Took St Bonaventure about 9 years to recover from the welding incident, we are due.

Really fun atmosphere today.  Nice to get off to a strong start.  Seemed like a much better effort guarding the 3-point line today.  Hall is one of the best players in the league and got his but we weathered their run in the 2nd half. Tough road stretch over the next two weeks, but very happy with our start in the league so far.  

Good thread GWAA. For me yes, I am admittedly biased as I had hoped we hired CC when we hired Jamion. There are really three profiles for GW coaches: 1) low-major head coaches on the rise (Jamion, Lonergan), 2) Experienced head coaches on their retirement tour (Penders), 3) Assistants at high majors (Hobbs, CC).  I have only been following the team since 1995 but I tend to prefer #3.  

I tend to evaluate coaches in three categories: 1) Coaching / player development, 2) Recruiting, 3) Brand building (this includes media presence / on campus outreach / alumni relationships).  For number 1 I think it is safe to say the jury is still out for me. Bishop has gotten better, Adams made a huge jump last year etc but the sample size is still pretty small. I thought Lonergan was a pretty masterful in game tactician, Jamion seemed flawed there and CC is probably somewhere in between. For number 2, the recruiting playbook for GW is well established. Get a few local kids (either out of high school or returning home via transfer) and international players. CC seems to understand this and obviously knows how to work the portal as well. He also seems to understand how to sell the strengths of GW, which is important because there are many weaknesses when compared to schools we are competing with for talent. Also, since I have been a season ticket holder, the first recruiting class of a new coach tends to be absolutely critical. Hobbs (Hall, Pops, Omar, Kireev) and Lonergan (Larsen, Garino, McDonald, Savage) obviously hit with their first classes. Christian less so (Ball, Brelsford, Brown but he does deserve credit for Bishop of course). CC seems to have hit with his first full recruiting class (Jacoi, Autry, Johnson, Buchanan, Benny) and we will see what happens with Jones and Zam.  In this era who knows who stays. For number 3, CC seems to be an upgrade as well at least on the alumni relations front. He is working our most wealthy alumni hard to fund things like the NIL, pract

Late to the party...but I really liked what I saw of Jacoi.  Definitely does not play like a freshman PG as we expected with his level of play at IMG in high school.  Nice to have a legit pass first PG with all the weapons on the team now that is a dangerous enough scorer that you have to respect.  

Thanks for posting BM. A rim protector and rebounder is exactly what we need.  Welcome Stretch!  I worry about foul trouble as we don't really have anyone else that can guard a legit 5 at this point.  

Agree with everyone that we need a post or two to round out the off-season, but I will say I am very happy so far. No one year rentals, our roster is now much more talented all with guys that 3-4 years of eligibility.  If we can land Favour Aire this off season will be a home run for me.  

danjsport wrote:

As one who lived these years as a student, this choice is SO hard because it depends on the criteria.

JR was, for me, the most fun guy to watch play. Omar, while probably the most talented, was the most  infuriating to me. His standing at the free throw line and bulldozing his way into wild shots overrode all of the positives for me, repeatedly. Pops was the face of those teams. Carl did it with those guys and without em. And Mike Hall was the glue of all of it. Oh, and the leading scorer in GW history played in that decade.

For me, I go Pops. He just defined those teams. And his injury probably cost them the most. But there's no wrong answer to this question.

While clearly NOT the answer to this question, we should also through a loving mention to Dokun, who sacrificed for GW and kept the team's success rolling for an extra year.

Love the Dokun shout out, definitely the most impactful walk-on of my era (since 1997).

What an up and down game. We obviously rely so much on guard play in Bishop, BA and Max.  If all three are going, we are really tough to beat.  But with Bishop and Max being a little off, we needed a career game from BA.  Really happy for him and the season he is having.  A couple of other notes:
-So great to see to see Amir thrive in the defensive specialist role.  He was extremely disruptive and nice to see him hit a three. I think we all want him to look for his shot a little more. Reminds me of Regis a little, of course not as athletic. But a highly touted transfer that became a really disruptive defender. Amir's contributions are critical to our success, hope his ankle is ok.
-In listening to the CC presser, I guess I was the only one pissed off at the refs.  I realize that two of the three reviews went our way, but I don't love how much it slows down the game.
-Lindo has a knack for the huge defensive play.  He had a few during the Dayton game, and a big one down the stretch last night.
To survive three uncharacteristic mental mistakes from BA, Bishop and Max down the stretch is a good sign. These are games that would have been losses over the dark days of the past five years.  

Bishop needs some NIL money to stay, not a crazy amount but something. He will getting paid somehow next year, whether at GW, another school with NIL $ or professionally.

Some serious allegations in a lawsuit filed by a former Coppin State men's basketball (our 12/13 opponent) player. I would be lying if it did not remind me of a deadspin article from 2018.