This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Cory Weinberg.

With formal practices just over a week away, men’s basketball head coach Mike Lonergan said Thursday that his players and coaches are knee deep in their transition.

Lonergan spoke to reporters at the media day for the BB&T Classic, a charity basketball doubleheader that will pit GW against Virginia Commonwealth December 4. The first-year head coach said he and his cast of five new coaches are learning the strengths and weaknesses of a Colonials team that will face early tests.

“That transition has been tough. We have a new coaching staff, new plays and we’re familiarizing ourselves with the players and the system,” Lonergan said. “It’s going to take some time. We’ll be a much better team in January than we will earlier in the season.”

In facing last year’s NCAA Cinderella story in VCU, who advanced to the Final Four last year, Lonergan anticipates a tough match-up, but one that he will wait to scout.

“We haven’t really thought about opponents yet. I know VCU had a great year and the coach did a great job, but I haven’t watched any film on them,” Lonergan said.

Athletic director Patrick Nero, who is also in his first year, trumpeted the match-up as important for the team’s national exposure and fan spirit. The 17th annual BB&T Classic, which will fundraise for the Children’s Charities Foundation, will also feature a game between powerhouses Notre Dame and University of Maryland.

“It’s like playing a postseason game in the middle of the year,” Nero said. “It’s an exciting day. It’s not like every other game.”

The Colonials will play the second-toughest non-conference schedule in the Atlantic 10, an ESPN.com article said Wednesday. GW will go on the road in November and December to face California, Kansas State and Syracuse.

Lonergan admitted the schedule will allow little breathing room for his team, but said facing tough opponents will boost the team’s RPI, a metric used by the NCAA selection committee that adjusts rankings based on teams’ strength of schedule.

“I think our players are really excited by [the schedule]. They won a pretty good amount of games last year, but their RPI was really low because their opponents’ RPI’s were low,” Lonergan said. “I think that’s sort of reflected now where we’re being picked in these preseason polls because we have four starters back but people know most teams we beat didn’t have winning records.”