George Washington Team Report

GETTING INSIDE

The days when Pops Mensah-Bonsu roamed the court for the Colonels seems like a long, long time ago.

Yet, it was just four seasons ago the Colonials were stacked and won 27 games. Those days are long gone. George Washington has fallen on hard times. It failed to make the 12-team Atlantic-10 tournament last year and finished only better than Fordham.

Even matching last season’s 4-12 conference record might be tough.

George Washington lost three of its top four scorers, and is going to be leaning heavily on its six newcomers, none of whom are real standouts.

The Colonels will rely on the experience and leadership of senior forward Damian Hollis, who did score 20-plus points in two of the team’s last four games to shine a little light of hope on this season.

Hollis was second on the team in scoring (13.4), rebounding (6.1), field-goal percentage (.492) and blocks (27) last season. The 6-8 forward also averaged 1.7 assists and shot a team-best 41 percent from 3-point range. A 2007 A-10 All-Rookie team selection, Hollis emerged as one of George Washington’s most consistent threats from the perimeter who can also drive to the basket.

“The key for Damian is to get off to a good start and being able to perform consistently at a high level day in and day out,” coach Karl Hobbs said. “He and Travis [King] are the two guys that have played in the NCAA Tournament, so they’ve seen the program at its best and they’ve seen it at its very low point.”

NOTES, QUOTES

• Head coach Karl Hobbs brought in former Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe to serve as an assistant coach. Ellerbe replaces former assistant coach Darrell Brooks, who left to take the head coaching position at Bowie State. Ellerbe spent the past eight years as a basketball consultant for collegiate and youth programs as well as the last four years as vice president for corporate development for Madison Grace Construction Services. Prior to that, he served as the head coach at Michigan for four seasons (1997-2001), including the first season as interim head coach after replacing Steve Fisher.

• The Colonels’ defense wasn’t the big problem last season as they held opponents to 40.8 percent shooting. The problems came on offense. George Washington averaged 66.2 points a game, ranked 203rd in college basketball, shot 43.9 percent from the floor (155th) and turned it over 14.7 times a game (243rd).

• The home of George Washington basketball, Charles E. Smith Center, has completed the first two phases of a three-phase multi-million dollar renovation to significantly upgrade the 34-year-old building. The third phase is scheduled to begin in late March 2010. In addition to a new playing surface, lighting, seating and a VIP Club in the main arena, the lower level has been completely revamped with the addition of more locker rooms, an expanded athletic training facility, state-of-the-art fitness and free weight rooms, a sprawling academic support suite, a golf simulator and a completely renovated aquatics facility.

Last Year:   10-18 overall, 4-12 in the A-10.

Head Coach:   Karl Hobbs (career 133-100); 9th year at George Washington (133-100).

Quote To Note:   “Realistically for us, going back to re-establishing our brand, re-establishing that style of GW basketball, that means never having a bad-effort day, being a well-conditioned team, being a team that is consistently looking to put pressure on you offensively and defensively and looking to get easy baskets in transition.”—Coach Karl Hobbs on his team.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

Scouting The Newcomers:   The Colonials bring in three prep school players among six newcomers into the mix this season, with small forward David Pellom having the most potential to be an impact player immediately.

Key Early-season Games:   The Colonels open the season with two road games at UNC-Wilmington (Nov. 15) and at Boston University (Nov. 17). The middle of the following four-game home stand include Princeton (Nov. 24) and Oregon State (Nov. 28). A matchup game against Providence (Dec. 9) is the last home game George Washington will play until Howard (Jan. 2) closes out the non-conference schedule.

Program Direction:   After three consecutive 20-win seasons and three NCAA Tournament appearances, George Washington has nose-dived with back-to-back losing seasons, including two 13th-place finishes in the A-10. A youth movement is underway, but it might take some time for the Colonels to regain their footing.

Probable Starting Lineup:   G Travis King, G Tony Taylor, SF Aaron Ware, PF Damian Hollis, C Joseph Katuka.

Roster Report:  

• F Daymon Warren, a 6-foot-9, 223-pound freshman, fractured his right middle finger and had surgery on Sept. 22 to correct it. He was estimated to be out for up to 12 weeks.

• G Travis King, a third-year sophomore, is back to feeling 100 percent after missing all but one game as a sophomore with a knee injury. He rebounded last season to appear in all 28 games and average 6.2 points and 2.4 assists per game.

• C Joseph Katuka is the most likely candidate among the frontcourt players to have a breakout season. The 6-foot-11 Nigerian showed flashes of solid low-post moves in his first two college seasons. He has appeared in 38 games, starting 14, but played an average of just under 11 minutes a game. Still, his .516 career field-goal percentage is an indication that his minutes figure to increase.