I enjoyed the interview.  Thanks to all of you for your reporting and analysis this season.  GW may not have the journalistic chops of a Syracuse, Northwestern or Missouri, but the flip side of this is that The Hatchet and WRGW are almost entirely the exclusive sources of coverage for the program.  This means you are genuinely providing a very valuable service to a small but vested community, and you should be applauded for your efforts. 

As for the interview, it felt very nostalgic as CC talked a bit about great coaches he has met or became friendly with as well as great players who he has recruited or coached against.  CC really strikes me as a student of the game who really enjoys exchanging notes and ideas with other coaches.  He possesses that admirable combination of humility (doesn't claim to have all the answers), brains (willing to listen and learn from those he respects), and confidence (understands that the program truly has significantly improved over the 3 seasons he's been at GW).  He also expressed an interest in playing a one-off on the road against a Power 4 (or Big east) school while acknowledging that getting this type of game at Smith Center has become an impossibility.

And for some levity, I don't know which host to give credit to, but someone mentioned that he was going to be interning at Monumental Sports this summer with the hope of getting hired thereafter.  CC enthusiastically responded "talk to Jimmy (Patsos), talk to Jimmy."  To which the response was something along the lines of, 'I did.  I said one word and it (their conversation) lasted over an hour."  Very good stuff.  

Some additional comments on your comments:

1) After my last post, I gave some thought to who I may have missed and the name that popped into my mind was Lasan Kromah, so I am glad that FQ mentioned him.  I believe that his was a class of 6 freshmen and Lasan was rated 5th out of the 6, well behind guys like Tim Johnson and Brian Bynes.  Lasan's freshman year was terrific.  Who knows how great a player he would have been had he stayed completely healthy.

2) I have a tough time recalling what the buzz was surrounding Yegor.  Clearly Koul was the headliner who received more fanfare a season earlier.  Maybe Yegor's sophomore season when he received more playing time and made the most of it?

3) I do recall being very excited about landing Pinnock (Lucas did get more positive vibes but that may have been due to his being from the area).  JR was great and I thought he'd be good, so yes to a pleasant surprise but for me, no to being a top 5 pleasant surprise.

4) Christian Jones makes the rare leap from redshirt to all-rookie team.  Good choice.

5) Brendan Adams's final season is a great choice.  So much better than his first GW season.

6) No to Hunter Dean.  Improved yes, but just not solid enough.

7) Mike Zagardo was already a solid big man by the time I got to GW.   He did make a statistical leap starting with his sophomore season.

8) Steve Frick's junior season.  Pleasant surprise, not Top 5 IMO.

9) Joe McDonald was an absolute stud for Landon.  He makes many great lists but not a pleasant surprise list IMO.

10) Improved senior season for Dr. John, not a Top 5 IMO.

11) Matt Hart was an insane outside shooter who went from D3 to NIT Championship contributor.  Great story but again, not a Top 5 IMO.
 

Pleasant surprises are the equivalent of never seeing something coming.  If we looked at this from the context of a team, the discussion would like start and end with the Sweet 16 (for you glass half full types; the glass half empty types might point to the 1-27 campaign which only took place several seasons earlier).  So for this thread, let's do a top 5 ranking of GW players who turned out to be the most pleasant of surprises.

To each his own but for me, I would be hesitant to include guys like Zeke Armwood nor Tyler Cavanaugh, guys who averaged 17 and 21 minutes per game in their final seasons at larger programs, but who stood to flourish with even more playing time at GW.  There is an exception to this rule on my list but for a good reason.  Yuta came close to making my list but the reality is that he showed steady improvement during each of his 4 seasons at GW, so not exactly a surprise.    One guy who made my list did not put up scintillating numbers but his overall effect on a team was enough for me to consider him.  Without further ado, let's start with this player first:

5) Carl Elliott, Senior Season.      Playing with Pops, Mike, JR, Omar and Mo, Carl had already experienced his share of triumphs during his first three GW seasons.   Unfortunately for him, Carl's final season carried very little by way of expectation for the 2006-07 Colonials.  Carl still ran the point but was also expected to take on more of the scoring load alongside Maureece Rice.  The results included career highs in scoring, offense and defensive rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks.  It also included a dismal 27% shooting percentage from 3.  Nevertheless, it was Carl seemingly willing his less experienced team to victories, including a second A10 Championship, that lands Carl's senior season on this list.

