By Joe Budzelek
A song on heavy rotation on Sirius XM’s ‘90s on 9 channel is the New Radicals’ one-hit wonder “You Get What You Give”, which is the perfect title to soundtrack the upswing the George Washington Revolutionaries men’s basketball team is riding this offseason. Last October, GW’s Friends of George (FOG) collective became the official NIL Collective of the university and its benefits have particularly been reaped by the tag-team of head coach Chris Caputo and Cooper Handelsman, who was named the men’s basketball team’s General Manager in early August after spending the previous three seasons with the program on the team’s coaching staff. Wrapping up his third season at the helm, Caputo finished with the program’s most impressive season under his leadership – finishing with 21 wins and accepting an invitation to the inaugural College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas. “For years, GW has a proud history of being a really competitive program in the Atlantic 10, so my first hope three years ago was to help the program get back to being a perennial postseason team,” says Caputo. Between the 1992-93 and 2006-07 seasons, GW earned eight NCAA Tournament bids, so this past season’s invitation to the inaugural College Basketball Crown was a step in the right direction. Caputo adds, “to get to the point where we won 20 plus games, won a game in the conference tournament – which was the first time since 2021 – got into the Crown [...] All of that was a really positive step in the right direction. The best part is that coming off some of that on-court success, you had to feel pretty encouraged.” Following a first round oust in that tournament, the GW staff hit the ground running retooling their roster that returns six scholarship players led by incoming senior forward Rafael Castro, who led the team last season in scoring, rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage. Four-time A-10 Rookie of the week Garrett Johnson is also a marquee returnee. Johnson was out all of last season recovering from an operation removing a benign hip tumor, but he possesses All-Conference potential after finishing the 2023-24 season averaging 13.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game while also shooting 40% from three. Returning guards Trey Autry, Christian Jones and Trey Moss are back after each started at least fifteen games last season while reserve guard Ty Bevins also returns. Like all teams in the current collegiate landscape, recruitment – paired with a robust NIL budget – starts with competitive offers to retain key players, but GW was also able to aggressively add from the transfer portal, which helped the Revolutionaries enter next season with one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the A-10. According to one source, GW is expected to spend between $3-to-$4 million dollars building this upcoming year’s roster, a budget that is at least double of their operating costs last season. With money well spent on quality and quantity, Caputo is excited for the prospects of the style of next year’s team: “The way we play, with the pressure and a little bit of pressing, the disruption, forcing turnovers, and things like that, we sort of lean into that identity. When you play that way, it allows us to play nine, ten, even eleven guys. Also, it helps protect against the impact one or two injuries could have on our team while still maintaining a super competitive environment in practice.” Case in point, GW finished last season with the A-10’s third highest turnover rate during conference play, forcing turnovers in almost 20% of their opponents’ offensive possessions. Looking at next year’s potential frontcourt, returning starters Rafael Castro and Garrett Johnson bring stability and high expectations reprising their roles, but the group is also bolstered by forwards Bubu Benjamin from Tarleton State and Tyrone Marshall from Western Kentucky. A 6’7 205 combo forward with two years of eligibility remaining, Benjamin just finished up a stat-stuffing season, averaging 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and two 2 stocks per-game while hitting 38% of his three-point attempts. “He’s a long, athletic, quick guard that can play multiple positions,” adds Kyle McDonald of WAC Hoops Digest, “Bubu is not necessarily a physical specimen in terms of strength, but he uses his quickness and length really well. He can finish at or above the rim, but has a quick trigger from the perimeter where he is really efficient. Loved his game, but he was in the wrong system at Tarleton State to allow him to shine. He needs to be in a system that lets him play freely and more of his natural position as a bigger guard. Good defender. Again, his length and quickness causes problems. But since he played out of position most of the time at Tarleton State, we only got to see a glimmer of what kind of player he can be.” More of a traditional power forward, Tyrone Marshall is a 6’7 215 grad transfer from WKU who averaged 10 points and 6 rebounds per game while making 31% of his three-point attempts, providing enough spacing to keep teams honest. According to EvanMiya.com, Marshall finished last season as WKU’s third-most efficient defender. Replacing Sean Hansen as Rafael Castro’s main backup is Northwestern transfer Luke Hunger, a 6’10 255 incoming redshirt junior who played sparingly in Big Ten conference play, but has shown potential as a skilled and poised low-post offensive piece who is an underrated passer, but was a liability on defense. Overall, GW’s frontcourt group is arguably one of the deepest in the A-10 with four players – Castro, Johnson, Benjamin and Marshall – all having a legit shot to earn a starting role out that gate, or at least major minutes off the bench.
