GW Hoops / The Race for Rookie of The Year

**Posted by The Dude** 11/20/2023 4:38 pm

Fueling a lot of the GW early success, has been two players, the 2023 Rookie of the Year and the man who looks to be in the early lead for the 2024 Rookie of the Year

Anyone else in the A10 standout as top candidates?

The future looks very bright at GW

Garrett Johnson has been named the A-10 Rookie of the Week for the second time in as many weeks

https://gwsports.com/news/2023/11/20/mens-basketball-johnson-repeats-as-a-10-rookie-of-the-week?fbclid=IwAR0ItW3GltxZLnRye1slQ2vnI79Z2IGWUwEuRqEzJ082xTgyVbmGVGlFeaQ

**Posted by The Dude** 1/02/2024 11:29 pm

Garrett Johnson has earned his third A-10 Rookie of the Week award following his third double-double of the season.

Johnson led GW to its fifth-straight triumph on Saturday vs. Maryland Eastern Shore, notching his third double-double of the year in the process. The Oakton, Va., native poured in a team-high 18 points with 10 rebounds, two steals and a block in 31 minutes.

Johnson earned the Rookie of the Week honor the first two weeks of the season and has been rock solid for the Buff & Blue all year. He currently is second on the team with 14.0 ppg and 6.6 rpg and is the only freshman in the country with those averages this season. Johnson is also one of just seven rookies across the country with three double-doubles this year.

Overall, the Buff & Blue are coming off the best non-conference campaign in eight years, sitting at 11-2 for just the 11th time in program history.

https://gwsports.com/news/2024/1/2/mens-basketball-johnson-wins-third-a-10-rookie-of-the-week-award?fbclid=IwAR14pV4W22Qihyip2-gEEgp8GuQTGWPkjHuRJwTJqHqohoROhBh6ZWpT1bI

Last edited by The Dude (1/02/2024 11:30 pm)

**Posted by DC Native** 1/03/2024 11:14 am

ESPN just published an article listing Garrett and Darren as two of the top 13 freshmen mid-major players in the country:

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/insider/story/_/id/39154876/hits-misses-2023-24-men-college-basketball-freshman-class-far

**Posted by Gwmayhem** 1/03/2024 11:53 am

Nice find DC Native.

And if someone were writing a top freshmen at mid-majors based on defense, we might see a similar blurb on Jacoi and Trey.

**Posted by The Dude** 1/03/2024 4:49 pm

Very exciting to have guys with this much eligibility left playing this well out of the gate

In the long run that's going to be a lot more important than whether we win a close game here or lose a close game there

**Posted by The Dude** 1/04/2024 7:42 pm

GW now has the only TWO Freshmen in the nation averaging over 14 points and 6 boards as Darren Buchanan, with 38 points is now averaging over 15 and 6 himself

**Posted by The Dude** 1/08/2024 1:40 pm

JBIV and Buchanan sweep conference awards yet again!

Buchanan burst onto the scene in his A-10 debut with 38 points vs. Fordham, a new career-high and the most for a freshman in the NCAA this season. He was a remarkable 15-of-30 for the floor in scoring the most points for a GW first-year since SirValiant Brown's 42 points back in 1999.

The D.C. native finished the week averaging 23.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg and 3.0 spg while shooting 47.4% from the floor (18/38) and 71.4% from the free-throw line (10/14). While scoring nine points on Saturday at VCU, Buchanan was instrumental in limiting one of the Rams' top threats, Sean Bairstow, to 2-of-13 shooting in GW's two-point win.

Buchanan is up to 14.7 ppg in his debut campaign, the top rookie scorer in the A-10, the top rookie forward scorer in the nation

**Posted by The Dude** 1/15/2024 2:40 pm

Garrett Johnson has been named the A-10 Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this season!

**Posted by BM** 1/22/2024 2:03 pm

This week, it goes to Darren.

**Posted by The Dude** 1/22/2024 2:20 pm

Darren Buchanan Jr. has earned his third A-10 Rookie of the Week award!

