The A10 will look different next year. Most of the teams were blessed with experienced players who will thankfully move on to post graduate activities. The top 4 teams will lose their best players and more. Dayton will graduate four of its starters-- Giacone (All A10 1st Team), Whalen (All A10 3rd Team), Bradshaw (All A10 Defensive Team), and Whitehead (DU’s leading rebounder). URI will bid farewell to its top two scorers-- Tahane (All A10 1st Team) and Elmore (All A10 3rd Team). UMASS loses Breen (A10 POY) and Philoxy (All A10 2nd Team). Finally, VCU will part with Robinson (All A10 1st Team) and Haddix-Covington (VCU’s leading rebounder).

Other teams that will lose key players include Richmond, who graduates Squires (A10 Sixth Woman and Co-Defensive POY), Klimkievicz, and Holt; Fordham, who will part ways with four starters-- Dingle (All A10 3rd Team), Downey, Heremaia, and Jonassen; and St. Louis who loses Harbison (All A10 2nd Team) and Flowers (All A10 Co-Defensive POY and All A10 3rd Team). Three teams, LaSalle, George Mason and St. Bonaventure will lose their top scorers in Spruill (All A10 1st Team), Scott, and Johnson (All A10 3rd Team) respectively.

Davidson, Duquesne and St Joe’s will suffer some loss through graduation, but each has a solid core of returning underclassman, especially St. Joe’s, whose Brugler (ROY), Fair, Smith, Nystrom took four of the five positions on the A10 All Rookie Team.

Disclaimer: Above may not be 100% accurate if any of them have an extra year of eligibility I'm unaware of.

No conclusions should be drawn about how these graduations may effect individual teams next year, as the top programs have typically been able to reload their rosters and press on without skipping a beat. Suffice to say that the overall A10 landscape will be significantly different next season.

The A10’s graduating class gives us a good picture of how we stacked up against the rest of the league. GW players received no post season honors and when compared with most of the other A10 teams, it’s clear that we lacked the size and depth of talent to compete for a championship. On the other hand, it’s also clear that we have a solid foundation to build on. The defense was really good this year, especially when you consider our weakness in the low post. Our constant need to help defend the inside gave our opponents many open looks and easy chances at the basket. Despite that, we tied GW’s all-time record for least points allowed per game in a season and finished the regular season ranked 19th nationally (as of 3-6-2022).

Coach McCombs was able to recruit some competent transfers who played for lower tier Division 1 programs or came from lower-level college categories, but none were over 6’ tall. As the season played out, none of our freshman recruits (Rizzotti’s) delivered significant minutes for the team. Fortunately, Maxine Engel, who joined the team as a walk-on, played well enough earn a starting role by the end of the season. Although finishing 6-12 in A10 play and 13-18 overall was not up to our usual standards, given the set of initial circumstances, the results were respectable, especially in the A10 tournament. Perhaps a healthy and eligible Ty Moore for the whole season may have netted a couple of more wins.

Now that the season has ended, we can ponder what comes next and how the dreaded transfer portal might rear its head to redirect our plans. Coach McCombs came into a difficult situation and had to cobble a team together that lost it’s top four scorers to the transfer portal or graduation. Included in that group was our top rebounder and our assists leader. Together, the departures combined for 39.6 ppg, 21.7 rpg, and 9.4 apg, but more importantly, Luma and Brigham were the foundation of our interior defense and Whitney provided our on-court leadership.

Frames, Bell, and Loder will graduate. Assuming that the other core players return, we need to address the point guard position, our lack of size, and how we improve our offensive consistency.

Point Guard: Gingras is adequate as a backup PG. She doesn’t yet have the offensive skills to take up starter’s minutes, but she’s a good defender and did a much better job of protecting the ball late in the season and limiting turnovers. We have freshman Nya Robertson coming in, and although she may be the answer for the future, it may require time to acclimate her to the A10 before we turn the keys over to her. We need to find an experienced PG via transfer to either start at PG or to come off the bench to provide consistent offensive help.

2nd Guard: We have a solid nucleus in Laureano, Brown, and Lok. All three can defend taller guards and rebound well. Because offense is always under the microscope, Laureano’s defense may go unnoticed, but she led the team in steals and blocks while frequently locking down her opponents on the perimeter. Offensively, each plays best when they let the game come to them and takes what the defense gives them. They are not great ball handlers and can all improve their shooting percentages with better shot selection and by resisting the urge to dribble into situations that lead to turnovers or difficult shots. Patel could be an X-factor. Based on limited observations, she looked comfortable on the perimeter taking 3-pointers and all of her attempts this year (5) were from beyond the arc. She did not take any bad or rushed shots and there was no hesitation to shoot. She was accurate on her attempts, hitting on two shots and back-rimming the others. She may have to improve other aspects of her game to earn playing time, but if she can, she could be a good situational substitute for us.

Front Court: Returning next season are Blethen, Engel, Taiwo, Haydon, Ojo, and Webster. Caia Loving, a 6’3” freshman is coming in to join the mix. Taiwo and Engel will see a lot of playing time. Taiwo was probably the most underrated player in the A10. She was our most reliable and consistent player and her energy was boundless. She played defense all over the court and led the A10 in offensive rebounds (15th nationally). Engel has the biggest upside offensively and the ability to play inside and out. She needs to refine some of her skills, but more importantly, we have to better integrate her into the offensive schemes and get her more offensive looks. Although a bit undersized, she showed toughness and the ability to defend and rebound down low. When we play the shorter line-up, Webster should get a lot of minutes. If Blethen can regain her form from her freshman year (she made 35 3’s, more than anyone this year besides Frames), she would get extended minutes. Ojo needs more playing time to develop her offensive skills, but in an already crowded field she would have to earn her minutes. When we need a taller presence in the middle, will we go to Haydon or Loving? Haydon showed some defensive toughness earlier in the year, but her offensive skills are raw. It’s not clear whether Loving is A10-ready, but that would be asking a lot. As an insurance measure, it would be great to find an experienced low block defender via transfer to anchor our interior defense.

Of course the transfer portal could change a lot of things, but we’re a year away so it will be interesting to see how the coaching staff approaches the areas that require improvement. Next season’s success will generally be driven by the improvements made by our incumbents, so it behooves the coaches to focus their off-season efforts on our areas of need.

It’s a long way to go before next season. Stay tuned. 

Last edited by xAC (3/07/2022 9:46 am)