2003-04 Basketball Season Outlook

10/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Oct. 16, 2003

The Colonials, under the direction of third-year head coach Karl Hobbs, will be an exciting collection of talent when GW takes the floor in 2003. Hobbs and his staff have recruited no fewer than 10 new players since taking over the program two years ago. This year's team includes four highly-regarded newcomers and a pair of experienced transfers joining All-Conference performers T.J. Thompson and Mike Hall along with returnees Greg Collucci, Tamal Forchion, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Omar Williams, Alexander Kireev, Jaz Cowan and Dokun Akingbade to make 2003-04 a season to watch.

For the first time in four seasons, the Colonials will be without top scorer Chris Monroe ('03), a first-team All-Atlantic 10 selection whose 2,249 career points and 720 free throws are both school records. With the loss of Monroe, the scoring duties will be distributed more evenly throughout the roster.

An Atlantic 10 All-Rookie selection in 2002, T.J. Thompson returns to build upon an outstanding sophomore season. A 5-10 guard who has started at the point for two seasons, Thompson averaged 12.6 points last season, up from 9.8 points during his first season of college basketball. His 6.1 assists per game ranked 20th in the nation last season. Thompson, who has started every game in his brief career, enters this season just six assists shy of 300. His leadership will be counted upon heavily this year.

The inside game will be anchored by junior Tamal Forchion and sophomores Mike Hall, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Omar Williams and Alexander Kireev.

Forchion, a 6-6, 254-pound power forward, averaged 4.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and shot 43 percent from the field after rehabilitating an dislocated ankle.

Hall, a rangy 6-8 forward from Chicago, led the team in rebounding with 8.2 rpg and offensive rebounds with 82 in addition to his 9.7 points per game. Hall also started all 29 games and sank 22 three-pointers as a freshman last season. Hall, along with Dayton junior Keith Waleskowski, was the second-leading rebounder in the league and became the first GW freshman to lead the team in rebounding since Alexander Koul's 6.6 rpg in 1994-95.

Mensah-Bonsu, a 6-9, 218-pound athletic forward, averaged 10.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and had team-highs in both blocks (27) and field-goal percentage (.585) as a freshman last season. His shooting percentage was the highest by a Colonial since Koul's .601 during the '96-97 season.

Williams, another 6-9 forward/guard, contributed 6.4 points per game, 4.8 rebounds and 23 blocks while starting 13 games. Kireev appeared in 28 games and averaged 2.4 points with 10 blocks and 41 rebounds. Kireev also gained invaluable experience playing for the Ukrainian National Team last summer.

Long-range specialist Greg Collucci, a 6-3 senior guard, made 77 of his 258 FGs from beyond the arc as a sophomore in 2001-02 and 24 threes last season. A coach's son, Collucci earned the team's Rookie of the Year Award as a freshman and the Most Improved Award as a sophomore.

Other returnees include sophomore Jaz Cowan (27 games, 1.1 ppg) and Dokun Akingbade (26 games 1.4 rpg).

Six newcomers figure to contribute immediately to the Colonials in 2003-04. Leading the group is Ricky Lucas (Herndon, VA/Herndon). Lucas is a 6-foot-4, 201-pound shooting guard who averaged 23 points, nine rebounds and three steals per game as a senior last season at Herndon High School. Lucas was ranked No. 44 in the Top 100 High School seniors list by Frank Burlison of FOXSports.com and was named first team All-Met by the Washington Post.

Also joining the Colonials this season will be a pair of transfers in Lafonte Johnson (Baltimore, MD/Dunbar High School) and Russell "Rock" Battistoni (Morris, CT/Salisbury).

Johnson, a 5-foot-10, 165-pound point guard, played two seasons at UNLV before transferring to GW. He averaged 8.3 minutes per game and appeared in all 29 games as a sophomore in 2001-02. He averaged 1.5 points per game and was seventh on the team with 24 assists. He also played in 29 games for the Runnin' Rebels as a freshman, starting 11. During his freshman season ('00-01), he averaged 4.4 points, 1.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists with 64 assists and 15 steals. His career-high was 17 points against Brigham Young.

