Out of Nowhere: A FBCB/FBPB Dynasty
 

Author's Note: I'm cross-posting this FBCB dynasty from SimNation, as I'd like this story to get more eyes. It's a nearly three-year-old tale that, in Microsoft Word, is nearing 800 pages.

I hope you enjoy.

Jack Dawkins was a gangly kid from Camp Hil, Pennsylvania. He wasn't very good at basketball, playing for small-school terror, Trinity.

And then, suddenly, he was good. Quite good.

Some called it a miracle. Some called it drugs. Some called it good genes. Others looked at his parents and debunked that theory. Either way, Jack Dawkins was a true overnight success, a prospect with seemingly endless talent.

And he was discovered the week after the national championship game, which saw TCU finally capture their first national title, over return-to-glory North Carolina, who reached their first title game since 1967.

So, most of the scholarships were gone. Certaintly, all of the big-time schools had given theirs out. As a result, Dawkins had a limited range. He would go to an Ivy League school, with his perfect GPA and nearly flawless SAT score. And even though the Ivy was the king of the collegiate landscape--Cornell, Penn, and Princeton have been among the finest in the country for years, and the Tigers are now two seasons removed from an undefeated 36-0 championship season--there were no scholarships to be found there.

No, Jack ended up where few...okay, where no unikely greatest recruit has ever gone.

He went to George Washington.

The Colonials of George Washington University have made the postseason exactly three times. Granted, only 32 teams reach the NCAA, and 32 the NIT, and that's it. But they were only in that upper 25% crust on three occasions. In 1952, they reached the third round of the tournament, before falling. In 1970, they were bounced in the first round. And the most recent performance, 1975, saw the Colonials nab one win before bouncing out.

In recent times, the results have been a little less pleasing. They were 17-13 in 1976, before falling to 11-18, then 5-23. The last two years have seen 13-16 and 12-17 seasons. Simply put, they have not been good.

The Colonials' head coach, Arlie Jennings, has been around for those four years. He saw most of his success as a young assistant at Davidson, when they reached the NCAA three years running, and came within one win of the Final Four. He then moved to Virginia, stayed as an assistant for one year, then moved to George Washington. He is 41-74 in his career; not a great play-caller, but he is excellent at recruiting. Or so people are told.

The roster looks...shaky at best. Nobody is over 6'9, and nobody is remotely near the player Dawkins is. As the offseason starts, this is their projected starting five:


C William Negron, Sr* (O/Y)
PF Chuck Crane, Sr* (Y/G)
SF Jack Dawkins, Fr (B/B)
SG Richie Hulett, Fr (R/G)
PG Dwight Davis, So (O/G)


No other players have solid potential. A couple grade out as the potential to be average. So, the Colonials, who have a pedigree of losing, do so with talent worthy of losing.

But, at least there will be nobody to tug on Jack's cape.

Before we begin, we have to view where the center of college basketball is.

There are six teams atop the prestige chart: Baylor, Kansas, Maryland, Princeton, Rice, and TCU. Clemson (97), Kansas State (95), Nebraska (93), Penn (91), UTEP (90) and Cornell (90) round out the rest of the upper echelon.

This is definitely not what one would expect, but that's the fun.

North Carolina owns the greatest run in this game, owning the fifties. The Tar Heels made six straight NCAA title games from 1955-60. After losing to Texas Tech in 1955, they won three in a row. That was punctuated by a 37-1 campaign in 1957, and a 36-0 1958 season, where they demolished Baylor in the final. In 1959, heated rival NC State dethroned them at the buzzer, 73-72. UNC would win it over Temple the next year, going 37-1.

In those four seasons, UNC went 146-4, easily the greatest four-year reign in history. They would lose in the title game in 1962 and 1965, before beating BYU in the '67 title game. And while they would always be present in the tournament, making three Final Fours since, they would not get back to the title game until this past season. Their head coach, George Oden, has always had to deal with being the successor to Richard Thornhill (367-36), the architect of that great run, as well as five championships. UNC aso won in 1951.

Other coaches to win multiple titles, while we're at it:

Lamont Ward (756-238): 4 (Texas Tech '55; Kansas State '61, '64, '78)
Newton Millican (579-251): 3 (Clemson '66, '72, '77; also won as an assistant at UCLA in '50)
Clarence Demoss (785-153): 2 (Kansas '73-'74); retired in '78
Michael Everhart (878-216): 2 (Maryland '53, '62); all-time leader in wins
Brian Reiss (358-216): 2 (UTEP '75-76)

The hub of college hoops at the moment belongs in the Ivy, where Princeton reigns supreme, and the Southwest, where Baylor, Rice, TCU and Texas Tech all fight for supremacy. Clemson, Maryland, Duke, and a resurgent North Carolina are tops in the ACC, while NC State, once a titan of college basketball industry, has fallen by the wayside in recent years.

