George Washington University
Towson
Men's Basketball Tips Off Season on Tuesday at Towson
11/4/2019 2:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball
TIPPING OFF: The GW men's basketball team tips off its 106th season on Tuesday night in SECU Arena as the Colonials hit the road to face Towson for a 7 p.m. tip.
WHO'S BACK: GW returns seven student-athletes who made at least one start a season ago, headlined by returning big man Arnaldo Toro who nearly averaged a double-double before his season was cut short due to injury after just seven games. Junior swingman Maceo Jack also returns to the Colonials line-up after a breakout sophomore season in which he was a leading contender for A-10 Most Improved Player. Junior guard Justin Mazzulla (33 starts), junior center Javier Langarica (25 starts), senior guard Armel Potter (16 starts), senior forward Justin Williams (three starts) and sophomore forward Mezie Offurum (one start) also return to a Buff and Blue line-up that has no shortage of experience in big games. Those seven were all amongst GW's top nine scorers from a season ago.
NEW FACES: The Colonials welcome eight newcomers to the program this season, including five first years and three transfer student-athletes. GW's first years have the talent and character to join a lineage of distinguished classes that came before them that brought considerable acclaim to Foggy Bottom (Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Mike Hall, Omar Williams -- Class of '06; Joe McDonald, Patricio Garino, Kevin Larsen -- Class of '16). Jameer Nelson Jr. is the son of a 14-year NBA pro who starred in the A-10 in the early 2000s. Nelson Jr. led his high school team to an undefeated season and state championship as a senior. Jamison Battle is another high school state champion and was a semifinalist for Minnesota's Mr. Basketball title. Three-star recruit and #8 ranked player from Maryland, Chase Paar, figures to give GW a lift down low in his first year, while Shawn Walker Jr. is GW's third high school state champion playing out of Virginia Beach as a senior, who came with Coach Jamion Christian after originally committing to Siena.
SERIES HISTORY: GW has won 10 of 11 all-time meetings in a series that dates back to 1978. The teams last played on Dec. 5, 2018, when the Colonials took a 68-64 win in the Smith Center. Towson picked up its lone win over GW with a 57-56 triumph on Feb. 23, 1981.
TORO'S TIME: After missing the majority of last season due to a hip injury, Arnaldo Toro is primed to have the best season of his career in 2019-20. In seven games last season, the big fella from Puerto Rico averaged 10.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. The most experienced player on the team and a tri-captain a season ago, Toro has started 51 games as a collegian. In his last healthy season at GW in 2017-18, he led the team in rebounding and ranked third in the Atlantic 10 in offensive rebounds per game.
JACK'S JUMP: Maceo Jack finished the 2018-19 season ranked second on the team in scoring (11.5 ppg), including 13.5 points per game in A-10 play, after taking a massive freshman-to-sophomore leap that saw him net 2.8 points per game in his first year. Jack's jump came courtesy of nailing a team-high 64 three-pointers last season, after sinking 11 triples in his first campaign in Buff and Blue. The sharpshooter canned 56-of-64 free throws as well for an .875 shooting percentage from the stripe, while becoming a more all-around player by hauling down 3.9 rebounds per game while mostly playing on the perimeter. In Coach Christian's style of offense, Jack's three-point proficiency only figures to swell again in 2019-20.
DC's TEAM: Long a hot spot for the world's top talent, the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia) once again boasts talent on the Colonials' sideline in 2019-20, as Coach Christian and his staff prioritize keeping the country's best playing in their own backyard. In 2019-20, Nebraska transfer Amir Harris (Fredrick, Maryland), Mount St. Mary's transfer Ace Stallings (Sidwell Friends) and first-years Chase Paar (Mount Airy, MD) and Miles Gally (Rockville, MD) join Mezie Offurum (Georgetown Prep) and Justin Williams (Ellicott City, MD) on DC's Team.
THE TURNAROUND ARTIST: Coach Jamion Christian returned to the area over the summer to helm GW, the program he grew up watching in the 1990s at home in New Kent, Virginia. Christian comes to DC after engineering rapid turnarounds in both of his last two stops. Last season at Siena, his "Mayhem" brand of basketball saw the Saints improve from 251st to 43rd nationally in scoring defense, 322nd to eighth in fewest turnovers, and 250th to 74th in 3-point field goals per game. Siena, which was voted to finish last in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference preseason poll, went on to a tied-for-second-place regular season finish with an 11-7 league record, just one game out of first place. Previously, after being hired at the age of 29 at his alma mater, Mount St. Mary's, he won two NEC Tournament Championships and guided the Mount to 101 wins and a winning record in conference play all six seasons, after taking over a program that went 8-21 the season before he arrived.
