The A-10′s Next Step

Bryan Albin
Associate Sports Director

With the announcement of VCU’s move to the A-10 earlier this week, one thing became clear: football is not the only driving force in conference realignment. Universities that play basketball as their primary sport are starting to make moves to better prepare themselves for life in Division I basketball with super-conferences patrolling the top.

With Temple and Charlotte on the way out, but Butler, and now VCU, on the way in, the A-10 has positioned itself to be considered the premier “Mid-Major” basketball conference in the country. However, VCU joined because the conference is now in a position to be nothing less than major. It has been speculated that one of the primary reasons VCU left the Colonial Athletic Association to go to the A-10 was because of the ability to secure at-large bids into the NCAA basketball tournament, whereas CAA teams rarely secured such bids. In last year’s tournament alone, the A-10 had four teams in the tournament, while the CAA had only its conference champion, VCU, in the tournament, while Drexel, a team that won 19 straight games before losing to VCU in the conference championship game, was left home.

So now that the A-10 has cemented its status as a basketball conference, what is the next step to insure that the A-10 remains a league with the ability to secure three to five bids in the NCAA tournament each year? The answer is it’s time to go to an 18 game conference schedule. Whether or not the A-10 decides to continue its expansion to 16 teams will not have any effect on this year. Changing the conference schedule from 16 games to 18 this year is something that will improve the conference’s chances of getting more at-large bids immediately.

This is how to do it. Divide the league into three divisions of five teams. The divisions would be as follows:

A-10 West:  Charlotte, Dayton, Duquesne, St. Louis, Xavier

A-10 North:  Fordham, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, Temple, Umass

A-10 South: George Washington, La Salle, Richmond, St. Joe’s, VCU

So, for example, GW would play each team in the South division home and away, making eight games within the division. Then, GW would play the other 10 teams in the conference once, with five home games and five road games.

The ways in which the conference would benefit are huge. First and foremost, when you take away two non-conference games, which for some teams in the league are likely to be cupcakes, and replace them with two games against competitive teams in conference, it immediately make every team in the conference’s strength of schedule and RPI better. Secondly, each team gets more opportunities for quality wins, which is a key factor in the selection committees eyes. Third, the groundwork would be set for the future of the A-10, whether it consists of 14 or 16 teams, to have divisions that feature more home and away series among teams, which creates more rivalries and likely results in less travel for the athletes themselves.

The top three conferences in the RPI at the end of the year, the Big XII, Big 10 and Big East, all played 18 game conference schedules. To be a major conference in college basketball these days, 18 games is the way to go. Each of those conferences had at least half of its members qualify for the NCAA tournament at the year’s end. Major conferences that don’t include the SEC and ACC. When competing against major conference teams from the SEC and ACC, teams that have an easy time attracting high profile non-conference games, mid-majors need to look for every opportunity possible to get a leg up and boost their RPI’s. Adding two conference games is the easiest way to offer tougher games to every team’s schedules.

Let’s face it, at the end of the day, the public perception of the A-10 will be solely dependent on its performance in the NCAA tournament each year. Therefore, the conference has to put itself in position to earn as many bid into the NCAA tournament as possible. That’s why Butler is coming, it’s why VCU is coming, and it is exactly why the A-10 will likely pull in another two teams in the near future who want to be part of an elite, basketball-first conference. The A-10 has shown great vision throughout the realignment process, so one has to think it’s ready to take this next step. Besides, what GW fan wouldn’t like to see Shaka Smart, Chris Mooney and Phil Martelli in the Smith Center each year?

RE: RELAX. Everything Will Be Fine.

Nkwa Asonye
Sports Director

It’s amazing what can happen in the span of 48 hours, isn’t it?

Sunday, May 15, 2011 was the day all with a stake in George Washington basketball let out a huge scream of despair, a angry stream of unprintable words, or a stream of tears.  For some, it was all three.

Not only did former recruit Erik Copes find a new home…but he followed his uncle – former associate head coach Roland Houston – and signed with one of GW’s recent rivals: the George Mason Patriots.

