Gonna be hard to keep focus for this game coming off another near miss in an important game.  Hopefully they are able to take care of business and start the stretch run strong

Fordham Rams
Date: Saturday January 31st, 2026
Time: 2:00 PM ET
Venue: Charles E. Smith Center (Washington, DC)
TV: Monumental Sports Network/ESPN+
Ranks: 201st (KenPom), 206th (Bart Torvik), 208th (Haslametrics), 191st (EvanMiya)
2024-25 Record: 12-21, 3-15 (15th in A10)
2025-26 Projected Record: 14-17, 5-13 (13th in A10)
NET Ranking: 221st (Q4 Game)

Head-to-Head: 33-13. GW won both meetings last year, ending a rough stretch where GW had lost to Fordham a disturbing number of times. Prior to last year, GW was 3-7 against Fordham from 2019-24.

Last year's road contest at Rose Hill was the regular season finale for GW. It was a fairly lopsided match, with the Revs going up by 19 at halftime and eventually leading by as many as 32 points on the road. The Buff & Blue did not rely much on the three ball, taking just 19 attempts for the game and making seven. However, Fordham had no answer inside which allowed GW to shoot 58% inside the arc and attempt 25 free throws compared to just five for the home team. The Revs also held a +16 advantage on the boards, generating 15 second chance opportunities. Slim led the team with 16 points and 8 rebounds, but shot just 4/9 from the field and 8/13 from the line. Tricky added 14 points and 7 rebounds, Sean Hansen had 10 points, and Jun scored 10 as well from off the bench.

The two teams met just eight days later after Fordham had upset URI the days before. GW got off to a similar good start, going up eight at halftime and leading by 3 points with nine minutes to go in the game. Unfortunately, GW went on a cold streak at the end of the game which coincided with Fordham getting hot from the field. The only Rev to make a shot in the final eight minutes of the game was Autry and the team went over five minutes without scoring outside of a made FT from Jacoi. Tricky's three treys in the final two minutes helped GW avoid a complete meltdown, as the Rams took a two point lead with just over 2 to go. Both teams made ten triples in the contest. Autry accounted for 70% of those makes for GW, proving to be a clutch player when it mattered. Fordham actually outrebounded GW in the tournament game - it's amazing how much difference a week makes after they were absolutely pummeled on the glass at home. Autry finished with 23 points, Slim added 17 points/8 rebounds on a more efficient shooting day, Jun scored 14 points/7 rebounds but was just 6/11 from the FT line, and Jacoi tacked on 10 additional points.

The last time the two teams met at the Smith Center was the very memorable triple OT classic that saw the Rams come out on top, 119-113. Fordham would begin the game making their first three triples, a sign of what was to come the rest of the game. The Rams knocked down ten threes in the first half alone, which may go down as one of their best offensive halves ever. For the game, the Rams were a +33 in points scored from beyond the arc. At the end of regulation, Jun made a layup to tie the game at 85 and Fordham was unable to convert on the final possession. At the end of the first overtime, GW had the shot at winning on the final play but JB had his jumper blocked. The second overtime was perhaps the most memorable. JB was fouled with three seconds left down 3. He made the first FT, and was successful in intentionally missing his second FT. The ball hit the side rim and Fordham would knock the ball out of bounds. Off a timeout, the Rams lost track of Jun who would have a clear path for a dunk to once again tie things at 102. In triple overtime, JB made a big 3 to send the Revs up 2 with just over two minutes to go, but Fordham responded with back-to-back made threes to regain the lead. At that point, GW was never able to get back into it. All five starters for GW finished in double figures. Jun led the way with 38 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals in what was his breakout game at GW. JB added 32 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and somehow even had 3 blocks on 4/7 shooting from behind the arc. Garrett had an efficient shooting day with 17 points/8 rebounds, Max finished with a double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds), and even Stretch Akingbola added 11 points/10 rebounds to go with 4 blocks. The only problem was that GW got just two points from off the bench and turned the ball over 16 times.

Offensive Efficiency: 259th (KenPom), 267th (Bart Torvik), 271st (Haslametrics), 232nd (EvanMiya)
Defensive Efficiency: 132nd (KenPom), 118th (Bart Torvik), 137th (Haslametrics), 155th (EvanMiya)
Pace: 334th (KenPom), 339th (Bart Torvik), 330th (Haslametrics), 327th (EvanMiya)
Offensive Shot Quality Rank: 162nd
Defensive Shot Quality Rank: 134th
Rim & 3 Rate: 83% (170th)

