I thought about starting a new thread for this post before realizing that so much of this topic ultimately points to our floor and ceiling that I put it here.  Besides, I think this is the perfect type of off-season thread as long as you don't get caught up with semantics.  (As in, if the question was posed as What is GW's Floor and Ceiling this upcoming season, as opposed to "Realistic" floor and ceiling, the meaning of the question really would not have changed and yet you'd eliminate responses like "how do I know what's realistic with so many new players?")

Anyway, this post is intended to comment on the most efficient ways to become a more competitive program once again.  From a recruiting perspective, Chris Caputo is taking some plays from the historic GW playbooks that have worked well in the past.  While recruiting locally is important, it stands to reason that the combination of two more prominent area programs plus a number of national powers who set their sights on recruiting the DMV, makes it very difficult to attract the top area talent to attend GW with any consistency.   There is also the underrated knack of finding guys like Zeke Armwood, Tyler Cavanaugh and James Bishop IV who were simply unhappy with their roles at former schools.  Of course these opportunities must continue to be researched in the portal.  That said, there are essentially two formulas that have somewhat uniquely served GW well in the past and which CC and staff are effectively utilizing:

1) Foreign born players.  From recruiting Yinka, Yegor, and Sasha from other countries to attracting, Nemanja, Patricio, and KevLar at US prep schools, there is something about the nation's capital that has always held appeal to international students.  Plus, there are certain stipulations involving foreign born players accepting NIL money (I admittedly need to learn more about this) that the international pipeline may never have been as essential to GW than it is right now.  With Benny, Keegan, Zamoku, and Babatunde (Stretch) all in the fold (though I would feel better if Stretch was officially added to the GWSports.com roster), it appears that we are again back to showcasing a number of international flags at home games after MoJo produced very little international talent and Jamion underwent a flirtation but nothing more with a certain New Zealander.

2) Players coming off of injuries.  The international player storyline has been mentioned ad nauseum but this second point is in my mind, a well kept secret.  Like other midmajors I am sure, GW is forced to roll the dice quite a lot when it comes to taking chances on players coming off serious injuries.  There have been Colonial players like Maureece Rice and Mo Creek who by and large may never have worn a GW uniform had they never been injured prior to arriving.  Nothing is guaranteed and certainly not everyone is a huge success.  In Patrick Steeves, for example, we saw the semblance of a former player who returned to the court but still could not quite lick the injury bug.  Last season's pleasant surprise, Maximus Edwards, has helped create hope for a new crop of players to thrive...Darren Buchanan, Benny Schroeder, Garrett Johnson...all players who may never have become available to GW if not for their health histories.
 

MG14 wrote:

Jon Rothstein at GW today.

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1684211480458059786

He also tweeted a predicted starting lineup that will surprise all of us:

Bishop
Edwards
Schroder
Garrett Johnson
Akingbola

(Speaking for myself, Johnson is a surprise. If he’s starter level that’s a huge bonus.  I’ve been expecting Hutchison, Autry, or Buchanan as the 5th starter with those other 4).

https://twitter.com/jonrothstein/status/1684219151064215555?s=46&t=m2xsjs4EY33TDlbMVwhKzQ

I too was surprised that Garrett was mentioned in the starting lineup (I thought he may be a deeper option at least right out of the gate) but it made sense after I thought about it more. Like BM mentioned, there isn't much three point shooting in the starting lineup on paper. CC expressed his frustration multiple times last year that neither the 4 nor 5 position could really stretch the floor, and a Buchanan-Akingbola lineup will just be more of the same on that front. One of the freshman guards could also crack the lineup, but that might force Benny into more of a frontcourt role for longer stretches than he probably should play (although he can certainly play spot minutes at the 4).

More than his lack of experience, I was questioning whether Garrett's defense would translate early on but based on Rothstein's report I guess it has. While not really practicing, he was exposed to a very disciplined style of play at Princeton. There's no questioning Johnson's shooting ability - he's a strong player on that end.

