The GW men’s basketball team will host its first major-conference guests in nine years this upcoming season when Providence and Oregon State visit Smith Center, Director of Athletics Jack Kvancz said this afternoon.
The Oregon State game, which Kvancz said had been in the works for at least two years, comes after continued rumors that the Beavers would make the trip to D.C. Some of this speculation was attributed to the election of President Barack Obama, whose brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, is entering his second year at the helm of Oregon State’s program.
Providence, which the Colonials visited in the 2006-07 season, comes to GW to honor its outstanding contract to complete the home-and-home series. The Friars were also the last team from one of college basketball’s six power conferences to play at Smith Center when they did so in the 2000-01 season.
Kvancz acknowledged that the ongoing Smith Center renovations – which include the replacement of bleachers with fully-backed seats, a new glass-walled club for program donors and revamped locker room areas – may have played a part in securing GW’s opponents.
“It didn’t hurt us, and that’s a plus,” he said. “It’s going to be beautiful.”
Also visiting Smith Center, Kvancz said, will be Princeton and UMBC, in addition to the previously confirmed George Mason. According to Kvancz, the Colonials will open the season at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, whom GW beat in their last NCAA tournament victory in 2006, and travel to East Carolina.
Kvancz said that no tournaments are in the works and that although the remainder of the schedule is not ready to be etched in stone, it is nearing completion.
“For practical senses we’re done,” Kvancz said. “We just don’t have the signed contracts.”
He added that ideally GW would play a full non-conference slate of 13 games, but that he is unsure if they will be able to do so. In a perfect world, Kvancz said, the Colonials would be able to schedule 13 home-and-home series, but that he may need to schedule one or two “buy games” with opponents of much higher or lower quality that will not extend in commitments beyond this season.