Strengths (2025-26 Season):
Rebound Margin: +9.2 RPG (13th; 2nd in A10)
Scoring Defense: 65 PPG (15th; 1st in A10)
Fouls Per Game: 15.1 PF/G (27th; 2nd in A10)
Rebounds Per Game: 40.24 RPG (31st; 2nd in A10)
Offensive Rebounds Per Game: 13.33 ORPG (32nd; 1st in A10)
Defensive Rebounds Per Game: 26.9 DRPG (51st; 3rd in A10)
Field Goal Percentage Defense: 41.2% (58th; 2nd in A10)

Weaknesses (2025-26 Season):
Turnovers Forced Per Game: 11 TO/G (271st; 11th in A10)
Three Pointers Per Game: 6.8 3PM/G (277th; 12th in A10)
Bench Points Per Game: 18.67 PPG (280th; 12th in A10)
Free Throw Percentage: 69% (288th; 12th in A10)
Scoring Offense: 71.3 PPG (299th; 12th in A10)
Blocks Per Game: 2.2 BPG (329th; 14th in A10)
Three Point Percentage: 29.2% (348th; 14th in A10)
Free Throw Attempts Per Game: 13.4 FTA (361st; 14th in A10)
Free Throws Made Per Game: 9.2 FTM (361st; 14th in A10)

Projected Starting Lineup:
#2 G Dejour Reaves (Graduate Student; Syracuse, NY) - 17.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.9 apg, 2.1 spg; 45% FG, 34% 3-PT, 82% FT per 34.3 mpg/34 GP at Iona last season
#30 G Christian Henry (Senior; Chicago, IL) - 14.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.3 spg; 44% FG, 37% 3-PT, 69% FT per 35.4 mpg/32 GP at Eastern Michigan last season
#12 F Rikus Schulte (Junior; Münster, Germany) - 3.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg; 55% FG, 24% 3-PT, 56% FT per 15.2 mpg/33 GP at UC Riverside last season
#13 F Akira Jacobs (Junior; Yokohama, Japan) - 6.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg; 41% FG, 31% 3-PT, 78% FT per 18.8 mpg/30 GP at Hawaii last season
#3 C Jack Whitbourn (Sophomore; Melbourne, Australia) - 3.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg; 47% FG, 33% 3-PT, 63% FT per 13.1 mpg/34 GP at UC Riverside last season

Key Bench Players:
#0 F Abass Bodija (Redshirt Freshman; Brisbane, Australia)
#13 F Roor Akhuar (Freshman; Melbourne, Australia)
#4 G Marcus Greene (Graduate Student; Gilroy, CA) - 7.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.5 apg; 39% FG, 30% 3-PT, 77% FT per 20.4 mpg/31 GP at Hawaii last season
#77 G Louis Lesmond (Graduate Student; Paris, France) - 7.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.5 apg; 36% FG, 29% 3-PT, 73% FT per 29.5 mpg/22 GP at Harvard last season
#10 G Kingston Price (Sophomore; Bowie, MD) - DNP last season

Key Losses:
Jackie Johnson III (Graduated; Wichita, KS) - 19.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.5 spg; 44% FG, 35% 3-PT, 74% FT per 30.2 mpg/33 GP
Japhet Medor (Graduated; Wellington, FL) - 13.6 ppg, 3 rpg, 4 apg, 1.6 spg; 37% FG, 35% 3-PT, 83% FT per 32.9 mpg/33 GP
Josh Rivera (Transferred to Seton Hall, New Brunswick, NJ) - 10.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.1 apg; 44% FG, 32% 3-PT, 54% FT per 25.3 mpg/32 GP
Jahmere Tripp (Transferred to Rhode Island; Brooklyn, NY) - 7.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.2 spg; 42% FG, 34% 3-PT, 70% FT per 20.3 mpg/29 GP
Romad Dean (Transferred to Tulsa; Freeport, Bahamas) - 6.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg; 43% FG, 34% 3-PT, 73% FT per 26.5 mpg/33 GP
Abdou Tsimbila (Graduated; Yaoundé, Cameroon) - 5.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.5 bpg; 54% FG, 74% FT per 19.5 mpg/33 GP
Will Richardson (Transferred to Albany; Teaneck, NJ) - 5.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.3 spg; 26% FG, 28% 3-PT, 100% FT per 27.5 mpg/8 GP
Matt Zona (Graduated; Blauvelt, NY) - 5.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg; 43% FG, 29% 3-PT, 67% FT per 16.7 mpg/33 GP

Preview:
The objectives of each college basketball program varies across Division 1. Of course everyone wants to win, but when you get outside of the high major ranks, the way success is measured goes beyond wins and losses. Certain schools continue to see athletics as a part of the collegiate experience, and not a professional entity. It's why it is surprising to see certain coaches not get canned despite subpar W-L records for many years. These schools are not going all out to land a former NBA draft pick like Baylor did with James Nnaji or Alabama getting a G-leaguer in Charles Bediako to return to the school.

