Dawgs Have Arrived, No Bones About It Bender Has Directed The UW Men’s Basketball Program To Credibility

In the name of final exams and all that is right about college athletics, Bob Bender brought his Washington men’s basketball team home after victories last week over Xavier and Richmond in the NCAA basketball tournament.

But Bender had other motives. He wanted his players to return as victors, to be amazed that a couple of hundred fans awaited them at Edmundson Pavilion, to be the talk of the town even as the Sonics awaited the Lakers.

He set the hook for future expectations, not only with his players but with their fans.

The importance of advancing to the Sweet 16 cannot be overstated. Football was not the same at Washington after Don James and Warren Moon beat Michigan in the 1978 Rose Bowl. Baseball is different after the Mariners miracle finish in 1995.

Communities change in the face of unexpected success. Bender has turned the corner with the Huskies.

Nothing that happens here will diminish what already has happened. Surely there is no expectation the Huskies will beat Connecticut on Thursday.

The new era began when a street along Greek Row was swarmed by students Thursday morning after the Huskies upset Xavier.

Since Bender’s arrival, the program has had a certain appeal. But now there is credibility, and, more important, a future.

The victories in Washington will do several things.

The exposure will assure Todd McCulloch of being a preseason All-American.

They will make the Huskies a trendy pick to compete for the Pac-10 championship.

They will bring back the students. No longer will free tickets - the first 1,000 students get them - go unused. With the students will come an exciting atmosphere for the final season at Edmundson Pavilion as we know it., And they will help Barbara Hedges raise the money to complete the pavilion renovation and, if necessary, to keep Bender.

Until the victory over Xavier, there were doubts about Bender. Were his teams tough enough, was relying on the center an outdated notion, could the Huskies excite the community, and would Bender even stay to see if it were possible?

Now, suddenly, everything has fallen into place. A good team returns all but one starter. A date has been set to begin the renovation of the arena. And Bender might have his best recruiting class in the wings.

Marv Harshman was a wonderful coach at Washington. His last two teams tied for Pac-10 championships. He never should have been pushed aside.

But Harshman never excited Seattle. He lacked what George Raveling, the former WSU coach, termed the “sizzle” that goes along with the steak.

Bender has the sizzle. He is popular with the university, other coaches, the media and the community. He is appealing, too, because he will be wanted by others.

And, unlike Harshman, he has entered the big-time recruiting fray, and won.

The obvious is that Bender got Donald Watts, and almost got Jason Terry. He kept Michael Johnson and Dan Dickau at home. Now he has signed Doug Wrenn and Grant Leep.

He has also proven resourceful. Spotting MacCulloch, going to Europe to get Patrick Femerling, taking Thalo Green when the Oregon schools wouldn’t, seeing an outside player in Deon Luton when others saw him as a high-school center.

This year, Bender stuck with Bay Area guard Senque Carey even after he originally committed to USC. Carey, a 6-foot-4 playmaker who averaged 26 points and eight assists as a junior, scored 42 points last week as his St. Francis of Redwood City team lost in the Northern California semifinals.

Next season, Carey will compete at point guard with Dickau. Watts and Johnson are back at shooting guard, Wrenn will join Luton, and transfer Greg Clark, a sophomore who was a first-team “Best in the West” recruit in 1996, at small forward.

MacCulloch and Femerling are back at center, with Green and Chris Walcott at power forward.

Bender would like to add 6-11 David Dixon from Houston, a rebounder and shot-blocker who spent this season at a community college but didn’t play.

The Huskies put 750 NCAA tickets on sale Monday and sold them in little more than an hour.

They have people who care about them. And will care about them even more in the future.