In similar fashion, GW’s backcourt is rich with returning talent and is fortified by a duo of impact transfers. Homegrown young guards Christian Jones (21 starts last season) and Trey Autry (19 starts) will vie for full-time starting roles while returning sophomore Ty Bevins will be a key defensive stopper and floor-spacer off-the-bench (38.5 3P%). Returning senior Trey Moss (15 starts) struggled with efficiency on both ends of the floor, so the influx of Duquesne grad transfer Tre Dinkins and Hofstra’s Jean Aranguern are a threat to Moss’ minutes. Dylan Brett, the radio play-by-play voice for Hofstra, shares his praise for Aranguren, who finished last season averaging 14 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4 assists per game while making 36% of his career three-point attempts. “He’s way stronger than he looks at 6’3 190,” says Brett. “He boxes out and rebounds the ball exceptionally well for his size, and can make a lot of guards uncomfortable with the way he defends. Makes him extremely valuable to contribute in other ways if he’s having an off-shooting night. Offensively, he can put himself in some awkward positions by picking up his dribble with his back to the basket pretty often, but he’s exceptional at getting downhill in a hurry. You can’t afford to have a smaller, less physical guard on him, or he’ll punish them. He’s an excellent playmaker and driver when he’s playing on his terms, but sometimes got a little flustered against aggressive defenses that blitzed and hard-hedged him in ball screens.” With his ability to play both on- and off-ball, expect Aranguren to possibly start at the 2-guard with Christian Jones’ two-way ability earning him a starting role at point. Either way, both guards will have major roles. Intra-conference transfer Tre Dinkins joins GW after starting 30 games last season at Duquesne, where the 6’2 guard averaged 13 points, 3 assists and a whopping 2.4 three-pointers made per-game. Whether he starts or comes off the bench, Dinkins will be one of GW’s most productive scorers and confident shooters from anywhere in the half-court. According to EvanMiya.com, Dinkins finished last season as Duquesne’s least efficient defender, so Dinkins’ role will likely be matchup and game-situation dependent. Looking at GW’s incoming freshman class, both Vincent Chaudhri and Jaden Rougier-Roane were highly recruited, with both prospects receiving over a dozen total offers throughout their recruitment, including each receiving at least five high-major offers earlier in their high school careers. Both freshmen will be in the mix for minutes, but will need to stave off competition from GW’s eleven players with Division 1 experience. All in all, each of GW’s scholarship players bring multiple dimensions to the table and have a shot to earn immediate minutes out of the gate. Of course, the work of the coaching staff on the recruitment trail, as well as the increased investment in the program has done wonders, but also, across the conference, the A-10 as a whole has experienced a noticeable shift in both financial and talent growth, causing a symbiotic benefit for every team in the conference. “The Atlantic 10 is filled with schools where basketball is really important, and there's a real institutional commitment to it,” says Caputo, “Also, many of these schools don’t have football as a major factor and we’ve been one of those schools that has taken advantage of that.” However, with increased expectations, it is imperative for GW to put more of an emphasis on fortifying their non-conference schedule. In three years under Chris Caputo, GW has non-conference strength of schedule rankings of 318th, 361th, and 362th, respectively. Noting this, Caputo adds “we have to be realistic about the way the resume metrics are being calculated these days.” In addition to scheduling non-conference games against much-improved locals American, Old Dominion and William & Mary, GW will also be a part of a soon-to-be-announced MTE in the Cayman Islands. Some of the schools expected to be featured in the event are three other competitive mid-major programs. “We’re talking to everyone about the analytics of scheduling because it’s going to be different this year,” said GW assistant head coach Matt Colpoys on the GW Basketball Insiders Podcast, “The priorities are going to be a little different. Now, getting teams to play us is really hard. Good teams don’t really have a reason to play against us [in non-conference games]. So, it’s different, but we’re calling everyone. It’s hard to schedule and get an at-large bid in this league, but we owe it to our guys, our administration and our fans.” With a 20-win season in the bank and a much-improved roster entering next year, GW fans have a lot to look forward to, especially with the potential of a bolstered non-conference schedule. Many teams in the conference have improved, but GW has as good of a shot as anyone to make a run in next season’s conference tournament.
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