Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar came into this season on the hot seat. Plain and simple: Washington fans are uneasy with the fate of the program after Romar’s Huskies finished the 2014-15 season just one game above .500. It was the fourth consecutive season without an NCAA tournament appearance.

Prior to this recent string of fruitless seasons, the Huskies had made six NCAA tournament appearances in eight seasons, creating a standard of play that Husky fans have become accustomed to. This standard, however, was created by Romar, who is one of the greatest coaches in school history.

Before Romar arrived on campus in Seattle, the Huskies had made the tournament just twice in 17 seasons. In Romar’s 14 seasons at Washington, his six tournament appearances have accounted for nearly forty-percent of the school’s tournament appearances in the program’s 120-year history.

Romar’s past accomplishments aside, it’s no shock that he’s being held to the same “What have you done for me lately?” standard that has emerged as the norm for all college coaches in today’s cutthroat coaching climate.

Romar’s status was called into question last year by local media after a 7-game losing streak, — the worst in his time at the school. Washington Athletic Director Scott Woodward publicly supported Romar by acknowledging his body of work, a rarity in college athletics today.

During an offseason in which eight players and one assistant left the program, Romar exhibited a defiant optimism that was hard to comprehend during an interview with a local paper, saying “From the outside looking in, you could say doomsday… But I really wish we could talk two weeks from now, three weeks from now. I think you’ll see that our program is really headed in the right direction.”
A few weeks later the Huskies added Dominic Green, a local 4-star recruit to their existing seventh-ranked recruiting class in the country.

Romar’s strategic shift to revamp the roster with largely young players – and start four freshmen – is a huge gamble for a coach who could be on his way out if the team’s season turns out anything like last year’s. But so far, so good. The young Huskies are off to a 6-2 start and will now play their next six games at home.

Reaching the tournament won’t be an easy task, as the Pac-12 currently features three ranked teams, and 11 of its 12 teams are at least 3 games above .500. Romar will be tested this season, both as a teacher of young players and in a very competitive conference. It’s important, however, to remember that he is fighting to reach a standard that he set.

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