First five-star shooting guard Jabari Brown selected Oregon live on ESPNU, ensuring new coach Dana Altman has something to soften the blow of what's sure to be a trying first season in Eugene. Then highly touted point guard Tony Wroten donned a Washington cap in a press conference at his high school, making him the heir apparent to junior Isaiah Thomas.
Brown's decision comes as a bigger surprise because of the tumultuous offseason Oregon has endured. Not only did the Ducks lose a flurry of transfers after firing former coach Ernie Kent, they also could face sanctions as a result of an NCAA investigation into whether former center Michael Dunigan received extra benefits during his two years in Eugene.
That apparently didn't faze Brown, who chose Oregon over Pac-10 rivals Washington and Arizona State. Brown, Rivals.com's No. 22 recruit in the Class of 2011, liked the new coaching staff at Oregon and was impressed by the school's soon-to-open, Nike-funded arena and practice facility.
"Oregon landed me because they were the best fit for me," Brown told ESPNU. "Coach Altman and his staff did a great job of recruiting me. Making me feel at home, feeling comfortable. My visit was great and they told me everything that I think I needed to hear out of a school."
If Brown's announcement contained true suspense, Wroten's was mostly manufactured. The Seattle product wore a red and black jacket to his news conference perhaps to trick viewers into thinking he might select Louisville, but he ended up picking up the purple, gold and black baseball cap of his hometown school.
Wroten, Rivals.com's No. 30 recruit, follows in the footsteps of his father, Tony Wroten Sr., a football player at Washington from 1981 through 1984. The younger Wroten missed his entire junior season with a knee injury suffered during football season, but he's healthy again and played well in stretches during the July evaluation period.
The sight of Wroten in a Huskies cap surely brought back painful flashbacks of Terrence Jones for Huskies fans, but the newest Washington commit assures fans he won't change his mind the way Jones famously did last spring.
Said Wroten during a live chat with the Seattle Times on Wednesday: "Whatever school I choose tomorrow I'm going to. I'm not going to switch it up later."
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