Inside The Huskies

Conroy Is Due In Town While Son Wows SoCal With His Talent

Will Jr. is considered the top high school freshman basketball player in all of California.
Dan Raley|
Will Conroy Jr. is having a productive freshman season in high school.
Will Conroy Jr. is having a productive freshman season in high school. | Conroy

Wander through Alaska Airlines Arena a few years back, when University of Washington basketball practice either just finished or was about to begin, and there was this little kid always with a ball in his hands, acting like he very much belonged on the court.

This was Will Conroy Jr., maybe 10 or 11 years old at the time, already adhering to a practice regimen laid out for him by Will Conroy Sr., then a UW assistant coach, former Husky standout and, of course, his dad.

While just a grade-schooler, the younger Conroy seemed far more dedicated to his game than many of the players who were wearing purple practice gear back then.

He worked on his shooting, dribbling and footwork. He didn't have to be talked into anything at all. He was clearly devoted to becoming a great player.

On Wednesday night, Will Conroy Sr. will return to the arena where he spent so much time coaching and playing, showing up with the USC basketball team (18-11 overall, 7-11 Big Ten), his current employer, to face the Huskies (14-15, 6-12).

His son won't be with him -- he's too busy living up to his billing as California's top high school freshman basketball player.

Will Conroy Jr. plays for Village Christian School in Sun Valley, California, which is not far from the Burbank Airport and appears to be several freeway connections from USC.

He currently averages 27.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.

Depending on who's fudging a bit on this, he stands anywhere from 5-foot-10 to 6 foot.

He's still guided by his father, who played his high school ball at Garfield and Rainier Beach, became a three-year starter and the all-time assist leader at the UW, played briefly in the NBA and inquired about becoming the Husky head coach once Mike Hopkins was fired and Danny Sprinkle was hired.

Will Jr. credits his basketball worldly dad for his rapid progression as a player.

"It's probably my dad training me and not letting me take the easy way out on anything," he told a podcaster. "He makes me take the hard way on everything I do. It keeps me disciplined."

As a ready-made player still ever so young, Conroy Jr. has scored as many as 41 points in a game and he's hit a game-winning shot with 2.4 seconds left to beat Crespi 78-77.

He already holds offers from Kansas, USC and his dad, and the UW, where they never should have let the kid leave the gym.

He seems to prefer high school ball over the AAU games that he plays because he says the former is much more organized basketball while the other seems like pick-up ball.

Yes, this Conroy truly is the son of a coach.

As he demonstrated in Alaska Airlines Arena so long ago, he's still taking advice from his dad as he pursues basketball greatness at multiple levels.

"He's done it before and I haven't," Will Conroy Jr. said. "He's just showing me the way."

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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