With the NCAA continuing to become less relevant with every passing year, teams (especially at the power conference level) continue to skirt the rules set forth by the organization. It's to the point where it's a surprise when any school self-imposes any suspensions due to violating NCAA compliance. To see Fordham suspend now ex-coach Keith Urgo for four games during the regular season definitely turned some heads. The problem with "getting ahead" of any possible consequences is that it gives the NCAA an excuse to conduct additional investigations and hit the program harder than what was really necessary. They'll ignore anything a blue blood does and punish smaller schools. So what did the school feel warranted a suspension? It turns out Urgo spent more than the limit on entertainment expenses for recruits. They were not given money or anything like that on their visit. It's a joke, and really speaks to the institution's stance on athletics. Fordham was fined $35k, put on three years of probation, a two-year show-cause was imposed on Urgo, and 41 wins were vacated between 2021 and 2023. Urgo has since returned to the DC area to coach Gonzaga College HS, his alma mater. I don't know whether he was the long-term answer at Fordham, but he no doubt created a certain level of buzz the program didn't have for a long time - even if that good season came when the A10 was at its weakest. He's not the only coach at the school to have a single good year - I'm looking at you Jeff Neubauer and Kyle Neptune.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Fordham was turned down by a few coaches in their quest to replace Urgo. They ultimately landed Mike Magpayo from UC Riverside, which I think you can definitely call a success. Magpayo, the first D1 head coach of Asian heritage, led the Highlanders to their best ever KenPom mark back in 2020-21 (106th). In his five seasons at Riverside, he outperformed the team's KenPom preseason rank in four out of five years. That's pretty good at a school that considered dropping from D1 not too long ago. He's definitely used to being at a place where it's not easy to win and over-performing. UC Riverside is like the fifth UC school that is given attention in the Big West after Irvine, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Davis.

There's no doubt that Magpayo has his work cut out for him in the years ahead given the restrictions put on Fordham's recruiting currently, but he's very well respected in the industry. I can't write this preview without mentioning Fordham's actual joke of a schedule during OOC play. The average rating of teams the Rams played in the non-con was -15.67, which was 3.7 points worse than the team with the next weakest schedule, Hawaii. Believe it or not, this is the fourth time in the KenPom era that Fordham has played the weakest OOC schedule in the country. It's probably not a good thing that they lost four games in the non-conference, but credit Magpayo for getting the team to play better from mid-December onwards. Fordham's depth was compromised when Zarique Nutter and Jace Howard (Juwan's son) departed early in the season but the squad has adjusted well.

Magpayo was able to win at Riverside in different ways. His first couple teams skewed more towards the defensive side of the ball, while his last three were more offensively minded. In general, his offenses do a decent job of taking care of the ball, being patient and taking good shots, and his teams improved offensively from 2023 onwards when he started to emphasize the offensive glass more. Prior to Fordham, Magpayo's teams generally prioritized the three ball (three of five years in the top 100 in 3PA%) but the actual effectiveness of that approach was mixed. Do not expect the Rams to get to the FT line often. Only IU Indy has a lower FT rate on the season than Fordham. That should work out well for GW, as fouling can be an issue on occasion. Defensively, Magpayo's teams have always been elite at limiting second chance opportunities. Four of his five teams at UCR were top 40 in defensive rebound percentage, and Fordham is currently 19th in that category this year. Given the Rams are 31st in KenPom's "effective height" metric this year, it's a bit surprising to see their block rates so low but that's been a trend in all teams Magpayo has coached.

As you'd expect during a coaching change, there's not much returning from last year. Ryan Pettis was on the fringe of the rotation last year, but could not shoot worse if he tried (6/26 from the field, 2/15 from 3). The brutal shooting has continued into this year, but Pettis has been sidelined since the end of November due to a concussion. Kingston Price redshirted last year, but the Bowie native has been effective as a spot option throughout the year. He's a low-usage player, but can hit the open shot (35% from 3).

To help fill the roster quickly, Magpayo brought a trio of players with him from Riverside. Rikus Schulte returns to the Atlantic 10 after beginning his career at Davidson, where he was a deeper option. The German has started every game for Fordham this year after being in the rotation at UCR throughout last year. He's an efficient finisher near the rim but has limited range and his production has fallen off a bit since OOC play. What really stands out is Schulte's rebounding ability - he averages just under 10 rebounds a game which ranks 25th nationally and he has seven double-doubles on the year (38th nationally). That's particularly impressive given the slow pace that the Rams play at. Schulte also sports a +1.6 DBPR on EvanMiya, which is tops on the team. Jack Whitbourn adds additional size inside after appearing in 34 games for Riverside last season. The Aussie's efficiency could stand to be better but like Schulte he uses his 6'11" frame effectively to crash the glass, averaging just under nine boards a game. Whitbourn missed the early part of the season with a lower body injury. Abass Bodija also hails from the Land Down Under, but redshirted at UCR last year. He's the best offensively of the trio, shooting 60% from the field and averages five rebounds himself.

