Former Washington Men’s Basketball standout Will Conroy has been added to head coach Lorenzo Romar’s staff as an Assistant Coach, the program announced Thursday.
“We are thrilled to have Will Conroy join our basketball staff,” said Romar. “As we talk about re-establishing our culture, he is a former player that really embodied that culture. He has always wanted to coach and has a tremendous passion for the game along with great ties to the Seattle community.”
“I am so excited to return to the University of Washington men’s basketball program,” added Conroy. “There is no other place that I would rather be to help student-athletes develop as both players and people on and off the court. I am fired up to be a part of putting Husky basketball back on the national scene especially with local players and the level of talent we have coming in.”
Conroy donned the purple and gold from 2001-05 and after initially joining the program as a walk-on, went on to finish as the all-time assists leader in program history with 515. He also still holds the senior record for assists (219) and finished third all-time in career assists per game at 4.3.
He was the first Husky to top the 200-assist mark during a season and the first to surpass 100 assists in three different seasons. Additionally, he was the 23rd player in Pac-10 history to reach the 500-assist plateau and the 18th to also score 1,000 points. He earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 accolades as a senior and was voted the team’s MVP along with serving as the team captain during his junior and senior seasons.
While at UW, Conroy helped the Huskies reach the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years and earn the program’s first No. 1 seed, while also making their first Sweet 16 appearance since 1998. Additionally, Conroy led the Dawgs to consecutive Pac-12 Tournament Championship games in 2004 and 2005 and took that trophy home as a senior after UW defeated No. 8 Arizona. Washington’s 29 wins that season also tied the 67-year-old school record.
“Coach Romar is like a father figure to me,” added Conroy. “He’s someone I’ve wanted to model myself after because he does everything the right way. This is a unique opportunity since I’ve played for him and we had success here during that time. I know how he thinks and what he likes and doesn’t like, which I believe will be beneficial to the program. I am thankful to the University and to coach Romar for giving me the opportunity to be here.”
Following his collegiate career, Conroy spent seven years playing for various teams in the NBA and overseas before taking a front office position for the Minnesota Timberwolves. During his pro career, Conroy was given the 2009 NBA D-League Sportsmanship Award and saw action for the Grizzlies, Clippers, Rockets and Timberwolves.
Conroy is no stranger to the Seattle basketball scene as he attended Garfield High School and led the program to four-straight league championships. The Bulldogs boasted a 100-15 record during his prep career and he picked up All-KingCo First Team honors during his senior season after averaging 14.5 points and 3.6 assists.
The Huskies will have four Seattle-based players joining the roster this year in Dejounte Murray, Matisse Thybulle, David Crisp and Dominic Green.
“I can’t wait to start working with both the returning guys and our new group coming in,” said Conroy. “I’ve seen a lot of the incoming freshmen play since so many are from the Seattle area and they’re an extremely talented group. It’s a great class of very, very athletic guys that will be fun for Husky fans to watch and the fact that most of them are from here is going to be a great thing for our program.”
Conroy has two children, William Jr. (4) and Madison (1) and is engaged to Tanika Latte
http://www.gohuskies.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30200&ATCLID=210130815
