Free Quebec wrote:

dmvpiranha wrote:

jake lieberman @jakelieberman2 10m
Fresno State transfer JR Ballard (@Jrballard__) is on a visit to George Washington.
Ballard played for Cal Poly in the 2019-20 season where he averaged 13.1 points on 36% shooting from three.

Committed to Weber St.

I don’t know that he would have helped (he wasn’t very good for a mediocre Fresno team last year) and I don’t know if Caputo even wanted him, but it’s fairly depressing that we’ve only landed one transfer this entire offseason despite plenty of playing time available.

I hate to admit it because I still think Caputo was a good hire, but the lack of incoming transfers has me less excited about this year than any non-MoJo year I can remember. It almost feels like we fans are being asked to not care about this upcoming season because the rebuild is really scheduled to get moving the year after.

I am with you. I am glad GW moved on from JC. But we all had to think that some new players would come with a new coach. While I still think that Caputo seems like a good hire, but I just don't get the lack of success recruiting. As we all know, you have to recruit every year because there are so many transfers. Caputo's focus has been on transfers, but we get nothing. Sorry, but the days are over where the first year doesn't matter. After lousy seasons of MoJo and JC, with few ramining faithful need something to look forward to next season. I hope Caputo can turn things around with the team he inherited, minus agruablly the two best players gone, but it sure doesn't look very exciting now. New players would certainly add some excitement.  I hope I am wrong that there is still some talent in the portal that Caputo can recruit and he can get big improvement from the players returning. 

I can understand losing transfers to Michigan and U Conn-but Weber St. in Ogden Utah?
We have playing time available-a great location and a much better academic profile than 
Weber St. I don’t get it.Caputo may turn out to be a good or great coach but so far I’m not 
impressed with his ability to close the deal.I feel like I’m losing interest in a long term relationship 
and I’m concerned it will end by me just “ghosting” my soon to be ex-paramour.
 

Let's be clear that Bamissile would not have returned if JC were still coach. He had an opportunity for a bigger stage. He was never going to ignore it. And it's doubtful Freeman would have returned.

I have to join the chorus here.  This is not a good start for CC.  Not at all saying that a coach's first year with a program should be equally weighted as any other season but unless he and his staff do a masterful job of coaching up the talent he has at his disposal, this is shaping up to be a "throwaway season."  No point debating this by asking whether it's better not to use a roster spot on someone who isn't a strong fit just to have it filled.  There were players with one year of eligibility remaining in the portal and we did not land one.  We have seen the pains of watching coaches like KH and ML in their first seasons coach another coach's players for the most part and the results were painful.  And to be fair, CC may go on to become an excellent coach for GW; in the overall scheme of things, year 1 of the CC may register as a small blip on the radar.  But as far as this season is shaping up, not at all a strong start on the recruiting front.  A few other points to make:

a) this has been somewhat alluded to but it should come as no surprise that CC did not bring any Miami players or guys in Miami's recruiting pipeline with him.  There was absolutely no way that CC was ever going to run the risk of ruffling Larranaga's feathers.

b) we can't ignore that this is a different day and age in college basketball.  The comparison to Year 1 Hobbs and Year 1 Lonergan are no longer apt.  While it's easier to understand why CC did not land an incoming freshman on his own, the transfer portal was filled with names, several of which we were in the running for.  We were only successful with Maximus who strikes me as a "possible Mo Creek" with more eligibility remaining.  This young man's health is extremely important, primarilty for his own well being but secondarily, to us fans as well.

c) In assessing why CC and staff were by and large unsuccessful on the recruiting front, I have to wonder whether the fact that GW has now relieved its past two coaches, both black and both with more than one year remaining on their contracts, might be a factor.  I'll contend that no matter what you thought about JC or his coaching, he undoubtedly deserved another year which would have been Year 4 on a 5 year contract.  Relieve him after year 4 and nobody bats an eyelash.  Instead, I believe GW has left itself somewhat vulnerable in the eyes of prospective recruits and perhaps more importantly, their family members and advisors.  Am not suggesting this is a permanent stench but for the time being, it does not appear that most players are in a rush to play here.

