Four transfer students will debut on the men’s basketball team this season, bringing a combined 14 seasons of Division I NCAA play onto the court. 

Redshirt juniors Rafael Castro and Trey Moss and graduate students Gerald Drumgoole Jr. and Sean Hansen are among seven newcomers to the program, stepping out alongside freshmen Dayan Nessah and Ty Blevins and junior walk-on Mohamed Binzagr. The quartet brings a blend of size, shooting and ball handling that will be crucial for the team this season as the transfers hope to aid a Revolutionaries’ team without former guard James Bishop, the third all-time in program history in points scored.

The seven new players join a team that concluded the 2023-24 season with a 15-17 overall record and a 4-14 standing in the Atlantic 10. The Revs kicked off the season 14-3 last fall, but a 12-game losing streak — the longest in GW history since the 1988-89 season — ultimately sank the team to a last-place finish in the conference.   

Meet four transfers that look to help propel the Revolutionaries through their season: 

Rafael Castro

The 6’11” redshirt junior forward towers over the Revs’ roster. Tied in size with redshirt senior Keegan Harvey, the Dover, New Jersey, native committed to GW this spring after spending three seasons at Providence College, where he primarily was a bench piece. Castro says he hopes to harness his height in the paint this season to create opportunities for his teammates during their matchups this year. 

“I get a one-on-one matchup and a high or low post, killing that and making them double me and spreading it out to my teammates for shots,” Castro said.

Now, Castro joins the Revs’ ranks with 60 games played for Providence across two seasons after redshirting his freshman campaign. Last season, Castro appeared in 34 games with the Friars, averaging 2.9 points per game on a Providence team that finished with a 10-10 record in Big East play and a 21-14 overall record. 

Castro said that the preseason and practice momentum started “pretty slow” as new players adjusted to the pace of the team, but that the Revs soon accelerated to live play. He said that during high school, Caputo recruited him to the University of Miami where he was an assistant coach. Castro didn’t commit to the school, but his relationship with Caputo helped him land in the District when he entered the transfer portal earlier this year.

“Just that connection being there already to trust me, that was a part of it,” Castro said. “And then, during my visit here, the team embraced me and made me feel at home.”

Sean Hansen

The 6’9″ graduate student forward from Ramsey, New Jersey, joins the Revs as the third-tallest player on the team, adding another piece to a revamped front court.

Before transferring from Cornell this fall, the former Big Red captain averaged 8.8 points per game last season with 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Hansen’s transfer to GW comes after three seasons at Cornell following the cancellation of his freshman season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Hansen said he hopes to utilize his size to move the ball around and force defenses to commit to the shot or the drive.  

“My role as a center, we can stretch the floor a little bit,” Hansen said. “We’ll definitely open up the paint for penetration. I’m a good facilitator. I can pass the ball well and shoot the open three when necessary. So just looking to get the big man out the way for downhill drives.” 

Hansen said new Assistant Coach Matt Colpoys tried to recruit him to Johns Hopkins University when Colpoys was working for the school leading up to the 2021-22 season. The two stayed in contact throughout the transfer process and helped bring the New Jersey native to GW, where Colpoys and Caputo explained that the Revs’ style of play would be “similar” but not the same as what Hansen was used to — pushing him to apply his experience while developing his skill set.

“I just want us to win the A-10 Championship,” Hansen said. “I don’t really have any personal goals. My goals are more team oriented. I want to see us do big things. That’s my one goal.”

Trey Moss

For this redshirt junior guard from Orlando, Florida, GW will mark the third school he has attended in four years, after hopping from the University of Florida to William & Mary, now bringing his skills to Foggy Bottom. Moss said he’s a two-way player that hopes to be dependable and trustworthy on and off the court.

“My role would be just a two-way player, be an everyday guy,” Moss said.

The Orlando, Florida, native began his college career at USF, where he spent two seasons with the Bulls, playing in 31 games his freshman season and eight games his sophomore season before redshirting and transferring. Last season, Moss averaged 13.5 points per game for the Tribe, paired with 3.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. William & Mary concluded the 2023-24 season with a 4-14 record in Coastal Athletic Association play and a 10-23 overall record, finishing 13th in the conference.

“The main thing for me was to take a step in a different conference,” Moss said. “To play different competition and just being around the staff and the guys was a good experience. So, you know, being able to come here and enjoy that was big for me.” 

He said the transfer process is comparable to “speed dating,” saying that always meeting many new people at once shows who will “stick around.”

Moss said his connection with Caputo from their time in South Florida and the relationship he built with Assistant Coach Dwayne Lee over the summer were fundamental to his transfer to GW. 

“With the play style, the staff and the group of guys we have, I think we can make a run in this tournament, in the conference and have a good year,” Moss said.

Gerald Drumgoole Jr.

The 6’5″ guard from Rochester, New York, will suit up for the fourth school of his college basketball career by joining the Revs this season. Drumgoole finished out his undergraduate career at the University of Delaware last season after transferring from the University of Pittsburgh to the University of Albany his junior year before joining the Blue Hens for his senior season. 

With the Blue Hens last season, Drumgoole averaged 13.9 points per game, paired with 3.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. In Delaware’s matchup against the Revs last season in the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship, Drumgoole recorded 12 points in an 81-71 GW victory. The Blue Hens finished sixth in the Coastal Athletic Association with a 10-8 conference record and a 19-14 overall record. 

Entering his sixth year of NCAA basketball, Drumgoole said he plans to use his experience playing in four different conferences to help his teammates. He said he will use the season as an opportunity to become a team leader by embracing everyone’s personalities and understanding when to take “tough love.”

“I’ve been in the fire. I’ve seen it all, and I’ve been there before,” Drumgoole said. “So, just coming in this year, I ultimately have a goal of knowing what I want, knowing what I want to see on the floor, and knowing that ultimately, it’s like playing chess out there.”

Drumgoole now reunites with sophomore guard Trey Autry on the Revs’ roster, after the two upstate New York natives would watch each other play as kids, the two having mutual friends. Autry said Drumgoole is a few years older than him, but they lived about 50 minutes away from each other in Syracuse and Rochester, respectively.

“As a youngin’ and just being able to watch him be the older guy, set the older example, and then now being able to play with him, it’s just something really fun,” Autry said. “It’s a full circle moment.”