Brandon Roy to this day is the best player I’ve seen play at the Unversity of Washington. His abilty to score anywhere on the floor while also being a great team player made him one of the all-time greats at UW.

“He’s the most difficult player to guard, 365 days a year, 7 days a week. Roy has no weakness in his game,” the late Kobe Bryant said in an interview back in 2010 – when asked who the hardest player to guard was in the Western Conference.

Before his NBA days, Roy had one of the best single-season’s at Washington ever. Roy was a consensus first-team All-American and won the Pac-12 Player of the Year. The 6-foot-6 star averaged 20.2 points per game his senior year. Roy led the Huskies to the Sweet Sixteen before losing in heart breaking fashion to the University of Connecticut.

But Roy would use that tough loss to fuel his NBA career when he was taken with the 6th pick by Portland in 2005.

After a sensational season Roy won Rookie of the year.  He backed up the ROY award with three straight All-Star appearances.

Unfortunately, Roy’s knees quickly wore down and after just six star-studded years he was forced to retire. The chronic knee issues cut down Roy as he should have been entering his prime.

Many felt that he was on the trajectory to be a true Hall of Fame player.

Twenty years later, a full generation later, Roy exploits often seem to be forgotten at UW.

Washington has sent so many talented NBA players but Roy was different. He was arguably the best player in the entire country his senior season.

The video below is a reminder of how truly special he was when he laced up in the purple and gold.   He was a player that helped put UW on the map and add to the list of Seattle legends.