

Basketball coach Lorenzo Romar said today that freshman forward Tyreese Breshers has begun half-court practices and could start full-court work in the next week or so.

Breshers missed all of camp and the first six games recovering from a shin injury.

There is no indication that the new timetable dooms Breshers to a season of redshirting, and in fact Romar went out of his way to say that he thinks Breshers can help this season.

The Huskies return to action at 8 p.m. Thursday when Oklahoma State visits Hec Ed as part of the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series.

Oregon announced this afternoon that coach Mike Bellotti will become athletic director while offensive coordinator Chip Kelly moving up to the head coaching. The timing isn't apparently settled yet.

Kelly had been on my original list as someone the Huskies might be interested in, although his name didn't gain much speculative traction, and now he seems clearly out of the picture.

However, the Oregon events could impact UW in yet another way. It had been reported that Boise State coach Chris Petersen might have been cooling his heels with the Broncos until the Oregon job came open. With that job now filled, Petersen might reassess how Washington fits into his career plans.

Here is the full news release from the University of Oregon:

EUGENE, Ore. -- (Dec. 2, 2008) -- University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer and Athletics Director Pat Kilkenny today announced their succession plan for several key positions in the UO athletics department. Frohnmayer said he intends to promote Mike Bellotti, head football coach, to athletics director when Pat Kilkenny steps down from the position at a time yet to be determined. When that occurs, Chip Kelly, offensive coordinator for the UO football program, will assume the role of head coach.

Frohnmayer underscored the importance of developing a succession plan that will allow the athletics department to maintain its financial, academic and competitive success. “Today I’m announcing a transition plan to assure the athletics department continues its momentum as one of the premier programs in the country. I am grateful Mike and Chip will continue to serve the university, the athletics department and the football program. While the exact timing of the changes is yet to be determined, I wanted to announce the intended changes to establish the future direction of the department,” Frohnmayer said.

“I could not be happier that Mike Bellotti has agreed to assume management of the athletics department once Pat decides to step down. Mike has vision, proven leadership ability and an understanding of what makes Oregon special. This combination will help continue to make the department one of the most successful in the nation.”

Under Kilkenny’s leadership, the athletics department has reached new heights. He has led successful efforts to reinstate baseball and build a new baseball stadium. He has reinvigorated plans to build a new basketball arena, and he helped establish the Legacy Fund, using generous private gifts to take Duck athletics from being self-sufficient to become self-sustaining.

“Pat has accomplished an extraordinary amount in the time he has been at the University of Oregon. My goal is to establish a plan for an orderly transition so when he leaves, the Athletics Department will be able to continue to thrive. He has served the University of Oregon with great distinction and we are deeply indebted to he and Stephanie. I know that Mike Bellotti will be able to take the department to even greater heights on the field and in the classroom thanks to Pat’s efforts,” Frohnmayer continued.

“Dave Frohnmayer and I have been discussing the future of Oregon athletics since I joined the university,” Kilkenny said. “I am pleased we are able to announce Mike will remain at Oregon once his storied coaching career concludes. I am confident that Chip will be a highly successful leader of our football program.”

The longest-tenured head football coach in the Pacific-10 Conference, Bellotti has accumulated a record of 115-55 (.676) in 14 seasons at Oregon while guiding the program to 12 bowl appearances. Bellotti is tied for fourth all time in conference wins and has won more than any other Oregon football coach. His 106-52 ledger as the Ducks’ head coach (127-77-2 overall) makes him the sixth coach in conference history to win 100 games at one school, while his winning percentage of 67.1 percent trails only Hugo Bezdek (72.7%—1906, 1913-17) among Oregon’s all-time mentors who coached the Ducks a minimum of three seasons. Included is this year’s 9-3 record and no worse than a second-place tie in the Pac-10 following Saturday’s 65-38 win at Oregon State.

University of Oregon offensive coordinator Chip Kelly will succeed Mike Bellotti as the Ducks’ head football coach when Bellotti decides to step down as head coach of a program he has led to national prominence.

Kelly has masterminded the Ducks’ offensive attack for the past two seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach following eight years as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at New Hampshire.

Since his arrival in Eugene, Kelly has succeeded in transforming Oregon’s spread offense into one of the most prolific offensive units in college football. The Ducks currently rank fourth in the country in rushing offense (277.8-yard avg.), seventh in scoring offense (41.9-point avg.) and eighth in total offense (478.2-yard avg.).

“This is an incredible opportunity for me and I am honored to be named the head coach designate for one of the elite programs in the nation,” Kelly said. “I appreciate the confidence that President Frohnmayer, Pat Kilkenny and Mike Bellotti have bestowed on me.”

“It means so much to me to be entrusted with carrying on the great tradition of Oregon football. To succeed someone as successful and accomplished as Mike Bellotti when he retires from coaching is not only a great honor but also a tremendous challenge. Until he retires as head coach, we will continue our pursuit of a Pac-10 and national championship, and continue to provide a student-athlete experience that is second to none. I am thrilled to be staying at Oregon and in a special place with special people.”

