Bob, Groz and Tom
Huskies’ Isaiah Thomas unsure if he’ll return
By Brady Henderson
Washington guard Isaiah Thomas backed off comments he made stating his intention to return to Washington, saying Monday that he’ll consider forgoing his senior season to enter the NBA draft.
“I’m going to take this next coming week — we’re on spring break — to really talk to my parents and my family and the people around me and see what the best situation and the best decision is for me as an individual,” he told Jim Moore on the Calabro show on Monday. “I’m going to talk to coach Romar and see what it is that I’m going to do. Like I said, I want to come back. But if the option is open to leave and there is some guarantee right there, I mean, you can’t really turn that down.
“So I’m leaving my options open and I’ll let everybody know within the next week or two … what I’m going to do.”
He later said: “As of right now, I will be coming back to the University of Washington.”
Thomas had announced via twitter following the Huskies’ season-ending loss to North Carolina on Sunday that he would be back.
“Love my teammates. Sucks we lost but God has a plan! Thanks 2 all the people who believed in us. I will be back NXT yr so don’t worry,” he tweeted.
Thomas, however, also gave some noncommittal answers when asked repeatedly after the game about his future, telling reporters, “Now is not the time for that question” and “we’ll see.”
Lorenzo Romar said the decision will weigh heavily on how Thomas is evaluated by NBA personnel.
“I think we have to talk to the NBA people. What do they think of Isaiah’s chances of going in the draft this year?” Lorenzo Romar said Monday on Bob & Groz. “I think it’s all going to be based on the feedback, what type of feedback he’s going to get.
“I’ve seen that situation many times where you have every intention of coming back and then the feedback says that, ‘No, you’re going to be drafted’ and it changes the player’s mind.”
Thomas said on the Kevin Calabro show in January that he would consider leaving Washington a year early for the NBA if he thought he would be taken high enough.
Romar said that’s the only way he could imagine Thomas leaving.
“There’s some guys that just go in the draft — they don’t have a clue if they’re going to be drafted or not but they think they’ll make a team and they just go,” Romar said. “I don’t think Isaiah will make that mistake.”
Thomas led Washington this season in scoring (16.9 ppg) and assists (6 apg). His 1,721 career points are sixth-most in school history.
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