4) Rafael Castro, Junior Season.  Unlike Armwood and Cavanaugh, Slim was essentially an afterthought while playing at Providence, averaging single digits in m

Mike K, a political opponent who is trying to help Jews?  You mean Kanye's good friend?  The one who referred to blatant antisemites as fine people?  Yes, I get why you don't get it.  

Rising, I'll actually agree that many have "blind hatred" of Trump, but I'll stop well short of referring to this as over the top.  In the pre-Trump era, we of course had our political differences as Americans.  But then Trump came along and just under half of the country's voters put their trust in someone who could not possibly be less trustworthy.  The man spends every day as a lying, abusive racist and misogynist.  He has single-handedly turned up the vitriol and utter disrespect in this country.  He has attempted to normalize violence, cheating, and flat-out rudeness, as long as these things are being carried out to serve his own self-interests.  

What you should understand is that the blind hatred that does exist has little if anything to do with his policies.  It has everything to do with the horrific human being that this country saw fit to elect.  This is not a case of liberals having a tough time with Reagan/Bush policies or conservatives failing to grasp Obama's views.  We are well past this.  This is indeed personal, and our President is the one who made it this way through his vile words and actions.

Mike K, we can find fault with the Biden Administration's handling of antisemitism while at the same time, condemn the current administration's blatant overreach.  Even if Trump's agenda was nothing more than fighting back against antisemitism, and I am far from convinced that this is the case, the actions he is taking or threatening to take are egregious to say the least.  I am Jewish and of course I abhor antisemitism.  That said, the price of millions of Americans losing their jobs, or of a substantial amount of vital medical research coming to a halt, just isn't worth this fight to me.   I would urge you to read Mara Riegel's excellent April 21 column in the GW Hatchet entitled "Perspective:  Trump Exploits Antisemitism To Repress Student Speech."  I suspect many Jews, like Mara and myself, are opposed to being help up like pawns to advance this fight.  Especially from the guy who was sure there were fine people on both sides in Charlottesville.

GWRising, your reaction says to me that that you equate "free speech" with "any or all speech", and this simply isn't true.  Hate speech must be differentiated from free speech.  Verbal and physical harassment must be differentiated from free speech.  Breaking laws must be differentiated from free speech.  One can not walk into a crowded movie theatre and scream "fire" where there is none.  That's breaking the law, not free speech.
 

This thread will undoubtedly be destined for the General Discussion folder, but my hope is that it will live and breathe here for enough time for people to read and respond before being delegated to a place where few people will see it.

You may have heard that the AACU crafted a letter which was signed by an estimated 220 US College and University Presidents.  The letter accused the Trump Administration of substantial overreach as is evidenced by Harvard University's decision to file a lawsuit.  Canceling student visas, forbidding schools to enroll international students, attempting to control what can and can't be taught, and threatening to withhold federal funding to schools who do not comply with the Administration's wishes can all be considered examples of gross overreach.

As of 9:00 am this morning, President Granberg had not signed this letter.  Presidents from the University of Maryland, Georgetown and American University have all signed it.  Each Ivy League school president, except for Dartmouth's president, had signed it.  While I am profoundly saddened that our own university leader did not take this action, I can't say I am shocked by this.  In my view, her response to the heinous antisemitic images on the wall of the Gelman Library was quite late and not wholly satisfactory.  About a month ago, the DC chapter of the ACLU sent a letter to 8 DC university presidents and provosts urging for the protection of free speech and distinguishing it from unprotected harassment.  Again, GW did not respond right away.  Often, a failure to take a stand results in just the opposite; namely, that you are perceived as taking the wrong stand.

While I can understand how a diverse university has many factions to consider, what I can't understand is an inability to take a stand based on basic principles of right and wrong.  Does anyone think it's right to prohibit international students from attending US schools?  Or for the government to threaten schools by ta

A10 Rookie of the Year Deuce Jones is leaving La Salle for St. Joe's.  This might warrant some discussion in Philly.

