Washington Parts Ways With Lorenzo Romar; Missouri Hires Michael Porter Sr.
Washington has parted ways with coach Lorenzo
Washington has parted ways with coach Lorenzo
NEW YORK — Johnny Jones and Mark Gottfried are living proof that coaching NBA lottery picks without producing results can have dire consequences.
Jones coached the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft last season in Ben Simmons. Now he’s reportedly about to lose his job at LSU after failing to make the NCAA Tournament last year with Simmons — and this year with a solid, if unspectacular, roster.
On the same day the Jones news was reported by the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Mark Gottfried coached his final game at N.C. State, losing to Clemson in the first round of the ACC Tournament at Barclays Center.
Like Jones, Gottfried recruited and coached a projected Top-5 pick in point guard Dennis Smith Jr., who is headed to the NBA Draft after one non-NCAA Tournament season with the Wolfpack, as first reported on FanRagSports.com. (N.C. State has a second projected NBA pick in big man Omer Yurtseven, now projected in the 2018 Draft by DraftExpress.com.)
SEATTLE (AP) — Washington freshman Markelle Fultz,
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Lorenzo Romar’s seat at Washington is so hot that some folks in the Twittersphere are calling for him to be fired before next season arrives.
Romar has the projected No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft in Markelle Fultz, and yet the Huskies (9-9, 2-4 Pac-12) don’t have anything close to an NCAA Tournament résumé at this point.
If Fultz misses the NCAAs and then goes No. 1 in the Draft, it would mark the second straight season the top pick missed the Dance after LSU’s Ben Simmons did so last year.
With Michael Porter Jr. coming in next season, it’s at least theoretically possible that the No. 1 pick could miss the NCAA Tournament three years running if the Huskies were to fail to qualify in 2018, too.
A year ago, Ben Simmons became the first No. 1 overall draft pick to be eligible for — and miss — the NCAA Tournament since Michael Olowokandi in 1998.
Is Markelle Fultz destined to follow in his footsteps?
The 6-foot-5 Fultz — the projected No. 1 pick in 2017 by DraftExpress.com — scored 25 points Wednesday night but his Washington team was obliterated by No. 8 Gonzaga 98-71 at The Kennel.
Lorenzo Romar’s Huskies are now 4-4 and have dropped three straight.
Their next chance to topple a ranked team doesn’t come until a Jan. 4 date with No. 24 Oregon in Pac-12 play. After that they play No. 2 UCLA and No. 20 Arizona twice apiece.
