RALEIGH, N.C. — The Colonials aren’t moving on in the NCAA Tournament, but head coach Mike Lonergan and his team have returned to Foggy Bottom knowing they earned the second-best thing: respect.
“That’s what we were coming out here to do,” graduate student Maurice Creek said after Friday’s 71-66 loss to No. 8-seeded Memphis, “to gain the respect from everybody, because that’s what we felt like we didn’t get.”
But the underdog will quickly become a conference favorite. After becoming one of the most-feared teams in the Atlantic 10 and building a small buzz nationally, the Colonials will take the Smith Center’s monument-strewn floor next fall with unusually high expectations.
GW has the pieces to continue its upward climb: a strong core of four sophomores who have made leaps in maturity, a returning head coach and five incoming freshmen – the best recruiting class in Lonergan’s tenure.
After taking advantage of low expectations entering this season, next year will bring a whole new set of conditions. Now that they have respect, it’s time for the Colonials to be an annual contender for the big dance.
“I told the guys after the game, we don’t want to be one-hit wonders,” Lonergan said Friday. “We want to get back. Our guys have to work this off-season, because it’s tough to make it in the tournament. We’re in a great conference and hopefully we’ll be back next year.”
Saying goodbye
Before the team can improve, GW must overcome its biggest losses of the offseason: the departures of Creek and senior Isaiah Armwood.
All of the expectations and optimism for next season wouldn’t be possible without this historic season or the contributions of GW’s veteran leaders, now two of the most influential players in program history.
Armwood’s bolt from Villanova two years ago was the first sign that Lonergan and the Colonials could attract high-level transfers. His presence changed the culture of the program, Lonergan said, and his work ethic helped serve as a model for younger teammates like sophomore Kevin Larsen, the A-10’s Most Improved Player.
Creek’s remarkable comeback story helped propel GW into the spotlight this season, becoming the national face of the team. His reemergence as a prominent basketball player garnered media attention – from the likes of the New York Times – that had been unheard of in recent years.
“I think GW was great for Maurice Creek and Maurice Creek was great for our school and our basketball program, and that’s what it’s all about,” Lonergan said.
A new wave of recruits
This time last year, several players wanted no part of GW basketball. Then-veteran leaders Lasan Kromah and David Pellom raced to the door, seeking playing time on more brand-name teams – Connecticut and Memphis, respectively.
Lonergan’s biggest recruit – Nigel Johnson – pulled back his commitment to join what he thought was a better program at Kansas State. That left Lonergan with a small and relatively weak recruiting class.
But as the team racked up wins this year, recruits started to roll in. Lonergan could label GW as a competitive basketball program, getting plenty of exposure on national television and selling out the Smith Center.
That attention paid major dividends, in the form of four three-star recruits: Matt Cimino from Worcester Academy (Mass.), Anthony Swan from Virginia Episcopal School, Japanese-born Yuta Watanabe and Paul Jorgensen from Don Bosco (N.J.).
Jorgensen, a 6-foot-3 guard with superb ball-handling skills, watched the Colonials’ run to the NCAA Tournament with proud interest. At first, other college basketball fans in his high school hallways didn’t know much about GW.
“I know at Don Bosco, there were not too many kids that knew about George Washington before, but once they started winning – they beat Manhattan in the northeast, they beat Fordham – a lot of people in New York really started getting aware of GW, especially now that they went to the tournament,” Jorgensen said.
The sophomore ‘core four’
Last season, the “Freshman Four” shocked everyone by starting in an unprecedented 17 games. As a result, their development into conference superstars surged ahead of schedule.
The group – the now-sophomores Patricio Garino, Joe McDonald, Kethan Savage and Larsen – stands out because they amassed game experience as a unit early and matured quickly.
“That sophomore class is special,” Armwood said. “That’s a big, main reason why we’re here today, because those guys stepped up from their freshman year.”
Next year, they will go from a group of young underclassmen to standout team leaders, who could make their names known nationwide with another run late into March.
“In a couple weeks, I’ll look back. We have a pretty good recruiting class coming. I’ll feel good about the future and what the upperclassmen did to help us get back,” Lonergan said Friday.
This story was updated March 24, 2014 to reflect the following:
Correction appended
The Hatchet incorrectly reported the high school Anthony Swan attends. He goes to Virginia Episcopal School, not Princeton Day Academy.