Gwmayhem wrote:

I have to join the chorus here.  This is not a good start for CC.  Not at all saying that a coach's first year with a program should be equally weighted as any other season but unless he and his staff do a masterful job of coaching up the talent he has at his disposal, this is shaping up to be a "throwaway season."  No point debating this by asking whether it's better not to use a roster spot on someone who isn't a strong fit just to have it filled.  There were players with one year of eligibility remaining in the portal and we did not land one.  We have seen the pains of watching coaches like KH and ML in their first seasons coach another coach's players for the most part and the results were painful.  And to be fair, CC may go on to become an excellent coach for GW; in the overall scheme of things, year 1 of the CC may register as a small blip on the radar.  But as far as this season is shaping up, not at all a strong start on the recruiting front.  A few other points to make:

a) this has been somewhat alluded to but it should come as no surprise that CC did not bring any Miami players or guys in Miami's recruiting pipeline with him.  There was absolutely no way that CC was ever going to run the risk of ruffling Larranaga's feathers.

b) we can't ignore that this is a different day and age in college basketball.  The comparison to Year 1 Hobbs and Year 1 Lonergan are no longer apt.  While it's easier to understand why CC did not land an incoming freshman on his own, the transfer portal was filled with names, several of which we were in the running for.  We were only successful with Maximus who strikes me as a "possible Mo Creek" with more eligibility remaining.  This young man's health is extremely important, primarilty for his own well being but secondarily, to us fans as well.

c) In assessing why CC and staff were by and large unsuccessful on the recruiting front, I have to wonder whether the fact that GW has now relieved its past two coaches, both black and both with more than one year remaining on their contracts, might be a factor.  I'll contend that no matter what you thought about JC or his coaching, he undoubtedly deserved another year which would have been Year 4 on a 5 year contract.  Relieve him after year 4 and nobody bats an eyelash.  Instead, I believe GW has left itself somewhat vulnerable in the eyes of prospective recruits and perhaps more importantly, their family members and advisors.  Am not suggesting this is a permanent stench but for the time being, it does not appear that most players are in a rush to play here.

I for one expected as much for a variety of reasons that are not an indictment of CC or his staff but rather the situation he finds himself in. It is a variety of factors that hamper our ability to bring in players, several have existed for some time now:

1. Unreasonable admissions standards given our conference.
2. No practice facility
3. Perception that GW is a terrible program due to the ML situation and the subsequent losing and frequent turnover in coaches.
4. Gwmayhem's point C.

Not one of these is CC's fault but he labors under these constraints. JC labored under the first three. Until GW wakes up and fixes at least 1 and 2 which are well within their control, I would expect the recruiting to be difficult. CC has a big task in front of him. GW needs to help him ASAP. 

Agree with FQ above. 
    Bamisile wants a bigger stage and I'm glad he got it. He may or may not find out, like his first school,
that he's not a huge, shining star on that stage.
   Freeman hurt, as you can see his potential. However, hasn't he averaged a school a year for the past
5 years?
   We weren't winning and were a disaster with these stars at the very end of the year.
Unless someone got them to play together and play real defense, their individual talent really didn't matter.
Yes, disappointed, especially when you see Lurch recruiting more than a starting five. But he had an earlier start--and let's say probably has a little more to offer, so to speak. Same thing with Rhodie. And am jealous that Dunphy landed the Drame twins from St. Peter's. Would have liked one of those hard-nosed St. Peter's players.
   Thought that no one left Miami, which was problematic for landing someone that way. Was hoping that Larranaga would throw us a bone or two, like a Miami recruit they were equivocal about--or didn't have space for. Hope he does so in the future, if he hasn't already, because it would be the decent thing to do.
    As of now, still hopeful that CC can get more out of the talent he inherited.
   We'll see in November.

Last edited by jf (7/06/2022 11:36 am)

Free Quebec wrote:

Strong disagre with Dude’s assertion that this thread shows why JC should have been given a 4th year or Mayhem’s absurd comment that “undoubtedly” JC “earned. 4th year.

