Byline: Steve Kelley; Seattle Times staff columnist
The small interview room at Hec Ed was unusually crowded for Lorenzo Romar's regular Tuesday afternoon news conference. Camera operators squeezed into the back of the room. Reporters filled every chair, and some stood along the walls and in back of the cameras.
When he sat down, Romar looked out on a room filled with many unfamiliar faces.
One of his basketball players, unnamed, was being investigated by Seattle Police for sexual assault involving a 16-year-old girl, and people wanted to hear what the Washington coach was going to do about it.
As is always the case with incidents like this, Internet speculation from people who thought they knew which player it was and exactly what he had done was running wild.
The rush to judgment had begun.
"I want you to know it's something that we take very seriously at this point," Romar said of the investigation. "I'm going to repeat that it's very serious. However, there is not nearly enough information at this point for us to determine what's going to be done here. Right now we just have to give it a little bit more time to decide what's going to come of this."
Romar has dealt with discipline problems before in his nine years at Washington, but this challenge to his program is different. This accusation is much more serious, and the repercussions could ripple through his team for the rest of the season.
"This is unique," Romar said, "but there are things with this group that could be distractions that you battle all the time. Adversity, it's always interesting to see how people handle it."
College coaches live with the same kinds of anxieties as parents. Romar has three daughters whom he worries about all of the time.
But he also has a group of basketball players who are in the early stages of adulthood, and like all parents, coaches dread that unsettling phone call that tells them one of their players is hurt or sick or in trouble.
Dealing with the unpredictability of young adulthood is part of the awesome responsibility that comes with college coaching.
I've been around sports long enough to know there are coaches who give lip service to their responsibilities to their players and their community, and there are coaches who take those responsibilities seriously.
I've known coaches who are all about winning at any cost and coaches who refuse to sacrifice the integrity of their programs just to squeeze a few more wins out of a season.
I've known Romar since 2002, and I don't believe there's a more honor-bound coach in sports. In a profession where people try almost anything to get ahead, Romar plays fair. His rules of conduct are non-negotiable. His discipline is consistent.
Yes, he cares about winning, as proven by his team's 4-0 record in Pac-10 play. There is a competitive fire that burns intensely beneath his easygoing exterior. But Romar isn't all about winning. Integrity matters as much as postseason appearances.
He will handle this properly. He will discipline the player if it is appropriate. If there is a crime, if there is a victim, he will show empathy.
And he will continue to teach, as well as coach.
"It's (teaching) something that is ongoing," he said. "And, hopefully you've talked with your team, you have a relationship with your team enough when something happens, you're prepared somewhat to deal with it.
"You haven't covered everything. There's some situations that arise in sports and family situations that just haven't happened to you before. It's the first time and you have to deal with that. There's some situations there's not necessarily a manual for it. I think we have a together group, and whatever happens with our group we usually deal with it together."
Romar faced the cameras on Tuesday with the same unblinking certainty that he shows on the sideline. He won't hide from this issue and, I believe, he will do the right thing.
Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com
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