I'm really excited to see all the lineup combinations next year because the versatility is like night and day from last year. You could make the case that we can go 10 deep, with Jacoi, Trey, Christian, Darren, and Antoine all coming off the bench based on the above lineup. Keegan gets minutes as a backup 5 when we need more height (although you could say he's probably more of a 4). Unfortunately that puts Zam at the very end of the bench. I hope he gets some minutes during OOC play but I figure he's probably a part-time player in year 1.

Going back to the earlier point, I think CC will want shooting at either the 4 or 5 most of the time. Antoine can easily sub in for Garrett off the bench for shooting. There may be reasons to even play Darren and Keegan together so the shooting remains intact, although there will definitely be a time and place for Darren and Babatunde to play together and crash the glass against bigger teams. Alternatively, Darren could play the 5 and CC could put a more guard-oriented/shooting lineup around him and play a bit more small. The possibilities are endless.

It will also be interesting to see what happens when conference play rolls around and the rotation gets cut. I still feel that one of the freshman guards will be on the outside looking in by that point. Trey and Christian seem better able to shoot off the ball which will help. Jacoi is too good of a passer to be excluded. Regardless, I don't see CC sticking with 10 guys by then.
 

Don't want to put too much faith in Rothstein's predictions given that he's only spent a few hours with this team.  Nevertheless, his words do give us something to go on so with that said:

1) Am really glad that he was this bullish on Schroeder.  The reports from U20 Europe were less than inspiring.  Sounds like he has the chance to be on offense what Mr. Garino was on defense.

2) Yes, Garrett Johnson is the surprise of the day.  When considering that he is on a Kenner roster but has yet to play (to my knowledge), I began to wonder whether health issues were resurfacing.  The fact that Jon has him in his projected starting lineup says to me that he must look pretty healthy out there.  Remember, this is someone who has not played competitive basketball in 2 1/2 years.  That's an exceptionally long layoff.

3) While I realize that we can only start 5, the two players I was expecting in the starting lineup were Darren and Jacoi.  I'd suspect both to see 20+ minutes per game off the bench.  The more I think about it, the more I like Jacoi, Trey and Christian all coming off the bench together, at least to start the season.  Am anticipating each to contribute without any feeling like an odd man out.
 

Rothstein A-10 rankings.  GW at #7 seems fair.  Here he has Antoine Smith starting ahead of Johnson and Buchanan.

https://collegehoops.today/rothstein-files/atlantic-10-offseason-breakdown-4/

So many moving parts on every team.  Gonna be fun watching our progress as the season goes on. There are always surprises both good and bad. I think we could be in top 5 in A10.  Joe Bam is no surprise not starting. He doesn’t fit any role and 4 schools in 4 years proves that. 
The movement of transfers from 1 team to another within A10 is fascinating. And the best name goes to Rhode Island’s Always Wright!!

Bamisile is not currently eligible to play for VCU next year. School is appealing his status seeking a waiver of the requirement for him to sit out a year as a consequence of his gazillion collegiate transfers. NCAA appears to be looking less favorably on such requests but who knows? Hard to project him as a starter when he may be seeing action exclusively on the scout team

Taking gambles is the very definition of attempting success with something that is unproven.  It's exactly what a program like this one should be doing until it has built enough continuity that it no longer needs to gamble so aggressively.  Convincing a player from a major program to "transfer down" is not without risk.  Maybe the player just isn't as talented as what was expected.  Maybe he's a head case or extremely difficult to coach.  Nevertheless, GW ought to show interest in players who at the very least, major programs saw enough interest in to offer.  At all programs big and small, players are promised the chance to play but as we know, only so many can play meaningful minutes.  Sometimes a player may have been injured or just not assimilating well during his freshman year.  And sometimes, a perfectly fine, healthy player is the 10th best on a team with a 9 man rotation.

What's really important is whether GW is taking calculated gambles and thus far, it definitely appears as if CC and staff are doing just that.  Buchanan was injured at VA Tech but has looked fine in Kenner.  Schroeder battled through an injury at Oklahoma but was well enough to represent his country in U20 play.  Johnson has not played competitively in over two years yet Jon Rothstein projects him to become a starter.  All good signs.