Notebook | Thomas among four who sign with Huskies

A class that was a long time coming was finally made official for the Huskies on Wednesday as Washington signed four players to letters of intent.

Among the group is former Curtis High School guard Isaiah Thomas, who committed to UW in April 2006 and was slated to sign last season before some academic issues caused a detour to South Kent (Conn.) School.

Another signee, guard Elston Turner Jr., of Elkins High in Houston, committed in September 2006 before his junior season.

The others who signed were 6-6 guard Scott Suggs of Washington, Mo., and 6-7, 260-pound power forward Tyreese Breshers of Los Angeles.

"We think these four as a group are special," coach Lorenzo Romar said. "I think what they all possess is a pretty cerebral feel for the game. They all know how to play basketball and they all obviously have things they need to learn at this level, but they come in with a pretty good understanding of how to play the game. The other thing about all four is they all can score."

Suggs is the highest-rated of the recruits, ranked No. 61 in the nation by CSTV. His signing was long in the works, as well, as Romar first met him when he was 11 years old. Suggs' father, Ron, is a good friend of a childhood buddy of Romar's who introduced coach and player.

Romar called Suggs, who averaged 19 points and 7.5 rebounds last season at Washington High, a "tall guard" who can handle the ball and shoot.

Romar called Thomas simply "a guard," saying he won't categorize him as a point guard or a shooting guard but a player who can do both, ala Nate Robinson.

Turner, whose father is former NBA player Elston Turner, now an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets, is more of a shooting guard, leaving Breshers as the only big man in the class.

Romar and the elder Turner played in the NBA at the same time, forging a relationship that helped in the recruitment of the younger Turner. Elston Turner Jr. played the past few years in Roseville, Calif., while his father worked for the Sacramento Kings.

Romar said Breshers is long and athletic, allowing him to play bigger than his size, earning comparisons to Charles Barkley for his physique and ability.

The class is guard-heavy but Romar noted the abundance of big men already on UW's roster and said, "We didn't need to recruit it."

The signings leave UW with 15 scholarships allotted for the 2008-09 season, meaning some juggling will be needed to get to the limit of 13. Thomas is thought still to have some heavy work to do to qualify, though Romar said he "is definitely making progress."

Romar said the Huskies won't be adding to the class.

UW women's note

Candice Nichols, a freshman guard, has left the UW women's team and will transfer to another school. Nichols, a two-time all-state player at Long Beach (Calif.) Poly, was part of the six-player freshman class recruited by former coach June Daugherty.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com.

Box score

UTAH (2-1)
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Green	19	0-1	0-0	0-3	3	4	0
Nevill	32	5-9	4-5	2-10	0	5	14
Borha	33	4-6	2-3	0-1	2	3	13
Weigh	36	8-14	2-4	0-2	3	0	21
Kepkay	23	2-4	0-1	0-2	6	1	4
Bryant	25	7-13	2-2	0-2	1	5	18
Drca	21	2-4	1-1	0-2	2	4	5
Tillie	9	1-2	0-0	0-2	0	5	2
Brown	2	0-0	0-2	0-1	0	0	0
	200	29-53	11-18	2-26	17	27	77

Percentages: FG .547, FT .611. Three-point goals: 8-19, .421 (Borha 3-4, Weigh 3-7, Bryant 2-5, Drca 0-1, Kepkay 0-1, Green 0-1). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 5 (Nevill 3, Green 2). Turnovers: 18 (Nevill 5, Drca 3, Weigh 3, Kepkay 3, Bryant 2, Brown, Borha). Steals: 9 (Weigh 3, Green 2, Kepkay 2, Bryant, Drca). Technical fouls: None.

WASHINGTON (2-0)
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Pondexter	26	3-5	2-4	0-3	1	0	9
Brockman	37	11-23	9-11	6-18	2	1	31
Smith	21	3-4	4-5	1-2	3	1	11
Overton	31	2-8	5-6	0-2	6	4	9
Dentmon	34	4-9	7-9	0-2	1	1	16
Oliver	15	1-2	0-0	1-3	0	3	3
Morris	16	0-2	0-2	1-2	2	3	0
B-Amaning	2	0-1	0-0	0-1	0	0	0
Holiday	11	1-2	0-0	2-3	0	1	2
Wolfinger	7	1-4	0-0	0-1	0	3	2
	200	26-60	27-37	14-40	15	17	83

Percentages: FG .433, FT .730. Three-point goals: 4-10, .400 (Smith 1-1, Oliver 1-1, Pondexter 1-2, Dentmon 1-3, Wolfinger 0-1, Overton 0-2). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 1 (Oliver). Turnovers: 17 (Dentmon 3, Oliver 3, Overton 3, Smith 3, Brockman 2, Bryan-Amaning, Holiday, Morris). Steals: 8 (Overton 3, Holiday 2, Wolfinger, Smith, Pondexter). Technical fouls: None.

Utah	35	42	—	77
Washington	44	39	—	83

Attendance: 7,006. Officials: Scott Thornley, Randy McCall, Mark Whitehead.