By Mason Kelley
GoHuskies.com
The argument started over which player was better.
Jamal Crawford, 16 years old at the time, and Will Conroy, 13, went back and forth, trading jabs about which guard had more talent. It was 11 p.m., but this was one debate that wouldn’t wait till morning.
“Let’s go play one-on-on right now,” Conroy said, issuing a challenge.
The two teenagers snuck out of the house on a hot summer night, making their way to an outdoor court on Beacon Hill.
Crawford was already an emerging star in Seattle as a standout at Rainier Beach High School, but he knew Conroy was competitive. Looking back on that moment years later, Crawford admitted he wasn’t sure how that game would go.
“Once we got out there, I was little nervous I might lose, because he is that competitive,” Crawford said with a laugh.
The court lacked lights. The orange rims were barely visible. But that didn’t stop Crawford.
“He was draining jumpers,” said Conroy, now a first-year assistant with Washington.
The two teenagers, who would grow up to become pillars of Seattle’s basketball community, went back and forth. Conroy kept it close. He made sure the older guard earned each point.
Crawford won the game. He secured bragging rights. But he also knew at that moment his friend was traveling a path that would take him somewhere special.
Conroy went from Garfield High School to walk-on at Washington before becoming the program’s all-time assists leader (515). He spent seven years playing professionally before returning to his alma mater last month.
“It’s a little bit surreal,” said Conroy, sitting in the Alaska Airlines Arena stands and looking down on the basketball floor he knows so well. “I always wanted to coach after I was done playing, I just didn’t know how fast it would be. I didn’t know how fast I could get back here. I’m just extremely fortunate and blessed to be in this situation.”
Even when Conroy was playing, he worked with the city’s younger players. He was a fixture in the summer pick-up games on Marv Harshman Court, teaching the Huskies’ current players while working on his game.
“This is natural for me,” Conroy said.
With the Huskies bringing in one of the nation’s top-ranked recruiting classes, Conroy joins the program at a pivotal time. The 32-year-old provides a bridge between the program’s past and present.
One of the program’s most popular players has come home to help the Huskies get back to the NCAA tournament.
“I bleed purple,” said the former point guard who wore purple for both Garfield and Washington. “I can’t lie. I have a certain level of pride about this institution.”
Conroy is so passionate about the program, seeing license plates from other schools elicits a visceral reaction.
“That’s when you know you’re a true Dawg,” he said with a smile.
When Conroy was a player, Washington coach Lorenzo Romar called him “Will.” When the point guard played professionally, he was “Dub C.” Now he is “coach” Conroy.
“To have your first former player on your full-time staff is very special for me,” Romar said. “It’s awesome. You know you’ve gone through wars together and you know where he’s going to be really good. You know there’s a mutual trust.”
Romar has always appreciated the way Conroy views the game. He studies basketball like a law student preparing to pass the bar. He analyzes talent. He understands how to assemble a team. But, more than anything, he brings people together.
“You could see his ability to connect right away and not lose his respect,” Romar said. “Some guys try to be something they’re not, because they want everyone to accept them, but because of his personality he’s able to come along side of you and talk on your level, but at the same time the kids realize you can’t cross him.”
Crawford said Conroy is the one member of Seattle’s basketball community – The Home Team – that brings everyone together.
“It’s always been him rallying everybody,” Crawford said. “That’s just a quality he has. There’s an honesty about it. He’s intense. He’s passionate. He’s a standup guy. Whenever you have a standup guy like that and you come from a safe place, everyone can respect that.”
When Conroy was a student, he spent his summers playing with NBA standouts, guys like Ray Allen, Gary Payton and Rashard Lewis.
The ability to play on the same floor with the athletes employed by Seattle’s NBA franchise, “made it real for us. It gave us something to push for.”
Conroy tried to model his game after Payton. The point guard couldn’t match Payton’s height, but “I could play defense like him, talk trash like him,” Conroy said with a wink and a smile. “I could play with passion like him.”
While the Sonics now play their games in Oklahoma City, Conroy helps maintain the link between Seattle’s NBA players and Romar’s program.
“One of the things that has been great for me to see over the years is how guys continue to come back,” Romar said. “They continue to support what we’re doing. Since Will is here, you can see guys coming around even more. Immediately you’re already beginning to see the impact.”
Romar was the first male role model who made Conroy think, “I wouldn’t mind modeling my lifestyle as a grown man like his.”
That relationship – as much father-son as coach-player – forged a bond that endures.
“I’m going to do whatever I can to make him proud,” Conroy said.
Conroy has been cultivating his coaching acumen for years, but as the youngest member of Washington’s staff, he is doing as much learning as he is coaching. His passion for both the game and the program accelerates the learning curve.
“The one thing I can guarantee you is passion,” he said. “I was a passionate player. I’m a passionate guy, period. Hopefully some of that bleeds off onto some of our guys.”
When Conroy was 13, he was determined to make a name for himself, even if that meant challenging an older friend to a game of one-on-one in the dark. Back then he was “Will.” Then, as he tried to carve out a career as a pro, he was “Dub C.” Now he’s just “coach,” the do-whatever-it-takes former player who came home to teach the next generation of Washington basketball players.
Why? Well, for Conroy, it’s simple: “I’m a true Husky.”