Adding bulk to the Colonials' inside game will be Battistoni who played two seasons at Division III St. Lawrence University in upstate New York before coming to Washington. Battistoni earned Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA) Rookie of the Year honors as a freshman and was selected to the UCAA second-team all-star squad. Battistoni averaged 13.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game and led the Saints with 33 blocked shots. He shot 59 percent from the field and turned in a number of clutch performances during the 2001-02 season.

Carl Elliott (Brooklyn, NY/Worcester Academy) is a solidly-built Colonials point guard. The 6-4, 220-pound Elliott averaged 17.2 points and 6.1 rebounds as a senior at Worcester Academy in Massachusetts. Prior to that, he averaged 15 points, eight assists, six steals and four rebounds per game while shooting 83 percent from the free throw line for Trinity-Pawling High School in Brooklyn, NY. In addition to his basketball prowess, Elliott also was a standout wide receiver and a running back for the Pride as well as a sprinter for the track team at Trinity-Pawling. The Pride hoop team posted a record of 20-3 (.869) during Elliott's senior season.

J.R. Pinnock (McDonough, GA/Coastal Christian), a 6-foot-5, 205-pound guard, averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds as a senior at Coastal Christian Academy in Virginia Beach, VA. Ranked 67th among the Top 100 recruits by RivalsHoops.com, he was ranked #2 in the state of Virginia by Virginiaprep.com in June, 2002. Pinnock scored a school-record 42 points in a game as a junior two years ago and was ranked 5th in the state of Georgia by the Atlanta Youth Prep Star Basketball Report.

Jaaron Greene (Manassas, VA/Mt. Zion) signed with GW in April. The 6-foot-11, 265-pound Greene averaged 12.2 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks at Mt. Zion Christian Academy in Durham, NC. (Mt. Zion also produced Orlando Magic star Tracy McGrady).

The Mighty Warriors posted a record of 25-5 (.833) during Greene's senior season and won one of three games against powerhouse Oak Hill (VA) Academy. The team also won the Del Curry Shootout Tournament in Charlotte, NC, early last season. Mt. Zion posted a 27-3 record during Greene's junior season for a combined 52-8 (.867) record during Greene's two varsity seasons.

The 2003-04 schedule will pit GW against some of the elite teams in the nation as well as the full complement of Atlantic 10 Conference schools. The Colonials open the season on the road at Charlotte on Nov. 21.

GW and Maryland will again serve as co-hosts of the eighth annual BB&T Classic Dec. 7-8 at MCI Center. The Colonials will face West Virginia while the Terrapins take on Gonzaga in the Saturday doubleheader. Over the past eight years, this two-day event has grown into one of the elite regular-season tournaments in the nation and has raised more than $4 million for the Children's Charities Foundation of Washington. GW will travel to Austin, TX, to play the University of Texas Longhorns Dec. 29 on national television. A Final Four team in 2003, Texas returns four of five starters this season.

The Red Auerbach Colonial Classic returns to Smith Center Nov. 28-29. William & Mary, St. Francis (NY), Appalachian State and GW make up the 2003 field. GW will host A-10 games against Temple, St. Bonaventure and Rhode Island while visiting Saint Joseph's, Massachusetts and Fordham. GW also renews non-conference rivalries with Old Dominion at Norfolk while hosting Florida International and Towson.

Hobbs and his staff have a solid foundation in place for the GW program. With four starters returning from the league's fourth-highest scoring offense last season, the Colonials now must build upon last year's experience to again become A-10 contenders.

Bouyed by an exciting opening-round victory over UMass in the A-10 Tournament at Amherst, followed by a strong showing against Xavier in the A-10 quarterfinal, everyone associated with the Colonials basketball program is intent on making a triumphant return to-and winning in-the NCAA Tournament in 2004.