Who are the Colonials?
by Shawn Sillinger
No seriously, who are they?
You’ve seen them in the college basketball rankings. George Washington? Is that a real university? You bet your wooden teeth, and their basketball team may prove to be just as real.
The No. 13 Colonials are the early frontrunners in the Atlantic-10 Conference. They’ve plowed through their first eight opponents, but only two of GW’s games were important enough to have lines posted. Those games: a mild upset of then-No. 17 Maryland and a thorough pasting of Fla. International. The Colonials will get another taste of big-name competition when they face the No. 18 N.C. State Wolfpack on Dec. 30. That’ll be GW’s first game back from a two-week layoff for exams. The Pack will have played two times in the interim.
So, who are these guys? The George Washington University is a private institution in D.C. that has been around since 1821. Their alumni reads like a Who’s Who list, from the famous (Jacqueline Kennedy, Colin Powell) to the infamous (L. Ron Hubbard, Kenneth Starr). But the basketball team is GW’s current pride and joy. The Colonials got into the NIT two seasons ago, surprised both Maryland and Michigan State in last year’s BB&T Classic preseason tourney, then won the A-10 title to earn a trip to March Madness. Georgia Tech dispatched them quietly from the first round; still, the Colonials were heading in the right direction.
The next couple of years should be good ones for GW. This season features an all-senior frontcourt of Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Mike Hall and Omar Williams. Juniors J.R. Pinnock and Carl Elliott form a potent backcourt duo, and coach Karl Hobbs (a former protégé of Jim Calhoun at UConn) keeps his charges fresh by going eight-deep into his bench every night.
Hobbs might decide to make it nine-deep now that Regis Koundjia has been officially declared eligible to play for the Colonials. The former LSU forward decided to transfer to GW last year after not getting enough playing time with the Tigers in his sophomore season. Koundjia is a promising natural athlete from the Central African Republic. He was a three-sport wonder in high school, and has already shown a sound grasp of defensive fundamentals. Koundjia will make his GW debut against the Wolfpack.
The difference between the Colonials being a good team and a great team will be in the play of the freshmen. Hobbs has proven himself an excellent recruiter, in part because he gets his first-year players into the game right way. This year’s crop includes two-guard Noel Wilmore, swingman Montrell McDonald and small forward Robert Diggs. McDonald is getting the most attention so far, with 6.5 points per game in 17.8 minutes. The athleticism and depth that this young trio provides should make GW a force to be reckoned with against name opponents like N.C. State. Just make sure to get them early before the betting public catches on.
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