Photo credit: Cliff Despeaux/The Seattle Times (file photo)

I went to Lorenzo Romar, the Washington men's basketball coach, for a perspective on college football signing day. I figured Romar could offer a passionate take on recruiting and insight into what football coach Steve Sarkisian is experiencing today. And the fact that Romar isn't talking about his own team gives him the freedom to speak more freely about some of the general issues I wanted to discuss.

As usual, Romar didn't disappoint.

I'll use a lot of what Romar said in my Thursday column, but I wanted to share some of this interview with you right now as the letters of intent trickle in this morning.

Mostly, I went to Romar to ask him what it's like for a head coach when high-profile local recruits go elsewhere and the program has to battle a perception hit. As you know, that has happened in football this year with offensive linemen Josh Garnett (Stanford) and Zach Banner (USC) deciding to leave the state, as well as wide receiver Cedric Dozier (California) and running back KeiVarae Russell (Notre Dame). But with a late push, the Huskies have put together a nice class, possibly a Top 25 class, without them. The commitments of safety Shaq Thompson, wide receiver Jaydon Mickens and offensive linemen Shane Brostek over the past two days have solidified the class. And today, the Huskies already have added one major, well-regarded surprise (defensive end Pio Vatuvei, who had been linked with USC).

In 10 seasons at Washington, Romar has seen some local talent go elsewhere, but he has gotten his fair share of in-state blue chip recruits -- Jon Brockman, Spencer Hawes, Isaiah Thomas, Abdul Gaddy, Tony Wroten Jr. and Martell Webster (a signee who skipped college and went to the NBA) among them -- and thrived despite not getting everyone.

"If you have a local base, you definitely have to get your share," Romar said. "To expect to get everyone is unrealistic. Some have a troubled home life and need to get away. Others have a great home life, but they want to leave home and experience something else. But if you're a program doing what you should be doing, you should be getting a lot of local talent."

Of course, "a lot" means different things to different people. There has been talk about Sarkisian wanting to put a fence around the state. Well, that fence doesn't have barbed wire on top of it. He knows that, when he's competing against the nation's top programs, he'll lose sometimes. But he also knows he'll have years like 2011, when he got all the in-state blue chippers that he wanted, including tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins, wide receiver Kasen Williams and defensive lineman Danny Shelton.

And while local recruiting is scrutinized the most, Romar cautions that Washington's programs recruit several pockets of the nation. This has been a very good California recruiting year for Sark and the Huskies, led by the signing of Thompson, who some recruiting services rank as a Top 5 player nationally regardless of position. Thompson is universally considered the top safety in this class. The Huskies may have recruited a defensive difference maker the caliber of Williams or Seferian-Jenkins. He's one of the biggest recruits the program has ever signed.

Romar said that, at times, a program's flaws -- they all have flaws -- are more identifiable or even exaggerated to local recruits because they're so close. Sometimes, out-of-state recruits can look at a program with a more balanced perspective.

It's interesting if you listen to Garnett and realize that he couldn't be sold on what the Huskies are building. He felt more comfortable being at Stanford, which has been to back-to-back BCS bowls. He scrutinized the Huskies heavily. But Thompson, who is from Sacramento, could be sold because he ultimately trusted his gut rather than having to sift through a mountain of information and innuendo because he lives so close.

"Every school has some type of dirty laundry, just like every home," Romar said. "Every home is not perfect. Sometimes, if a kid isn't so close geographically to the program, they can see things from a different angle. Maybe they're not so inclined to think the grass is greener on the other side.

"Everyone has some kind of issue. Some kids get caught up in that, too. Some don't."

Romar discussed many other things, including playing time. He says there are several local players that he was sure would sign with UW -- if there hadn't been an established starter already at his position. He also added that, in 10 years, he feels like he has only missed out on three recruits that he really wanted. He mentioned one: Marvin Williams. He left me to guess the other two.

I asked Romar what advice he'd give to fans who get a little crazy about recruiting.

"If it's year in and year out, if you're not getting anyone, as a fan, I could see why you're frustrated," Romar said. "But if you're getting guys and just missing here and there, you have to trust your program. When we took C.J. Wilcox, there was zero fanfare. You didn't see a bunch of stars by his name. There were other four- or five-star guys that maybe we could've taken, but they weren't better than C.J. They just weren't.

"We can't recruit on stars. How do they know if this kid, off the field, isn't bad for the program? How do they know if this kid, despite his reputation in high school, really isn't going to be a college player that can help us? How do they know if the kid is just putting us on his list and we're really not recruiting him? If you don't know the facts, cut the team some slack. We've been here 10 years, and there are probably three players that we really wanted that we didn't get. With football, it could be the same situation."

For more from this interview, check out my column in Thursday's newspaper.