The state of Kansas is still a center of hoops, where Kansas and Kansas State have ruled supreme over the last thirty years. In 1978, the Wildcats beat the Jayhawks in the title game. They have won the title three times each, as has Clemson. North Carolina leads the way with six. Maryland, UTEP, Southern California, New Mexico, and UCLA have each won it twice (the latter probably should have been a dynasty, but got usurped by UNC early).

In this universe, nobody in the SEC is any good, while traditional powers out west are more also-rans than forerunners. Additionally, the northeast, normally a hotbed of basketball talent, lacks teams and rivalries. The Ivy schools are, far and away, the tops in the northeast. Brown (68), Columbia (64), Dartmouth (62) and Yale (60) show up on the prestige chart before the next northeast team, Lafayette (50). Purdue (71) is the Big Ten's top team, though Indiana has had its moments.

In other news, the NCAA will expand to 64 teams, in an attempt to start shaking up some of the monotony that happens in March. There needs to be some new teams entering the fray. The Big East will form this season (out of personal preference), while Holy Cross will take Connecticut's place in the Yankee. Other than that, there are no changes.

(Author's Note: There was a graphic for the initial team roster. That has been lost to time, unfortunately. Well, I probably could find it...but in such a large dynasty, I'm going to bypass it.)

George Washington 1981-82 Preseason

As you can see, the team is not all that talented. Crane is the leading scorer and rebounder, though that should change very early. With Crane, Davis and Negron in a supporting role, this team could win 15 games. They do not play a tough schedule whatsoever, with no ranked team on it to start.

1981-82 Preseason Top Ten
1. Baylor (61 1st place votes)
2. Kansas State
3. Kansas
4. Southern Cal (5)
5. Clemson (5)
6. BYU (1)
7. Maryland
8. North Carolina
9. Nebraska
10. Rice

Penn is the highest Ivy League team, at 13th. George Washington, inexplicably, is getting Dawkins hype. They received 29 votes, despite having absolutely no success historically, and are coming off four straight losing seasons.

I've followed much of this over there and it's ridiculously good. Hopefully lots of people will read it here.

Week 1 (11.9-11.15.81)

#1 Baylor fell to new #1 Kansas, 76-61, in the GDS Tip-Off Tournament. Whatever GDS stands for ("God Dammit, Stanley"?), I'm not sure. Either way, Kansas takes the top spot, while Baylor fell all the way to 12th. Maryland fell from 7th to 17th after falling to Iowa, 72-70.

Top Ten
1. Kansas (2-0, 3 LW)
2. Clemson (2-0, 5)
3. BYU (2-0, 6)
4. Kansas State (0-0, 2)
5. UTEP (3-0, 12)
6. Nebraska (1-0, 9)
7. North Carolina (0-0, 8)
8. Rice (0-0, 10)
9. Duke (0-0, 11)
10. Purdue (2-0, 15)

George Washington, meawhile, is now 20th, on the strength of a cover story on Jack in Sports Illustrated. His love of Atari and Saturday Night Live were documented, as well as his shyness. He does not know where his talent came from, only that he visited a weird machine at a fair, managed to slip a quarter into a swami's mouth, and wished that he were good at something. What, did you think he wished he were big? Come on.

Game 1: 11.16.81. vs Georgia Southern

The Eagles are coming off four seasons of near .500 success, but they were young (four underclassmen starters who started a year ago). This will be a difficult test for the Colonials, as the Eagles have advantages at both guard spots, and at one of the post spots. Dawkins has a decided advantage over junior guard-forward Carl Sullivan, who is just 6'3, 200.

Dawkins started with three early assists before getting his first basket. GW led 13-7 after five minutes. After that, time slowed down. It was 17-14 after ten minutes. With seven minutes left in the first, the Eagles took a 28-27 lead, and continued to hold a close one for most of the first half. At the half, Southern lead 46-42. Dawkins had eight points, six rebounds, and five assists. But Southern held a 23-13 rebounding advantage, which negated a 9-4 turnover advantage for the Colonials. Darwin Webster had 16 first half points for the Eagles. Leroy Mountain had 11 for the Colonials, as well as the best name of the game.

Dawkins got hot early in the second half, leading a comeback all by himself. After an early nine-point deficit, GW took a nine-point lead with 13 minutes left. They would build on it with good passing and solid contributions, and go on for the 107-99 victory over the Eagles of Georgia Southern.