Frohnmayer said he would use the intent-to-promote process once timing of the transition is finalized. The promotions are subject to approval by the University of Oregon’s Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity.

Jake Locker said he got the stitches out of his thumb one week ago and that he has started rehab. That seems to primarily mean working on range of motion, which became limited while his thumb was in a cast for eight weeks.

He said that early prognosis of a mid-November return was wishful thinking that went away when the injury proved to be a little more serious than expected. However -- while he won't be playing Saturday -- he said that he expects to be fully ready for spring ball.

Regarding that other topic -- the UW coaching search -- Locker said he is as curious as anyone else. He also said that he has faith in athletic director Scott Woodward. And he added that he thinks this team might benefit from a more fiery coach

"We need a guy that will kind of get up and get in your face and might challenge you more outwardly," he said.

Washington sophomore DB Victor Aiyewa (3.67 Pre-Science) was named today to the Pac-10 All-Academic first team.

Junior DB Tripper Johnson (3.25 Arts & Sciences) was named to the second team.

Sophomore OT Cody Habben, junior FB Paul Homer, Jr.; senior PK Ryan Perkins and sophomore FB Austin Sylvester received honorable mention.

Here's the full Pac-10 release.

Scratch one more name off the UW coaching search.

Cincinnati's Brian Kelly said today that he will remain with the Bearcats, thanks in part to their commitment to improve the football stadium.

Here's an update from TNT reporter Eric Williams about the university's Monday pitch for $150 million in tax dollars to help with the proposed renovation of Husky Stadium.

Here's my story from the Tuesday paper looking back at a few of the wrong turns coach Tyrone Willingham made in his four seasons at Washington.

Meanwhile, a quick update on Monday developments in UW’s football coaching search.

California coach Jeff Tedford confirmed today that he has not been contacted about the job.

Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly told media there that he has been contacted but that he isn’t ready to discuss new jobs until the Bearcats’ regular season ends Saturday at Hawaii.

The Idaho Statesman reports that Boise State coach Chris Petersen he has not been contacted and is “not planning” on leaving.

Former Raiders coach Lane Kiffin accepted the head job at Tennessee and Missouri offensive coordinator Dave Christensen has accepted the top job at Wyoming.

Rumors/reports/hopes concerning Seahawks assistant Jim Mora persist, complete now with a maybe-Wednesday time element. What I've heard is not that the Huskies are trying to steal Mora from the Seahawks, but that university officials are trying to work out a no-hard-feelings agreement with Paul Allen.

Tyrone Willingham is not an Auld Lang Syne type of guy, and he carried that through today in what was his final Monday media session at UW.

He said he is disappointed in how his time at UW went. He said he still doesn't know what he's going to do next, but that he feels no particular rush to decide. He said he doesn't want this last game to be about him. And he said he doesn't plan to coach it any differently -- either by making extra time to play seniors or making extra time to play youngsters.

California has opened a 33 1/2 point favorite over UW for the Huskies' season-ending football game Saturday at Berkeley.

Here's a link to the Golden Bears' Website.

Here's an early scouting report on the game:

CALIFORNIA (7-4 OVERALL, 5-3 PAC-10)
Noon Saturday, FSN, at Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, Calif.
Coach: Jeff Tedford, 57-30 in seventh season at Cal.

Last week: The Bears were off. The week before, Cal defeated Stanford in the annual Big Game, 37-16. Tailback Jahvid Best rushed for 201 yards and three touchdowns and was honored as Pac-10 offensive player of the week. Tailback Shane Vereen and tight end Cameron Morrah caught scoring passes from Kevin Riley as Cal blew the game open early in the second half.

Against the Huskies: Washington leads 47-37-4 in a series that dates to 1916. Cal has won five of the last six, but UW won last season, 37-23 at Husky Stadium. The Golden Bears have won the last two in Berkeley.

Washington connections: Two Cal players attended Washington high schools: senior LB Anthony Felder (Seattle/O’Dea H.S.) and freshman DT Trevor Guyton (Woodinville/Redmond H.S.). The UW roster includes six players from Northern California. UW offensive coordinator Tim Lappano coached at Cal from 1992-95 and secondary coach J.D. Williams coached there from 2002-2005. Cal assistant head coach Jim Michalczik is a Seattle native.

Scouting report: The Golden Bears average 32 points per game and allow 21.4. The latter figure is second best in the Pac-10 behind USC. Cal’s defense leads the league in interceptions (21), turnover margin, red-zone defense and opponents’ fourth-down conversion. Cal is second in pass-efficiency defense. … Best leads the Pac-10 in all purpose yards and in kick return average and is the No. 2 runner, trailing Oregon State’s Jacquizz Rodgers. Riley is seventh in pass efficiency and eighth in all-purpose yards. Riley has been starting ahead of Nate Longshore, but both have played. Felder is the No. 6 tackler in the conference.