DB Jr vs GJ for Rookie of the Year race is on

**Posted by Gwmayhem** 1/22/2024 2:51 pm

Thanks for providing this BM. At this rate, maybe the year-end award should go to both Darren and Garrett? That would be something...3 A10 rookie of the years in a two year period after going over 20 years without winning even one.

**Posted by jf** 1/22/2024 3:14 pm

That's an interesting thought: co-Rookies Of The Year from GW.
Most important, is if their contribution leads to go an impressive A-10 record.

**Posted by Basketball Jones** 1/22/2024 10:07 pm

The Dude wrote:
Darren Buchanan Jr. has earned his third A-10 Rookie of the Week award!

DB Jr vs GJ for Rookie of the Year race is on

or they split the pro GWU vote and a 3rd person from another university wins????

**Posted by The Dude** 1/23/2024 12:30 am

Basketball Jones wrote:
The Dude wrote:
Darren Buchanan Jr. has earned his third A-10 Rookie of the Week award!

DB Jr vs GJ for Rookie of the Year race is on
or they split the pro GWU vote and a 3rd person from another university wins????

I was thinking more likely Co-Rookie of the Year players from GW

**Posted by The Dude** 1/26/2024 12:51 am

15 and 7 for Darren Buchanan
15 and 6 for Garrett Johnson

What an incredible Freshman duo. The Future is very bright in Foggy Bottom

**Posted by GW73** 1/26/2024 1:30 pm

I wish I could be so confident about the "Future is very bright in Foggy Bottom" concering Buchanan and Johnson. CC smartly recruited transfers with 3 and 4 years eligibilty remaining with the idea that they would stay at GW because transferring a second time would force second-time transfers to have sit out a year. But when the judge ruled in December that players didn't have sit out after transferring a second time, it blew up CC's recruiting strategy and we have heard his frustration with the court ruling. So with that in mind, do we believe that both Johnson and Buchanan will return to GW next season or that one of them or maybe niether of them will return? The transfer portal makes it very hard to plan and think about the future. It's almost like you have to recruit a new team each season. Lots of schools that pay a lot more than GW for players will be atttracted to Johnson and Buchanan. You can't blame them for looking for more money and a bigger stage.

**Posted by GW0509** 1/26/2024 1:58 pm

GW73 wrote:
I wish I could be so confident about the "Future is very bright in Foggy Bottom" concering Buchanan and Johnson. CC smartly recruited transfers with 3 and 4 years eligibilty remaining with the idea that they would stay at GW because transferring a second time would force second-time transfers to have sit out a year. But when the judge ruled in December that players didn't have sit out after transferring a second time, it blew up CC's recruiting strategy and we have heard his frustration with the court ruling. So with that in mind, do we believe that both Johnson and Buchanan will return to GW next season or that one of them or maybe niether of them will return? The transfer portal makes it very hard to plan and think about the future. It's almost like you have to recruit a new team each season. Lots of schools that pay a lot more than GW for players will be atttracted to Johnson and Buchanan. You can't blame them for looking for more money and a bigger stage.

Similar to Max & Christian Jones last year (although who knows anymore with CJ redshirting), I've seen DBJ make references to being excited about playing alongside Ty Bevins next season. That would seem to indicate he's sticking around.

Of course, I'm sure Richmond assumed Jason Nelson was sticking around and he ended up going to their crosstown rival.

One way to make sure that DBJ and GJ stick around is to make a contribution to FOG.

**Posted by The Dude** 1/26/2024 4:30 pm

More and more looking like one of the great Freshman duo in GW history

**Posted by The Dude** 1/27/2024 10:17 pm

24 points 12 boards and 8-10 from FT for DBJr

Authoring one of the great Freshman years in GW history as well as duos

**Posted by The Dude** 2/09/2024 11:49 pm

23 points and 6 boards with 3 assists for Darren Buchanan Jr on 9 for 13 shooting, what a Freshman season.

Lets hope for another big one Saturday

this time that fuels a victory