See, he could have gone anywhere else outside of the Atlantic 10 and it would likely have hurt less.  But after going through two years of “At least Copes is coming,” this was the twist in a Hollywood script that was never supposed to see the light of day.  He was supposed to be suiting up in buff and blue for a “special” 2011-12 campaign, but instead, one of GW’s most heralded recruits in about a decade chose to take his talents down the Orange Line to rock the green and gold.  It was the worst case scenario that no one saw coming, yet here it is….and not many are taking the news too well.

Now, the following words may be shocking and a little scalding, but they need to be said.

CALM DOWN, TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND GET OVER IT.

Listen, this is a huge blow to GW’s morale and frontcourt depth.  But that’s it.  It’s not as if the entire season was going to be won or lost with Copes in the middle, especially since the backcourt is the real foundation of this team.  Over the years, it’s been shown that the team is at its best with scoring options inside and out and Copes is limited offensively outside of five feet from the basket anyway.

His defensive ability will sorely be missed, but it’s nothing the frontcourt shouldn’t be able to handle with another off-season to improve.

The combination of returning senior Jabari Edwards and redshirt sophomore Daymon Warren will be spotlighted and it has big shoes to fill in the post, but to make them the shoes of someone who refused to play here is simply unfair.

Plus, it should be more than just a footnote that this group has battled through adversity before.  Last season had a bitter ending, but the fact that it even unfolded the way that it did is a testament to this team’s potential and fight.

Colonial fans, people all over the college basketball world are already counting this team out.  Don’t join them.

RELAX. Everything Will Be Fine.

Nkwa Asonye
Sports Director

This looks bad, doesn’t it?  I mean REALLY bad.

By now, the news has already broken about top recruit Erik Copes’ release from his letter of intent. Additionally, his uncle, associate head coach Roland Houston, is rumored to have taken an assistant coaching position at rival George Mason University, though no news sources have confirmed this yet.  Seeing that Houston is likely the only reason that Copes committed to play here, this could likely mean the departure of one of GW’s best recruits, especially since the GW Hatchet has just reported that Kevin Sutton, head coach from Monteverde Academy in Monteverde, FL, has just been hired as one of head coach Mike Lonergan’s assistants.

Already, consternation is breaking out from fans of George Washington basketball everywhere.  Some are saying that the potential of the upcoming 2011-12 season to be “special” is stunted for good, while those who were pessimists from the beginning now feel justified in thinking that next year will be another display of mediocre basketball just like the others.

But there’s no reason to hit the panic button…YET.

Firstly, in terms of the immediate future nothing has been published by any credible news source about either of the other two recruits in this year’s class, Jonathan Davis and Trey Davis (no relation), being released from their commitments.  Anything said or tweeted to this point is pure speculation, although it’s worth keeping an eye out for.

Secondly, head coach Mike Lonergan has barely been in his position for a week – and it will take much longer than that to convince a prized recruit to stay or unintentionally chase him away.  Lonergan’s winning history would only help in making a case for Copes to stay, and Lonergan will still get an opportunity to see if there’s any late talent worthy of an open scholarship.

Thirdly, and most importantly, there are no reports of Copes signing anywhere else yet! And with the nature of this timing, there aren’t many places for him to go that are upgrades from Foggy Bottom (and George Mason as an option could cause an argument either way).  With his athletic ability, working with whatever staff the program assembles would be an excellent opportunity for him because Lonergan at the University of Vermont turned average talent (no disrespect intended) into possible NBA prospects and solid NCAA Tournament teams.

Even if Copes should choose to walk, this George Washington team returns almost the entirety of its core.  To jog some memories, this is a team that beat a 2-5 start, won four more conference games than the season before, and finished tied for fourth in the Atlantic 10 without its most heralded player.  Out of that team blossomed an All-Atlantic 10 Second Team pick (senior guard Tony Taylor), a deadly three-point weapon (sophomore forward Nemanja Mikic), and the start of an emergence of team identity – something noticeably missing from GW’s program since 2007.  Add a coach who’s already proven that he know how to utilize his personnel, and this could still be one of the better seasons in GW basketball history.

So to the over-anxious fans, take a deep breath and just wait on whatever news comes. It might not be the Apocalypse after all.