Recruiting, college coaches often say, is all about building relationships.

In the case of highly-coveted Scott Suggs, a 6-foot-6 guard from Washington, Mo., who committed Wednesday to play basketball for the Washington Huskies, it was a relationship roughly four decades in the making that paid off for UW.

Suggs' father Ron explained that relationship. Washington coach Lorenzo Romar grew up in Compton, Calif., where he was best friends with Herb Anderson. When Anderson later moved to St. Louis, he became good friends with Ron Suggs.

"Kind of a six degrees of separation thing," Ron Suggs said. "Scott's known Lorenzo since he was 9, 10 years old."

Wednesday, it was that relationship that helped Scott Suggs — generally regarded as one of the top 50 recruits in the nation — overcome any misgivings about going to school far away from home. He also seriously considered Missouri and Illinois before deciding to become a Husky.

"The biggest thing for Scott was leaving home, and that was a big decision," Ron Suggs said. "But he realized that his passion was to play for Lorenzo."

Suggs is rated as the 11th-best shooting guard by Scout.com after averaging 19 points and 11 rebounds in high school last season.

Suggs becomes the fourth member of UW's Class of 2008, joining guard Isaiah Thomas, a Tacoma product now playing at South Kent Prep School in Connecticut, guard Elston Turner Jr. of Houston and forward Tyreese Breshers of Los Angeles.

Some analysts regard Suggs as the best of those four recruits. All four players are expected to sign in November and join the Huskies in 2008. UW coaches cannot comment on recruits until they have signed.

Huskies set schedule

The Huskies released their schedule for the 2007-08 season, and it's highlighted by nonconference games against Pittsburgh at home and Louisiana State and Oklahoma State on the road as well as participation in the NIT Season Tip-off. UW could face the likes of Syracuse, Ohio State and Texas A&M in that one.

The schedule means the Huskies won't face the type of criticism for their nonconference slate they have the past two seasons.

"We have some tough road games," Romar said. "We play some quality opponents and are participating in a quality tournament, the preseason NIT. We also play a number of home games in front of our fans. We really like the schedule; however, it is going to be one that is very difficult. We've got to be ready to play.

"It will be close to being up there with the schedule we had when we were a No. 1 seed in the country. This year, we've got Oklahoma State, LSU, Pitt and the preseason NIT. We will be tested at home, and we have some challenging road games."