While his teammates dressed for practice, Matthew Bryan-Amaning walked the halls around Washington's basketball court wearing a light blue surgical mask. He carried two bottles of Gatorade in his left hand, a can of sports drink in his right.
2009-10 preview
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"Keep that mask on, man. I don't want that," another student-athlete bellowed Tuesday as he darted past the junior forward and out a nearby door.
The masked man could be the Huskies' mascot right now. The defending Pac-10 champions are too sick to fully begin practicing for the season.
Coach Lorenzo Romar said Tuesday seven of his 12 players, including senior leader Quincy Pondexter, have had the flu since Saturday's first full day of practice.
The Huskies had only seven players for drills at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Monday and Tuesday, limiting them to 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 drills. The only plus: there's been more individual attention and coaching of the team's two freshmen who don't have the flu, Abdul Gaddy and C.J. Wilcox.
Trainers and assistants have spent extra time wiping down the locker room, but there's only so much they can do.
"Every time we see the team, someone else has it," Romar said.
He said this spreading flu is the worst illness he's had on a team since he began coaching in 1992 as an assistant at UCLA.
