FanHouse Abdul Gaddy

For most of this decade, the Pac-10 was UCLA and the rest. The Bruins have been the Pac-10's representation in the Final Four three of the four times the league has placed a team on the final weekend since 2000, failing to claim the championship each time, but pulling themselves ahead of the West Coast pack as the elite program.

That all changed last season, when Washington won the Pac-10 regular season and head coach Lorenzo Romar was named conference coach of the year. Now, his team returns as a favorite to win in the conference, and Romar knows it.

"Our team this year has the benefit of having some players that were on our team last year that won a Pac-10 Championship and that certainly helps us," Romar said. "I think we have the fastest team since 2005 when we had Nate Robinson," Romar said.

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One recruit that got out of his letter of intent to Arizona after Lute Olson's abrupt retirement has already found a new home.

Abdul Gaddy, a guard from Tacoma, has decided to play for the University of Washington.

Gaddy is a five-star prospect according to Scout.com. He is rated the No. 6 overall prospect in the country by Scout.com.

"Abdul just committed to the University of Washington," Abdul Gaddy, Sr., told Scout.com. "He'll be playing home in front of his family and friends and we're excited for it."

Fellow de-committed recruits Solomon Hill and Mike Mosier have yet to decide where they will play next year. Hill is looking at USC while Mosier still hasn't ruled out coming back to Arizona.

The loss of these three recruits mean that Arizona has nothing coming in to the 2009-2010 season. Add that to the loss of 2008 recruit Brandon Jennings to Greece and the likely early departure of Chase Budinger and the Wildcats program could be into their worst stretch since the pre-Olson era in the late 1970s.