The last few blogs elicited a few questions so I'll try to answer those here:

Question: Is Reggie Williams the best receiver in UW history, why hasn't he been able to be a success in the NFL to the same level, and does Marcel Reece remind you of Reggie at all?

Answer: Reggie is definitely the best receiver I've seen here since I started covering the team in 1997. His debut game against Michigan in 2001 and the 2002 game against Oregon when he all but beat the Ducks by himself were amazing performances. I'm as stumped as everyone else why Reggie hasn't been a huge success in the NFL --- I was as sure that he would be as any other college player I've been around. But there were always whispers about Reggie's maturity, for lack of a better word, and maybe that's caught up to him a little bit in the NFL --- and it's worth nothing that he is still only 24 years old despite being out of college for four years. And while he sure seemed fast at UW, his speed hasn't apparently translated well to the next level (not even sure what that means as I type this, but basically, he doesn't seem to be as fast now as he was in college --- maybe he just always ran up against a lot slower guys here than he does there).

As for Marcel, he is definitely the closest thing to Reggie physically that UW has had since Reggie left. But he is definitely a little bulkier than Reggie, and we'll have to see if he turns into the same kind of deep-threat as was Reggie.

Question: What is the status of walk-on cornerback Cory Nicol? Does he have a chance to play this year?

Answer: Nicol, a junior from Woodinville High and Orange Coast College, is definitely in the minds of the coaches. Secondary coach J.D. Williams mentioned him to me on Monday as somebody who has a chance to contribute this season. But it's also only the second day of practices, and two days before the team puts on full pads for the first time, and still pretty early to make any definitive declarations about any of the new players. But given the depth in the secondary, it would seem he has a better chance than a lot of walk-ons to get on the field. How he performs in some of the early scrimmages will tell a lot. Coaches always say you can't really tell anything about new players until the hitting starts.

Question: Are any other practices scheduled to be open for the media, and what is your daily schedule like this time of year and will the basketball team's activities this month get in the way of that?

Answer: We have been told that there is one more Saturday practice that will be open, which is likely to be a scrimmage. Other than that, there is nothing more scheduled to be open other than the first 25 minutes of each practice. Camp tends to lead to a lot of long days for us in the media, but it's also an enjoyable time of the year in many respects with the specter of the beginning of football season looming. UW typically makes its players and coaches available to us around noon or so, and then there is usually practice in the afternoon followed on some days by another briefing with Tyrone Willingham after practice. Including writing and driving time and all, it's a lot of 10-12 hour days. But it's also not doing brain surgery so it's nothing to complain about. As for basketball, the team will practice from about Aug. 17-25 or so before leaving for Greece. I plan to cover it as much as I can, but it won't be as intensive as regular season coverage, and we won't be covering the team in Greece (I don't think any local media are going). There may be other people from the Times who will help out on the double duty during that time, as well. The upshot is that we'll make sure to get the basketball news covered while still preparing for the beginning of football season.