Let's start with Luke.  All hail the P4 + BE player who transfers "down" to GW.  The comparison to those who transfer "up" is stark.  It's also consistent with a new 5 year study which indicated that 70% of college basketball transfers are "transfer down" situations, which includes transferring to a weaker program within the same tier (say a Marquette player transferring to DePaul).  At GW, Slim Castro is only the latest example of a long list which also includes (among others) Zeke Armwood, Mo Creek, Tyler Cavanaugh, Jaren Sina, and James Bishop.  Even guys like Joe Bamisile, Max Edwards, and Darren Buchanan who transferred down and then out more than proved their worth while playing for GW.

Hunger saw limited opportunities on a Northwestern team whose season fell into the crapper (and then almost out of it) due largely to injuries to Brooks Barnhizer and Jalen Leach.  Nick Martinelli became the sole focal point for the offense and Matt Nicholson was the center of choice for Chris Collins.  As one writer who followed the team put it, perhaps Hunger will not be as undersized a center at GW as he was in the Big 10.  I have to believe there's much truth to this.  Take away the small sample size of 2-18 shooting 3's (from a guy who does seem to like taking them) and I think there's a lot to like here as long as expectations are reasonable.  Luke will not be another Castro, playing alongside Castro, but as a guy who can help patrol the lane and get his hands dirty at the center position, Luke can certainly help fill the Sean Hansen role even if he'll go about this a bit differently. 

I did not see Hofstra play this past season though it was perhaps noteworthy that the team endured a subpar season relative to recent seasons.  Jean's statistics certainly imply he possesses sound abilities as a complete player and perhaps the team's record had more to do with his supporting cast.  Nevertheless, the notion of bring in a good player on a below 500 CAA team doe

My sense is that turning down who seemingly would have been a very good player for GW due to academics is worthy of its own thread.  I could be totally wrong about this but in this day and age of NIL and transfer portals, I don't even hear about athletes being turned down due to academics anymore.  Sure, a school can still stand behind its mission of being an academic institution first, which is of course what GW has done in this instance.  Nevertheless, what we've seen happen around the country is as follows:

1. Schools have received way too much revenue on the backs of talented athletes who until recently, were not legally paid to represent the school (except in the form of a scholarship which many would argue is not the same as being paid).

2.  Players are essentially competing on year-to-year contracts with the freedom to transfer without restrictions and the right to earn more money over time (or I suppose in some cases, this may translate to less money contingent upon job performance).

3.  The net effects of the above points are that players are playing as much for themselves today than ever before.  The school has become their employer which certainly may carry the implication to recruit the most successful basketball team possible regardless of academics. It would be naive to think that this isn't the mantra across many U.S. college campuses.

This is a long way of saying that when it comes to recruiting athletes, holding academics up as an important criterion for admission may today be regarded as an obsolete premise.  Being a member of the Atlantic 10 does the school no favors.  On the one hand, the conference isn't routinely competitive enough to cite that its member schools are truly competing for national championships (perhaps implying that academics need to greatly matter).  On the other hand, the conference is far more competitive, and by definition produces more revenue, than say The Patriot League whose member schools might be better s

Some updates within the conference:

Phil Martelli Jr. lands former top 40 high school recruit Ahmad Nowell who was not an impact player at UCONN this past season.  That said, he has a chance to join a long line of successful VCU point guards.

Malachi Smith, who wasn't the same player for Dayton this past season (was this due to lingering post-injury effects, a lesser supporting cast than he was used to, or both?), will suit up for UCONN.

Parker Moser is about to hire Justin Scott, Billy Lange's Associate Head Coach, as his new assistant at Oklahoma, and Xzayvier Brown is expected to follow him to Norman.  Huge loss for the Hawks.

Masai Troutman moves from Northeastern to George Mason.  13.5 points per game last season.

Keeyan Itejere moves from Marquette to URI.  a 6' 9" rim protector...how many of these guys does URI stockpile?

Point guard Jaden Johnson joins La Salle from ODU.  Jaden went for 16 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 turnovers against GW, including 6-12 from the floor and 3-4 from 3.

Jaden Daughtry joins Richmond from Indiana State, where he averaged 13 points in 19 minutes per game,  6/7", 230 pounds, and a Richmond native.