He literally did nothing in 3 years to “earn” a 4th year (he couldn’t even finish top 200 in any year, not even with a very good backcourt last year.

Whether or not Caputo is struggling to recruit this year, or focusing on next year, or putting his energy into coaching up the guys he inherited, or even just the wrong replacement - none of that has any bearing at all on whether a coach who couldn’t get an A10 team into the top 200 in 3 years deserved another year.

Whether or not Caputo is struggling to recruit this year, or focusing on next year, or putting his energy into coaching up the guys he inherited or even just the wrong replacement also has no bearing at all on whether GW has made smart decisions dating back to ML including whether it was smart to start over when the team had its best A-10 finish in 5 years when GW spent $1.8 million to pry JC away from Siena and have to pay him all or part of $1.5 million for 2 years of not coaching. If you think 3.3 million sunk cost for an athletic department in financial straits shouldn't have factored into the decision when the team finished in top half of A-10, I don't know what to say to you. I further don't know what to say to you when many are conceding that this year could in fact be worse.

To me, JC deserved the 4th year in light of all of these considerations. But here we are and that is now water under the bridge. Two things can be true at the same time. CC could be a good hire but GW screwed up letting JC go.

It's all about transfers. Great example here --
 https://theathletic.com/3390668/2022/07/06/basketball-transfer-portal-losers/ 
--explaining the mess at St. Bonaventure. All five starters could have returned. All five starters have left. As the story says, mid-major coaches recruit talented players the Power 5 teams miss. But once the players show their talent at mid-majors, it's off to the teams that orginally weren't interested. Essentially, all the Power 5 coaches have to do is recruit from mid-majors. 

https://theathletic.com/3390668/2022/07/06/basketball-transfer-portal-losers/

It's insane to me that people have cited player retention as a reason to give JC another year. Because he was actually really bad at that when he was here.

GWRising wrote:

Free Quebec wrote:

Strong disagre with Dude’s assertion that this thread shows why JC should have been given a 4th year or Mayhem’s absurd comment that “undoubtedly” JC “earned. 4th year.

He literally did nothing in 3 years to “earn” a 4th year (he couldn’t even finish top 200 in any year, not even with a very good backcourt last year.

Whether or not Caputo is struggling to recruit this year, or focusing on next year, or putting his energy into coaching up the guys he inherited, or even just the wrong replacement - none of that has any bearing at all on whether a coach who couldn’t get an A10 team into the top 200 in 3 years deserved another year.

Whether or not Caputo is struggling to recruit this year, or focusing on next year, or putting his energy into coaching up the guys he inherited or even just the wrong replacement also has no bearing at all on whether GW has made smart decisions dating back to ML including whether it was smart to start over when the team had its best A-10 finish in 5 years when GW spent $1.8 million to pry JC away from Siena and have to pay him all or part of $1.5 million for 2 years of not coaching. If you think 3.3 million sunk cost for an athletic department in financial straits shouldn't have factored into the decision when the team finished in top half of A-10, I don't know what to say to you. I further don't know what to say to you when many are conceding that this year could in fact be worse.

To me, JC deserved the 4th year in light of all of these considerations. But here we are and that is now water under the bridge. Two things can be true at the same time. CC could be a good hire but GW screwed up letting JC go.

It’s spin time!   Love that you twice worked in mention of finishing “top half of the A10” or “best finish”.  The top half was totally fluky in that we were beyond horrible in the OOC, were not even a top 200 team nationally, didn’t have to play Bona, played a weak schedule in one of the worst years ever for the A10, and were so pathetically bad at the end of the season that we needed 3 OTs to beat Duquesne at home when they were on a 15 game losing streak, lost to Fordham, and got thoroughly embarrassed in the A10 tourney in DC by a bad UMASS team. 

But if you don’t understand that a coach who finished 241, 227, and 226 in efficiency in his 3 seasons (and never coached a top 200 team before he came here) didn’t show any reason to think he could coach a top 50 or top 75 team to make the postseason, then I don’t know what to tell you.