Stopped by the Seattle University exhibition game Saturday night and Redhawks coach Cameron Dollar, the former UW assistant, didn't try to hide his excitement about junior college transfer Charles Garcia, the former Husky recruit.

"He's the best pro prospect in the state," Dollar said. "I've been trying to hide him for a while now, but the word is going to get out. He can do it all. We knew (at Washington) how good he was. He's special, special player."

Not sure if Dollar is exaggerating.

It was just one game - and it was a game that didn't count in the standings - but Garcia was brilliant in a 96-68 exhibition victory over Division III Pacific Lutheran at the Connolly Center. Garcia, a 6-10 center, converted 12 of 17 shots, including 2 for 3 three-pointers, for a game-high 27 points. He also had a game-high nine rebounds and just one turnover in 21 minutes.

You can question the level of competition, however, the Lutes had three players 6-7 or taller.

Still, the "man among boys" metaphor was said often referring to Garcia, who did a little bit of everything. He's stands out in a crowd because he's able to dribble and shoot like a guard and he has a muscular, athletic frame that allows him to score inside.

Dollar likes Garcia's versatility, but the SU coach wants him to concentrate on rebounding and scoring inside.

"He's got to start from the inside out," Dollar said. "That's the progression he has to go through. Now will he be a man among boys every night for us, probably not. There's some tough teams down the road, but he'll be fine."

Garcia who hadn't played since January at Riverside Community College, said he felt nervous and anxious before his collegiate debut. He said hadn't thought much about UW since failing to academically qualify and is happy to be at Seattle U.

Garcia said he has to get use to the quicker speed of the game. He knows teams will throw a bunch of gimmick defenses at SU to slow him down, but he said he's seen it all at Riverside CC.

"Sometimes I think too much when I'm out there," he said. "I need to relax and just play."

The Redhawks play at Oklahoma State in the regular-season opener Nov. 14. and face Fresno State on Nov. 19 in the home opener at KeyArena. SU plays UW Jan. 26 at Hec Ed.

SUNDAY MORNING LINKS:

--- NBADraft.net projects UW's Quincy Pondexter as a second-round pick who will be taken 49th overall by the Phoenix Suns. He's the only player in the state in their mock draft and one of three Pac-10 players.

--- Former UW star and Sacramento Kings rookie Jon Brockman has some advice for Kentwood standout Josh Smith on his Twitter page. Brockman writes: "Big Josh Smith from Kentwood: There is no greater feeling then representing your home town team on a nation level. UW is the place for you!"

--- GoHuskies.com has a Q&A with Tyreese Breshers.

--- Seth Tarver led Oregon State to a 75-55 win over Western Oregon in the final exhibition for the Beavers. Three OSU players scored in double figures, including Tarver, who was 8 of 9 from the field for 17 points. He also had six rebounds and four steals. Calvin Haynes had 15 points and Omari Johnson added 12.

--- Portland State, which plays UW on Saturday, finished the preseason with an 80-66 win over Western Washington. In their first preseason game, PSU beat Western Oregon 108-65. Phil Nelson, the former Husky, scored a game-high 19 points.

Not sure if it's one last push or what, but our Mason Kelley reports he saw coach Lorenzo Romar and assistant Paul Fortier in the Kentwood High stands last night.

Obviously they were there watching star basketball player Josh Smith, who is playing football this season.

The early signing period begins Wednesday and Smith is a big target for the Huskies.

***UPDATE 12:45 PM***

--- Times reporter Sandy Ringer ran into Smith today and he said he hasn't made a decision yet.

Coach Lorenzo Romar gave the Huskies the day off Thursday so it's not surprising he was preaching "energy, energy" at today's practice inside Harshman gym.

The players responded during the early portion of practice that was open to the media.

Senior co-captain Quincy Pondexter also kept the energy high barking: "every practice is game day" during a conditioning drill.

Everyone was on the court, including Justin Holiday who missed Wednesday's exhibition. Tyreese Breshers continues to alternate time in practice riding a stationary bike and running drills with the team on the floor.

A FEW WORDS ON RECRUITING...

Spoke with several sources close to UW and they aren't surprised prized recruits Josh Smith and Terrence Jones haven't announced a decision and expect that when one decides, the other will make his choice as well. One source called it a domino effect, but didn't say who was the top domino Smith or Jones. Nor is it certain if they want to play with each other.

Jones is reportedly visiting UCLA this weekend. In this report, Jones' high school coach said the 6-9 forward is in no hurry to make a decision, but Jones and his mother said weeks ago they wanted to make a decision before the start of early signing period, which begins Wednesday.

Whatever Jones decides, it's going to be interesting when his school Jefferson High play defending 4A state champion Federal Way Jan. 18 at Washington's Edmundson Pavilion.

--- ESPN.com has these takes on late announcing recruits that include Smith and Jones.

Had a chance to talk to walk-on Brendan Sherrer this week.

Sherrer is the only one - so far - to make the team after Washington held a tryout for 8-10 players. Another tryout Rudy Sharar, a junior guard from Bainbridge Island, has been working out with the team, however, coach Lorenzo Romar officially added Sherrer to the roster.

Sherrer, a 6-9, 240-pound sophomore forward out of Archbishop Murphy High in Everett, did not dress for Wednesday's s exhibition win over Central Washington, but he was on the bench in street clothes.

(How do you feel?) "I still can't believe it. It's kind of like a dream come true."

(Did it feel real when you took the team pictures with everyone else?) "Yeah. Everything has happened so fast. I'm still kind of wrapping my head around it."

