Huskies not concerned about road opener

SEATTLE – When the Washington Huskies took the three-plus-hour drive down Interstate 5 for a rare season opener at Portland, they should have taken a yellow school bus.

Four freshmen, including exciting playmaker Isaiah Thomas, and three sophomores will be in uniform when these Husky pups open a season on the road for the first time since coach Lorenzo Romar arrived in 2002.

“It’s going to be fun. We can mess around on the bus on the drive down,” said leading scorer and rebounder Jon Brockman, a chaperone for the trip as one of only three seniors.

The Huskies were to board a cushy, charter bus for the 8 p.m. game – the kind with tinted windows and TV – when they left Friday. No matter the ride, Brockman said it’s going to be strange to begin the season away from home. Most major college teams open with not one but many non-conference home games to ease into the season. Three years ago, Washington opened with 13 home games and one on a neutral floor before finally finding an opponent’s floor in mid-January.

As for all the young players leaving the comforts of campus right away, for the first game that counts, Brockman said, “There’s always going to be a little bit of shock the first time you go on the road in college. … We’ve let them know you are going to be shocked.”