(Picture courtesy of @GW_MBB)
There’s legit optimism surrounding the George Washington Males’s Basketball program for the primary time in virtually a decade. In years marred by the stench of the Mike Lonergan-Patrick Nero fiasco, head coach, athletic director and college president turnover and even a moniker change, it appears that evidently GW has lastly discovered some stability. With that stability has come what many anticipate to be essentially the most aggressive GW group for the reason that 2015-16 NIT Championship season that featured three future NBA gamers–Yuta Watanabe, Patricio Garino and Tyler Cavanaugh.
GW is projected fourth within the official Atlantic 10 preseason ballot, the best this system has been ranked for the reason that 2015-2016 NIT Championship season. 4 GW gamers, senior middle Rafael Castro (First Staff), Duquesne switch and graduate guard Tre Dinkins III (Second Staff), junior guard Trey Autry (Third Staff) and redshirt-sophomore guard Christian Jones (Third Staff) all made preseason All-Convention groups. The one different A-10 college with 4 gamers is VCU.
Utilizing a major NIL funds that’s on par with a number of the high packages within the A-10 and elevated institutional assist from college president Ellen Granberg and athletic director Michael Lipitz, GW has been capable of construct a doubtlessly elite roster.
Step one this offseason was retainment. After incomes a spot on the All-Convention Second Staff and the All-Defensive Staff whereas averaging 14.0 factors and eight.9 rebounds, Castro introduced his return to the Revolutionaries early within the offseason and is among the early A-10 Participant of the Yr favorites. Autry and Jones, one in every of final 12 months’s most spectacular underclassmen beginning guard tandems within the nation, together with promising sophomore guard Ty Bevins, are additionally coming again, giving GW an unprecedented quantity of returning minutes for a mid-major program.
Maybe crucial returner is somebody who didn’t step on the court docket for GW final season–redshirt junior ahead Garrett Johnson. After a standout redshirt-freshman season the place he averaged 13.4 factors per sport whereas taking pictures 40.3% from three that was lower brief as a consequence of issues stemming from a tumor in his left hip, Johnson tore his ACL over the summer season and missed your complete 12 months.
GW stuffed out the remainder of their roster with probably the most spectacular switch courses within the nation, incomes reward from shops like CBS Sports activities and The Athletic.
Dinkins, an intra-conference switch from Duquesne in his last 12 months of eligibility, led the Dukes with 12.9 factors per sport final season and ought to be in line for a serious position with GW. He might slot in both as the place to begin guard or as an offensive sparkplug off the bench. GW continued so as to add backcourt depth with Hofstra switch and junior Jean Aranguren. Aranguren, who hails from Venezuela, stuffed the stat sheet final season, averaging 14.2 factors, 5.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per sport and enjoying elite-level protection.
Wanting on the frontcourt, Bubu Benjamin, the Canadian 6’7” junior ahead who transferred from Tarleton State, is predicted to fit in because the beginning lineup on the three and has a singular mixture of measurement, taking pictures and athleticism that may make him a mismatch nightmare within the A-10. He averaged 13.9 factors per sport whereas taking pictures 38.0% from three. Tyrone Marshall Jr., a grad switch from Western Kentucky, was a constant starter for the Hilltoppers during the last two seasons and has NCAA Event expertise, scoring 21 factors towards Marquette within the first spherical of the 2024 match. Luke Starvation, the one high-major switch, involves GW after three seasons at Northwestern. Starvation seems to be to be the first backup middle behind Castro, however might slide down and play the 4 in some “jumbo” lineups.
With all of this expertise comes lots of questions concerning the beginning lineup and rotations. Sources advised A10Talk that in GW’s “secret scrimmage” towards Temple on Saturday, a four-point loss, the first focus was on attempting out totally different lineups and seeing how totally different guys match collectively.
The one actual lock within the beginning lineup at this level is Castro. There might be legit arguments for Jones, Autry, Dinkins, Aranguren, Benjamin, Johnson, Marshall and Starvation to affix Castro within the beginning 5, giving Caputo and his workers lots of powerful selections to make.
Caputo might reward Jones and Autry for returning with beginning spots within the backcourt. Then again, Dinkins and Aranguren each averaged extra factors and have been starters on their earlier groups. Whereas Johnson is after all very proficient, Caputo might choose to have him start the season coming off the bench to be able to ease him into a bigger workload. Benjamin and Marshall might each begin at both the three or 4 or come off the bench relying on Johnson’s well being. After which there may be Starvation, whose position seems to be set because the backup middle, however might nonetheless begin some video games on the 4 alongside Castro and maintain an analogous position to what Sean Hansen did final season.
Johnson’s well being is arguably the most important storyline for GW heading into the season, however all indications are that the 6’8” sharpshooter is trending in the precise path. CBS Sports activities’ Jon Rothstein reported on Oct. 3 that Jonson has been cleared for all basketball-related actions. Sources advised A10Talk that regardless of enjoying simply “OK” through the scrimmage towards Temple, Johnson has been “enjoying like his outdated self” in apply.
GW can have a couple of resume-boosting alternatives throughout non-conference play. On Nov. 8, the Revolutionaries will face South Florida in a neutral-site matchup in Uncasville, CT at Mohegan Solar. Within the Cayman Islands Basic MTE, GW will play McNeese State, Center Tennessee and Murray State. On Dec. 13, GW will journey to Dawn, FL to play the reigning nationwide champions Florida within the Orange Bowl Basic in what’s technically a neutral-site sport. If South Florida and McNeese are capable of be top-100 groups within the NET, then they’ll each be Quad 2 video games. Florida will virtually definitely be a Quad 1 sport.
The primary actual take a look at for this GW group will come on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. ET once they host Georgetown on the Smith Heart in an exhibition. The final time GW hosted Georgetown was in 1980, and the final sport between the 2 was a 12 months later in 1981. The Hoyas are ranked no. 82 within the preseason KenPom rankings, one spot behind GW.
Taking a look at the remainder of the A-10, GW is clearly located within the high tier of packages this season alongside VCU, Saint Louis, Dayton and Loyola Chicago. If Caputo and his workers are capable of press the precise buttons and determine the best lineups and rotations and make the most of his depth most successfully, this GW group has an actual likelihood to play deep into March.
