Eamon Brennan just posted an article about CC: “ Curious and patient, Chris Caputo has found his perfect first head coaching job at George Washington”

https://theathletic.com/3279071/2022/04/29/curious-and-patient-chris-caputo-has-found-his-perfect-first-head-coaching-job-at-george-washington/?source=user_shared_article

“Joseph was let go; Jamion Christian, formerly of Siena and Mount St. Mary’s, and then an ascendant young coach in his own right with his own big designs on GW, was hired. Christian never remotely got it going. COVID-19 and a challenging 2020-21 season that featured just 17 games played (and five wins) didn’t help, but it wasn’t a total surprise athletic director Tanya Vogel decided to make a change after a 12-18 2021-22 season. The Colonials ended up 29-50 in Christian’s three years. Their highest adjusted efficiency ranking was 226th. Christian was a positive figure, but the program hadn’t improved much, if at all, from the dark days of what was supposed to be a temporary post-Lonergan mess.

Yet there is something interesting about George Washington as a place. How many campuses like this one — wedged beautifully into a vibrant urban rowhouse neighborhood, pocked with world-class restaurants, steps from the White House — are there in the country? How many of those places have gyms like the Charles E. Smith Center, nestled right there on campus, with the right number of seats, great sightlines, a red chair honoring alumnus Red Auerbach, and no onerous off-campus arena to commute to? How many of the nation’s best players come from the surrounding DMV, and how many of their larger contemporaries could someone connected in the area — like, say, someone who used to recruit at George Mason — peel off? How many of those players, plus transfers (from which Miami never shied), plus international guys, need to commit before you’re competing at the top of the A10? And oh, by the way, how many George Washington alums have deep pockets, and might also be willing to inject some resources into a winning program? (There are already plans to upgrade the Smith Center with additional basketball courts, replacing the pool, in what will be a functional practice facility within the gym, too.)

Despite six ugly seasons in a row now, and just six NCAA Tournament appearances since 1997, there is something appealing about George Washington, something that feels like it’s just been sitting here, hiding in plain sight, ready to be awoken. This could be a really good basketball program, right? The pieces are there, aren’t they?

Caputo is convinced, anyway. Thus far, and it’s ridiculously early, the sale seems to be taking. Three of Christian’s former players (most notably Joe Basimile and Brayon Freeman, to Oklahoma and Rhode Island, respectively) have left through the portal, but Caputo has retained the rest of the eligible roster, including starting guard Ricky Lindo, the former Maryland guard, who entered the portal and had high-major and fellow Atlantic 10 interest, as well as an offer from Murray State, before Caputo reeled him back in.

Lindo was impressed with the intensity of the workouts Caputo has been putting him through, the same stuff the coach has picked up from his voracious NBA-habit consumption, the same stuff he was running with draft hopefuls in Miami. At one recent workout, the team tested their 3-minute run capacity, how many times they could get up and down the court, with the same benchmarks NBA teams use during the pre-draft workout process. The message was simple, if implicit: You want to get to the league? Here’s one of many targets to hit.

“I believe he’s serious about making GW a really good program, like it once was, and building it from the ground up,” Lindo said. “I want to be one of the players that can say I helped him bring GW back to fame.”


I would post more but The Athletic is notorious for going after places for going around the paywall and I don’t want us to get shut down.

Last edited by GW0509 (4/29/2022 7:08 am)

I must've missed the news that we're building a practice facility where the pool is

Great article.  My sense is that Ricky came back because Caputo is working his butt off trying to prepare him for a professional career.  Am not anticipating much discussion under CC about how incredibly well connected the team is or how much love there is in the locker room.

Looks like the plan for the practice courts (inside the Smith Center) are back on under CC; it did not appear this was the case under JC.  Make of this what you will.

Easy to understand why and how CC and Erik Spoelstra became fast friends.  Spoelstra also started at or near the bottom within the Heat organization.  Similar work ethics, similar visions.  When looking for a sounding board, you could do far worse.

The article made me feel a lot better about the possibility that CC remains at GW once Larranaga retires.  That's not to say he wouldn't make that move, but I came away feeling that this was not the slam dunk that I initially anticipated.  Also, CC is definitely an X and O guy first and a people person second.  JC had that in reverse, IMO.

Finally, it's nothing short of fascinating that Brennan (the article's author) opted to include a link to the Deadspin article.  No links to the Post article could be found anywhere.