Rising say's "take a deep breath".

We have been told this the last 5 years.

Seriously, we are a very small club now (GW Men's Basketball fans). We have been through hell and back. We all probably have PTSD. It's in our nature to now look at the glass half empty.

It's obvious to JC and everyone else he needs to bring in BCS level players and transfers, not players from BU, MSMU or Siena to turn this thing around.

He also has some competition in getting those players with GMU's recent hire of English. I think that was a great hire for their program. I hope we can do the same in 3 years.

Am practically to the point where I don't care where a transfer comes from or what ranking a high school player has next to his name.  Right now, this is very much about whether JC and staff can coach at a competitive level within the A10.  So far, this has not turned out to be the case but I am happy and willing to give them more time, particularly coming off this crazy year when much was out of their control.  The key is that they have to bring in guys who can perform at this level.  

Despite what JC once said, this is not just basketball, five guys to a side, roll out the ball and see what happens.  We don't necessarily need BCS talent, but we need enough talent to effectively compete.  And, we need a coaching staff that knows how to maximize strengths while minimizing weaknesses.  

On the subject of recruits, for example, when Sloan Seymour was rumored and signed, some here had questions about his ability to do something other than shoot.
   Then fans expressed our interest in teaching him to do something other than shoot. And it turns out, we didn't showcase his shooting--and even that wasn't a reliable game changer.
   When a coach follows someone on social media, then that's an indication of at least some level of interest. Unless they are just interested in bulking their social media profiles, which would just be weird and unhelpful. And some of our interest on social media, found by our sharp-eyed sleuths here which we appreciate, has foreshadowed our recruiting efforts.
  So, as Mike K. and others noted, nothing wrong with having a question or 3.
 We've had no postseason play interest for our team for weeks.
Would it be better if the few dozen of us hard core fans have no interest in potential new players, as we complete a total roster turnover in two seasons, including the some of the new coach's recruits?

Joel Joseph wrote:

Rising, how did you get the "job" of defending the current coaching staff 50 times a day for the last 2 years? I applaud you for your tenacity and effort - it hasn't been easy.

I believe English will be a great hire for a couple reasons. First, he's from Baltimore and has deep connections to the DMV. Secondly, it wasn't that long ago he played professionally, which I think will help in recruiting and relating better to today's college player. I like the mentors he has had. His prior recruiting has been excellent. Could I be wrong? Of course I could. You and a few others on this site have been wrong about JC so far. I have always said JC was a bad hire for several reasons (.500 record at a low level school, bad/non-existent hiring process (no fault of JC's), etc. Let's revisit this issue in 3 years. My bet is English will have a better program at GMU in his 3rd year than JC will have at GW in his 5th year. I hope I'm wrong.

As for the Terps, ask any of the GW players we have left and the coaching staff on which team they would rather be on right now? Success at UMD is determined on whether or not they make the Sweet 16 and beyond. Success at GW these days is determined on whether or not we can avoid the losers #10-14 1st round game of the A-10 Tourney.

Well if success at Maryland depends upon whether they make the Sweet 16, they aren't doing too well. - 1 for the past 18 years. 

I've known Kim since he was a teenager so it's nothing against him. I think he will be successful. But successful assistants don't always make good head coaches. Sitting in the first seat is vastly different than sitting in any other. My point is there is nothing except speculation at this point in time. JC had a HC track record, went to the NCAA tournament more than once, and turned around a terrible Siena program in just one year. He coached under Shaka at VCU if you want mentors. So not really sure why you thought one was a great hire and the other not.

Not sure how I have been wrong about JC on this site. I didn't predict an NCAA tournament this year. I said he will get it right and be successful here. After year 2, especially one that was as screwed up as this one, hardly the time to throw in towel.

As for JC I think you will be wrong but time will tell for all of us.

Last edited by GWRising (3/23/2021 4:35 pm)

I am of the opinion that Maryland should move on from Turgeon after 10 years - then they went and extended him (although that means nothing with today's BCS teams). I think Turgeon is a pretty good recruiter and average X's and O's coach. At that level, you need to be a great X's and O's coach and either a great recruiter or have a great recruiter on staff. UMD will eventually get tired of him and move on. After Gary won the championship the bar has been set unrealistically high there.
Not only did JC have a good mentor in Shaka (although most Texas fans would disagree right now) but he played and learned from one of the best in Jim "Bowtie" Phelan.
Kim's advantage over JC right now is that he doesn't have a HC record to compare with JC so until 3 years goes by, it's like comparing apples to oranges.

CAN we keep this thread on topic PLEASE!!.  Plenty of other threads to discuss KC, Shaka Smart and Turgeon. Much appreciated.
Its seems some people can't control themselves and g

 

Just as a reminder for those as antsy as I am for good news.

Last year Moyer committed on 3/25, Bishop committed on 4/5, and Lindo committed on 4/10.  Remember though that with no March Madness the commit dates may have been pushed up a bit. The staff may be waiting to see who enters the portal in the coming weeks as teams get eliminated from the tournament.

Any relation to Clair Bee, GWRising?

Three of the interesting names I noticed in the portal today:

1) Noah Locke, SG Florida.   He’s an excellent shooter and a pretty good player who probably won’t be more than a role player at UF or similar school.  Will be interesting to me to see where he goes.  If he goes laterally, he probably remains a bench role player/designated shooter, or maybe more at a BCS school that lost everyone like Penn St. 

But if he came to a school like GW, he could really shine. I think he’s the kind of player who could be all league on a team where he’s a focal point (like, say, South Florida, who also lost everyone).  No reason to connect him to us other than wishful thinking because he’s a perfect fit on the court. 

2) Jordan King, Siena.  King is a sophomore three point shooter, so I presume JC recruited him.  He averaged 12 ppg this year on 34% from three.  Never seen him and no idea if he’d be another Sloane Seymour or something better if he followed JC to GW, but caught my eye.

3). Josh Carlton, UCONN.  Carton went to DeMatha so maybe a return to DC area is in the cards?  Last year he looked like a very promising big man at UConn, but this year basically fell out of the rotation.  He only has one year of eligibility left, but he’d be an interesting one year rental in the middle. I think he fell out in Connecticut because they wanted to spread the floor for Bouknight and Cole, but he’s a big time offensive rebounder (top 50 in the nation in each of the previous two years, and his rate was even higher this year but he didn’t play enough minutes to qualify).  No idea if JC wants a traditional inside big man who can’t shoot, but he would be an instant upgrade in the middle for us for one year.

I’m sure there are others but he’s one guy who jumped out at me right away.

Thought that name sounded familiar.
Good memory.