It was over in warmups.

Watching North Carolina at one end of the arena in Columbus, and Washington at the other. After five minutes, any discerning follower of basketball could tell. There was almost no way to imagine that the Huskies were going to win their second-round game that Sunday afternoon in the NCAA men's basketball tourney.

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Huskies coach Mike Hopkins has taken his recruitment skills to the top tier of men's college basketball. The announcement Wednesday of the signing of Jaden McDaniels, a 6-9, 185-pound forward from Federal Way High School and one of the nation's premier prep players, to pair with another five-star recruit, 6-9, 245-pound forward Isaiah Stewart, signals a new frontier for UW hoops.

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The traditional awkward dance between the Seahawks and a star player seeking a third contract is underway again. This time, LB Bobby Wagner seems be going out of his way not to step on toes.

After the unpleasantness with Earl Thomas a year ago, and Richard Sherman before that, and Kam Chancellor before that, Wagner decided to show up for practice. But not actually practice, until a deal for an extension is struck.

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After the 13-2 aberration gave way to the Mariners' 2019 norm -- Sunday's 7-4 victory prevented a four-game sweep by Minnesota, but was just the fifth win in the past 19 games -- I felt a need to consult with the smartest people I know, the readers of Sportspress Northwest, who I hope also are susceptible to flattery as brazen as it is cheap.

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Mid-May is a poor time for forecasting an outcome for the pending NFL season. Then again, so is mid-December. The chance for looking foolish, however, at least is reduced.

The notion of looking foolish came up in the NFL Wednesday because the New York Jets fired their general manager after Mike Maccagnan chose a new coach, spent $120 million in the free agent market and chose the players he wanted in the college draft.

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It would be harsh to say the Seahawks are becoming a home for high-promise, low-delivery young quarterbacks. But, well . . . Geno Smith.

A second-round pick (39th overall) of the New York Jets in 2013, Smith, 28, joins Paxton Lynch, 25, a first-round pick (26th overall) of the Denver Broncos in 2015, to compete for the understudy job behind QB Russell Wilson, who seems as hard to bring down as Marvel films villain Thanos.

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The temptation is to say that the Mariners' 11-2 loss Sunday (box) in Boston that featured five fielding blunders in the first three innings and eight walks in eight innings, concluding a three-game Red Sox sweep by a 34-8 cumulative margin, and a 2-8 road trip with the 15th defeat in 19 games, was a milestone in ineptitude.

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Two stalwarts of the Seahawks era at the NFL pinnacle officially became ex-Seahawks Thursday. WR Doug Baldwin, 30, and SS Kam Chancellor, 31, failed physical exams and were released. Chancellor's cut was a formality after not playing last season following a neck injury; Baldwin's multiple surgeries after his most injury-riddled season made him unable to return.

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An underappreciated feat of the Seahawks' 2018 season was twice putting up 31 points on a heralded Los Angeles Rams defense that subsequently held New England to 13 points in the Super Bowl. While Seattle lost both games -- 33-31 at the Clink and 36-31 at the Coliseum -- it wasn't the fault of a made-over offense that produced a combined 787 yards.

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Compared to Hurricane Maria that slammed his native Puerto Rico in 2017, any metaphorical whirlwind caused by Alex Cora's decision to shun the celebratory trip to White House Thursday for his defending World Series champion Red Sox is a trifle.

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In terms of substantive football developments, a three-day NFL rookie camp in May is a Hostess Twinkie. Fluff, empty calories, probably slightly toxic. Then you look over both shoulders to make sure no one is there, and wolf it down.

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One of the more callous aspects of college football is playing out at Washington, where two highly regarded quarterbacks, redshirt freshmen Jacob Sirmon and Colson Yankoff, plan to leave the Huskies program to seek more playing time at other schools.

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Ending the mystery of what Ichiro would do without baseball, the Mariners announced Tuesday that he won't be without baseball.

He's returning to the club as an instructor for the MLB and AAA Tacoma teams, focusing on what he did best in a likely Hall of Fame career -- fielding, baserunning and, in conjunction with the hitting coaches, batting.

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The Seahawks weren't the only local football team that was made better over the weekend. The NFL draft also helped the Washington Huskies. Their loss of eight players to the pros -- only Alabama (10) and Ohio State (nine) contributed more -- was a net gain for the program. There's nothing more impressive to top-tier recruits than for a school to be known as a pipeline to Pete Carroll, Bill Belichick,  and . . . well, the Arizona Cardinals.

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From a standpoint of player profile and psychology, if ever there was a sublime collegiate fit for a specific pro football team, Ben Burr-Kirven and the Seattle Seahawks would seal like the back door of a Brinks armored truck.

Burr-Kirven was part-way inside the team already, before he was called in the fifth round of the NFL draft Saturday.

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Improving from four draft picks Monday, fewest in the NFL, to 11 Saturday, second-most, was a monumental lift for the Seahawks. It even blew away Pete Carroll.

"I was hoping we'd get to six or seven, but we leap-frogged it," he said Saturday afternoon after the third and final day of the NFL draft. "It really surpassed expectations I had for the week, to be like we are.

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D.K. Metcalf recalled meeting Pete Carroll at the NFL combine in Indianapolis.

"He was surprised at how big I was," he told a reporter. Indeed, Carroll was startled by the shirtless incredible hulk before him.

"Kinda pissed me off," Carroll said, smiling. "So I took my shirt off. Not for long, though."

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Not long after the Seahawks drafted big receiver D.K. Metcalf Friday night, bad news emerged about their smallest receiver. After multiple injuries and surgeries, Doug Baldwin's eight-year career may be over at 30.

ESPN.com's Adam Schefter reported, citing anonymous sources, that Baldwin, one of the best receivers in club history and a stalwart in the locker room and the community, is facing a decision about ending his career.

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One after another, the big-deal pass rushers the Seahawks sought to replace the traded Frank Clark fell off the draft board. As the first round Thursday night moved toward the their turn at No. 21, tension grew at team headquarters in Renton.

"Body blows," said general manger John Schneider.

"It went the way it was supposed to go, and we didn't like that," said coach Pete Carroll.

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From the standpoint of grabbing the NFL's attention, the Seahawks have been on a roll lately.

First there was the drama attendant to making Russell Wilson the highest paid player in NFL history. Then there was his tweeted announcement of the deal's success from the pillow on his bed, wife all snuggly next to him, and three gold chains around his neck.

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