(Was playing here a dream come true or did you just want to play college ball?) "Yeah just playing basketball in college. Everybody in high school kind of had a dream of going on. But that was kind of after my senior year. I kind of had a decision between basketball or college. I chose college and came to the U-Dub."

(Any offers out of high school?) "Just like junior colleges. I think it was Whitworth and a few others."

(How tough was that decision?) "It wasn't too bad. I came here because I'm thinking about going pre-dental and UW has a really good program. ... So coming to the UW was really high up there for me.

(Were you in the Dawg Pack?) "Yeah. There's actually pictures where we had our chest painted, the Dawg Pack. There's actually a pretty cool picture with me standing in the background like (Jon) Brockman dunking."

A few posters asked where they could find this link and I didn't discover it until a UW official pointed me in the right direction.

Here's a look at Clarence Trent's rim-rattling alley-oop dunk from C.J. Wilcox. Washington's future looks to be in pretty good hands with these two freshmen.

Washington has sold about 7,200 tickets for each of the three games for the Athletes in Action tournament at Edmundson Pavilion that includes UW's regular-season opener against Wright State.

About 2,800 tickets remain.

A poster during today's live chat asked "if tickets purchased to the Belmont/Wright State/Portland State games gain us admission to the earlier game of the day?" and a UW official said a ticket gets you into both games that day only.

The first game will start at 4 p.m. and the Huskies play the nightcap at 7 p.m. Games are Nov. 13, 14 and 15.

Also, coach Lorenzo Romar and former UW quarterback Tom Flick are the keynote speakers for an AIA breakfast 7:30-8:45 a.m. Nov. 12.

Thanks for your patience. We'll hold our first live chat of the season here today at 12:30. Lot's to talk about: last night's game, the early signing period, UCLA nearly losing to a NAIA school, etc.

Looking forward to it. Be gentle. It's my first live chat.

There were so many story lines emerging from Washington's 77-48 win over Central Washington that I couldn't fit all of them into one post. Besides, it was approaching midnight when I finally left Edmundson Pavilion.

Anyway, a few thoughts.

MY FIRST OLD MAN RANT: I thought about mentioning it last night, but figured the time and place wasn't appropriate. But I slept on it and reconsidered, so here goes: the NCAA has got to do something about the length of the shorts. I know many fans are just fine with the baggy look, but this is getting crazy. I'm not advocating for the return of the Magic, Bird and Jordan short shorts, but the NCAA should adopt the NBA rule, which says shorts can not exceed the knee. Okay, I'm done. And I feel better.

SECOND RANT: Not sure whose idea this was, but the PA announcer last night introduced Quincy Pondexter as a guard. It went something like this: "Now rounding out our three-guard lineup, Quincy Pondexter." I had a fun debate with a UW official about Pondexter's new status. Apparently he wants to be referred to as a guard after years in UW's system at forward.

NBA SCOUT SIGHTINGS: We mentioned this last night and I can confirm there was a San Antonio scout at last night's game and he wouldn't tell me who he was there to see. I'm assuming it was Pondexter or maybe Isaiah Thomas. I'm told several NBA scouts will be on hand for the Dec. 6 game against Cal State Northridge. Why Cal State? Apparently, scouts will go to the Gonzaga-Wake Forest game the day before and fly over and check out the Huskies on Saturday. And Cal State has a pretty good guard in Deon Tresvant, who may draw NBA interest.

NCAA REFS KNOW OVERTON: Let me explain. Remember last season's game against Arizona State when an awkward sequence between Venoy Overton, James Harden and Derek Glasser created a mini-melee between the Huskies and Sun Devils? Well, the NCAA is using that sequence as a teaching point in a video for referees. Overton learned he was in the video last night while chatting with an official. The discussion occurred after a Central player made a hard foul against Isaiah Thomas, knocking him to the floor, and Overton tried to get the Wildcat player off of Thomas with a little "nudge."

PONDEXTER PUTS IN EXTRA WORK: It was noted on an earlier post, but Quincy Pondexter is continuing his post-game workout tradition. When asked about it afterward, he said: "I missed three free throws. I think so, yeah. You want to come?"

Isaiah Thomas, who sat at the interview table next to Pondexter, chuckled at the response and said: "I'm going home and going to sleep."

FUN WITH POLLS: Thanks to everyone who participated in Wednesday's poll. We had 1,610 votes, which is outstanding. We'll do more of that this season. Here's the results:

--- 34 percent said a successful opening meant UW would leave the game unscathed without any major injuries.

--- 24 percent wanted a blowout victory.

--- 17 percent wanted to see the newcomers, including Tyreese Breshers and Abdul Gaddy have a nice debut.

--- 16 percent thought it was important that for the role players to play well.

--- 4 percent was satisfied with a win, 3 percent wanted stars Thomas and Pondexter to shine and 1 percent thought Overton needed to take control of the offense.

Well, it seems almost everyone got what they wanted. Not sure about the role players, however, Darnell Gant and Matthew Bryan-Amaning combined for 20 rebounds. The reserves are sure to get a boost when Justin Holiday returns.

AND FINALLY A LOOK AROUND THE PAC-10:

--- UCLA may be in trouble. These aren't your dad's Bruins. No Alcindor. No Walton. No Edney. UCLA nearly LOST to NAIA Concordia last night at Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins were missing injured point guard Jerime Anderson.

--- Arizona beat Augustana College 92-76, however, the Wildcats struggled in the second half and played the Division II team to a 42-42 tie.