#79 KenPom for GW

A 50 spot leap from a year ago, a 150 rise from year 1 of CC

A Quad 1 win over South Florida

#365 in KenPom luck factor

GW has set the all time  program record for most assists in a season

The most efficient offense in school history and the most assists in program history

The Dude wrote:

GW has improved every year under CC:

2022 (year before Chris' arrival): 226

2023: 217

2024: 203

2025: 128

2026  84

If these KenPom numbers are accurate, the metrics show CC has us going in the right direction.  We will now see him schmooze the transfer portal to get to the next level.  Looking at our boxscore/roster, he's been in the portal and has gotta be more successful to continue the upward trend. 

Now that being said, I am pretty pissed we didn't sniff The Tournament and got smoked in the 2nd round of the NIT.  

GW wraps up the season with the 3rd best SRS rating of the last 20 years, shown here:

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/george-washington/men/

Better than 2015,   Outscored opponents by 7.2 points a game

In fact, very similar to the 2015 squad, strength of schedule nearly identical, SRS too

that team lost in the 2nd round of the NIT, this team lost in the 2nd round of the NIT



 

PROGRAM TRAJECTORY 

Last edited by The Dude (4/08/2026 12:38 am)

I agree JF.
Just 10-12 years ago, we were top 50 and even received votes in the top 25 rankings. Teams are much better today! I hope the administration is taking note and extending CC until 2035 before the biggies come sweeping in (at least we don't have to worry about UNC anymore). Can't wait to see the cupcakes we are going to feast on this Fall in order to get below 90 for the 1st time in over a decade!
 

The difference is that Lonergan, Jarvis and Hobbs (until his last year) could take a collection of different t players and mold them into something that resembled a team over the course of a year through coaching. Their teams improved and they got the most out of players, getting them to improve and play together and their squads did not dissemble into a rag tag unorganized group like we have seen the last few years.

Jarvis, Hobbs, and Lonergan shared certain coaching styles.  Gone are the days of the suit and tie with the leather dress shoes being used to stomp repeatedly on the hardwood floor to get player and refs attention. It was very effective!   Now we have 9 guys all dressed in same casual sport attire looking like a pep rally squadron.  Teams need hard coaching to be disciplined.  Each player brings something different to the gym and development begins on day 1.  And in many cases some players are coming from 1,2,or 3 prior systems.  Heard Bruce Pearl talking about how a player practices as one of the qualities he looked for.  That's why CC liked Marshall and Castro so much just as prior coaches loved what Pops, Armwood, and Joe McDonald brought to practice.  I think Aranguren fits that bill and hope CC brings in high energy glue guys with great fundamental skills like ballhandling and passing.  The bigs seem to gradually develop under CC while the same hasn't been the case with the guards.  May the pieces start to fit.  Fascinated by the number of quality A10 players in the portal.  Dan Hurley described the portal like being in the deli line.
 

Last edited by H&R..71 (4/09/2026 2:51 pm)

The Dude wrote:

GW was picked to finish 4th in The A10 and finished with the 4th best NET and KenPom in the A10

Went to the NIT and won a game there


365 out of 365 in KenPom luck factor, a product of all those razor close losses

130 spot increase from April 2023, each year leaping roughly 40 spots

The quality of the team was exactly what was forecasted and a massive leap from where CC inherited the program

This poses the question of whether trolls should be eligible for receiving the "Delusional Post of the Year" award.  It seems to me that anyone who is purposefully trying to sound as delusional as possible in order to get a rise out of people is violating the spirit of this award, which ought to go to someone who is clueless without having any idea that they are being clueless.

To recap:

Finishing 4th in the A10 means have the 4th best won-loss record in conference games.  This is not a subjective measure.  Each team plays 18 conference games and the team that wins the 4th highest amount of those games finishes in 4th place.  Finishing with the 4th highest NET in the conference and/or the 4th highest KenPom in the conference does not equate to what place a team ends up in.

Finishing 365 in luck is a byproduct of all those razor close losses.  But what are all of those razor close losses a byproduct of?  Questionable coaching decisions in the game's final minutes?  Poor execution down the stretch of close games?  Clearly, there's plenty of blame to go around but no matter how one interprets this, it's impossible to chalk up questionable coaching and poor execution to "bad luck." 

The quality of the team was exactly what was forecasted.  Really?  I saw forecasts of GW finishing as high as second place in the conference (there may have even been one predicting a first place finish), along with many forecasts predicting GW to finish in 4th or 5th place.  Curiously, I do not recall a single forecast calling for GW to finish in 8th place.  Or 9th place.  Or a tie between 8th and 9th place.

Can we do more than just parrot the GW twitter feed?