UW senior forward Jon Brockman is among the players invited to the 2009 NBA Draft Combine in Chicago.

Here's the full list:

PLAYER COLLEGE/CLUB
Jeff Adrien Connecticut
Rodrigue Beaubois Cholet (France)
DeJuan Blair Pittsburgh
Jon Brockman Washington
Derrick Brown Xavier
Chase Budinger Arizona
Nick Calathes Florida
DeMarre Carroll Missouri
Omri Casspi Maccabi Elite (Israel)
Dionte Christmas Temple
Earl Clark Louisville
Darren Collison UCLA
Dante Cunningham Villanova
Stephen Curry Davidson
Austin Daye Gonzaga
DeMar DeRozan USC
Toney Douglas Florida State
Wayne Ellington North Carolina
Tyreke Evans Memphis
Jonny Flynn Syracuse
Taj Gibson USC
Danny Green North Carolina
Blake Griffin Oklahoma
Tyler Hansbrough North Carolina
Luke Harangody Notre Dame
James Harden Arizona State
Gerald Henderson Duke
Josh Heytvelt Gonzaga
Jordan Hill Arizona
Jrue Holiday UCLA
Joe Ingles Melbourne South Dragons (Australia)
Damion James Texas
James Johnson Wake Forest
Gani Lawal Georgia Tech
Ty Lawson North Carolina
Eric Maynor VCU
Jack McClinton Miami
Jerel McNeal Marquette
Jodie Meeks Kentucky
Patrick Mills Saint Mary's
BJ Mullens Ohio State
Jeff Pendergraph Arizona State
AJ Price Connecticut
Tyler Smith Tennessee
DaJuan Summers Georgetown
Jermaine Taylor Central Florida
Jeff Teague Wake Forest
Hasheem Thabeet Connecticut
Marcus Thornton LSU
Greivis Vasquez Maryland
Terrence Williams Louisville
Sam Young Pittsburgh

Desmond Simmons, a 6-foot-7 small forward who was choses All-East (San Francisco) Bay Player of the Year has given his oral commitment to play at the University of Washington.

"After visiting the school and sitting down and talking to the coaches one-on-one, I got a good vibe," Simmons told InsideBayArea.com. "I felt confident that was the school that best fit me."

Scout.com lists Simmons as the 18th best small forward prospect in his class. The story says he chose Washington over Oregon State and Saint Mary's among others.

Here's a link to the full story from InsideBayArea.com.

After years of consideratin, UCLA is going about the tricky business of renovating Pauley Pavilion.

While the place is no architectural marvel, and it's sightlines sure weren't designed with fans in mind, much of the design came from John Wooden himself and there's a lot of history in there.

However, UCLA now has this plan (outlined in an LA Daily News story), which should make the place a bit better from the outside and a lot better on the inside -- for fans and players.

However, the renovation is expected to force the Bruins into a temporary home during the 2010-11 season. The options -- mostly likely Staples Center or the Forum or a mix -- are outlined in the video portion of this LA Times link.

Lots of opinions about the new football uniforms that were unveiled before the Spring Game. Personally, I was expecting a little bit more of them, but thought they were OK – and better than what I've seen recently.

Anyway, here's a link to the university's video of the players' modeling of the uniforms. Be warned, it might take a few minutes to upload. Worth checking out.

By the way, good news for Husky center Juan Garcia. After his weekend workout at the Minnesota Vikings mini-camp, the team signed him.

USA Basketball has invited UW senior-to-be Quincy Pondexter to the trials that will select the United States team that will compete at the World University Games this summer.

The trials will take place June 16-18 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Pondexter will compete against approximately 25 of the United State's top players who are between the ages of 17 and 24 or are or have recently been college students.

The World University Games will be played July 1-12 in Belgrade, Serbia.

Full information is available at GoHuskies.com

If that delayed-for-TV start to the Huskies' season-opener against LSU is an inconvenience for UW fans, this blog post from Louisiana indicates it's not going over any better two time zones to the east.

Here's the UW release on the two games picked up for TV so far.

Obviously we don't talk a lot of swimming here, but this is just a reminder of the sobering financial times we're in. And even for those who care nothing about swimming, there's no way to read this as good news.

Here's the release from the university:

As part of a series of budget reduction measures, the University of Washington has made the difficult decision to discontinue its men’s and women’s swimming programs effective immediately, Director of Athletics Scott Woodward announced today.

The decision reduces the number of intercollegiate sports sponsored at the UW to 21, which ranks among the top half among schools in the Pacific-10 Conference. It is expected to have a budget impact of up to $1.2 million, which would account for roughly 43 percent of the $2.8 million in expense reductions the department is currently facing.

The complete release is available at www.GoHuskies.com.