Fellow Big West/Hawaii transfers Akira Jacobs and Marcus Greene caught Magpayo's eye when they decided to portal. Jacobs continues the international flavor present throughout the roster. He has started alongside Schulte and Whitbourn to form a jumbo frontcourt for the Rams. Jacobs is a fairly decent offensive player, and stop me if you've heard this several times before - is a good rebounder. I'm not even sure how there's enough rebounds for so many players, but Jacobs corrals five a game himself. He has alternated double-figure and single-figure performances over the past few weeks, so maybe GW will get the quieter version tomorrow. Greene is on his fourth school in as many years. Prior to Hawaii, he spent time at Houston Christian and Sacramento State, so Greene hasn't exactly seen a ton of winning. He can stretch the floor a bit, but hasn't come close to the 43% mark he had at HCU. Greene hasn't scored in double figures against a D1 team all season but will see some run off the bench. If the shots don't fall, he may not be worth playing major minutes due to being a liability on defense (-1.28 DBPR per EvanMiya).

Up to this point, I haven't really mentioned any players who are natural scorers. That job, along with facilitation duties, falls squarely on the shoulders of Dejour Reaves and Christian Henry. Reaves, an Iona transfer who began his D1 career at Northern Colorado, is a gifted scorer. While his three point shooting has continued to fall from his days in Greeley, Reaves is at the heart of everything Fordham does. He rebounds very well for a guy at his size, is a decent playmaker (3.7 apg), and gets after it on defense. Expect him to finish in double figures scoring and put up around 15 shot attempts. After all, he leads the league in field goal attempts (43rd nationally) and second in makes. The key will be making it an inefficient shooting day for him. I'm sure he'll want to one-up Tricky with both players hailing from upstate NY. Henry comes over from Eastern Michigan, a school that consistently underperforms their talent level. He shot 37% from 3, crashed the glass, played solid on-ball defense, and set up the offense in Ypsilanti. While his three point shooting has tanked to 27% this year (really his shooting efficiency overall), he does lead the team in assists (5.3 per game, 53rd nationally and 2nd in A10). Reaves and Henry combine to account for 60% of Fordham's assists for the season. Henry has shot above 40% from the field in just one of six conference games so far.

Two more international wings in Harvard transfer Louis Lesmond and Australian Roor Akhuar round out the rotation. Lesmond is a high-volume, inefficient option who is now in his fifth year of college basketball. Two seasons ago, he shot 38% from 3, but he's not come lose to that since and is a non-factor when run off the three point line. Akhuar has way more upside - he's shooting 39% from 3 on the year and is another decent rebounder.

Rebounding figures to be a major factor tomorrow. Fordham is a top rebounding team in the league and contending with their size will be a challenge. I would not be surprised if we see the return of the Luke-Slim double big lineup tomorrow. The Rams will try to slow the game down and limit possessions. When you factor in their ability to limit second chances in the half court, getting out in transition becomes that much more important. Of course, they likely haven't faced many players who can offensively rebound like Slim, but GW will overall be at a height disadvantage up front like in the Florida game. If the Revs can speed up the game, they should have a lot more success. This should be a win for the Buff & Blue, but I wouldn't be stunned if Fordham covers.

Projected Score: GW 80, Fordham 67. 89% chance to win (KenPom). Bart Torvik forecasts a 90% chance at a W. ESPN predicts a 91.5% chance for GW to move to 14-8.
 

Thanks Wisconsin Colonial 1974!

Slim is out according to the injury report, so things just got a bit more interesting. The guys are gonna need to rebound by committee to avoid getting killed on the glass today against Fordham.

Wisconsin Colonial 1974 wrote:

Thanks again for the great preview, Piranha.

Apropos of your comment about the NCAA giving the big schools a pass and penalizing the small schools, I remember someone who made a satirical comment that went something like this: “The NCAA got so mad at Kentucky that they penalized Grambling.” 

It was the NCAA’s enemy #1 - Jerry Tarkanian

We simply cannot rebound against these guys. Castro would be dunking when he got the ball in the middle of that zone

We have to take that shot in the middle of the zone near the foul line.

Fordham 1-15 from three and we’re still down three…

Without Castro, this is pretty much a Jamion Christian team…

DC Native wrote:

Without Castro, this is pretty much a Jamion Christian team…

Bingo! Hard to believe there not a single matchup GW can’t exploit!

Wisconsin Colonial 1974 wrote:

Can a stress fracture not be serious?

That is unclear to me. I was a bit surprised to hear it wasn't serious and it was a stress fracture so maybe I am misinformed