Hope everyone is enjoying the opening days to the summer. The East Valley Tribune is reporting that Eric Boateng announced his signing to Arizona State Monday night. Herb Sendek shocked the world when he left N.C. State for Arizona State, a much less prestigious and less successful program. But from people I’ve spoken to, the move makes sense. Jack Kvancz, the AD at GW understands the move. When you have Mike Krzyzewski on your left and Roy Williams and UNC on your right (metaphorically, geography of Tobacco Road isn’t my thing), it make sense. Fans in North Carolina don’t only expect trips to the NCAA, they expect national championships. Sendek has the opportunity to rebuild a program and make it his own.
Boateng is a loss for GW and is Sendek’s first BIG signing. Although he was spotted on campus last week with basketball big wigs (Roland Houston, Greg Collucci, Pops Mensah-Bonsu), the opportunities at ASU are a bit more appealing. Their OOC should be better than GW’s and their in-conference is better.
Who will be GW’s big man? Good question. I’ve seen Dokun Akingbade in the Smith Center practicing alone. I was once in a meeting in the Athletic Department for over a while and Dokun was still going at it. Akingbade’s strength has always been on the defensive side but if he can piece together an offensive presence, he can be a good player for the Colonials.
I’m not sure what the confusion is about with Herman Opoku. We reported that he was coming to GW a few months ago after I spoke with his coach at South Kent. Coach Hobbs wouldn’t confirm it with me (not quite sure why) but he should be in a GW uniform next year. A source tells me that the program is waiting for the “crumbs to fall” from other programs’ recruits. Sounds weird but it’s tough to question Hobbs’ recruiting skills.