Dawkins finished with 35 points, a team-high but not a game-high. Webster had 37, a career-high despite playing only 27 minutes (he fouled out with four minutes left). It was a very efficient start to Jack's career, as well as others. Mountain scored a career-high 21 on 8-14 shooting, while Crane scored 14 on 7-10 shooting. Overall, the team shot 60%, and had just five turnovers. Neither of those is sustainable, especially against the upper echelon of opponents...but this is something to build on.

Week 2: 11.23-11.29-81

Top Ten
1. Kansas (3-0, LW 1)
2. BYU (3-0, 3)
3. UTEP (4-0, 5)
4. North Carolina (2-0, 7)
5. Duke (2-0, 9)
6. Penn (3-0, 11)
7. Purdue (3-0, 10)
8. Baylor (2-1, 12)
9. Kansas State (2-1, 4)
10. Clemson (2-1, 2)

Kansas State fell to Penn, 85-81 in the semifinals of the Maui Shootout, while Clemson lost to Purdue, 65-64, on Rocky Patton's three with seven seconds left. Penn also beat Rice, 98-94, to win that tournament, and solidify their ranking.

GW enters the week ranked 18th. Jack's debut lived up to the hype.

11.23.81, at Southern Miss (0-2)

The Golden Eagles are far less talented, with only C Darin Panek being a majority contributor over his career. This should be a runaway for the Colonials. And, at the half, it appears to be just that...GW leads 38-24, and Jack has 17 points and five rebounds. The team only has one turnover at the half.

The Colonials put Southern Miss out of their misery with about 13 minutes left, opening up a 23-point lead. Jack (25 points) has nearly outscored the Golden Eagles at this stretch (30). The scrubs get more playing time down the stretch, and GW coasts, 72-46. Jack finished with 29, 11 boards, and 7 assists, 6 blocks, 2 steals, and no turnovers.


11.25.81 - at North Texas (1-2)

The Mean Green are talented, and have a lot of potential. 7'1 C Joe O'Reilly is the biggest player they have seen yet, and the team is sprinkled with guys who have green potential. They also have all five starters back from last year's 15-14 team. They aren't great, but they may provide some ample opposition to the Colonials.

Oh, and they also have a power forward named Charles Berkley. Easy to root for him.

Sure enough, GW can't score until 15:10 left, where it's 7-0 North Texas. In the game's first ten minutes, Jack doesn't register any sort of stat, before hitting a three at the 9:58 mark that ties the game. Jack leads GW to a 22-14 lead, but has two fouls. This means nothing to him, as he posterizes Berkley on a blocked dunk attempt.

At the half, it's tied at 25. Jack has seven points, six rebounds, and just one assist. Larry Nance's cousin Charlie has ten for North Texas. A run by NT cuts an eight-point deficit into a one-point lead at 43-42 with five minutes left. Dawkins picked up his fourth foul with 3:40 left, when Berkley drew a charge. And NT began to ran away with it, leading 54-48 with two minutes left. They simply cannot score, and fall, 60-53.

Berkley led NT with 14 points and 4 boards, while O'Reilly had four points, but 16 rebounds. Dawkins had 17 points and 9 rebounds, but just three assists. As a team, they shot 36%, and 22% from three. Dawkins had three turnovers, his career high thus far. He also registered five blocks.

Week 3: November 30-December 6, 1981

GW fell out of the polls after the loss at North Texas. Truth be told, they should never have been there in the first place.

In the top ten, BYU supplanted Kansas atop the poll.


12.2.81: at Marquette (0-1)

The Colonials hope they have more success against Golden Eagles. In all likelihood, they will. Marquette looks kind of like North Texas on paper, in terms of potential. They are not nearly as experienced, returning three starters; no player on their team has averaged more than 6.5 ppg in their career. They are also not nearly as successful as they used to, coming off their worst season ever (9-21). This once-proud program--they reached the Final Four in 1952 (29-4), and have routinely been good for 20+ win seasons until recently (though they were often the best team not in the NCAA field; several times they had records of 24+ wins and played in the NIT). Young coach Tommie Jewell is feeling the heat.

Dawkins started the game with two assists, before getting blocked on a dunk attempt by forward Andrew Marrow. By the time that was forgotten, it was 11-2 GW, and they were running away with it. Of course, they had North Texas dead to rights, too. Jack seems to have a penchant for starting slow on the scoring end, but getting teammates involved. With 11:15 left, and a 20-8 GW lead, Jack has one point, but five assists. GW is able to push the lead to 35-14 with five minutes left, and Jack not on the floor. At the half, it is 43-19, GW. Jack has 12 points, six rebounds, and seven assists. Marquette has eight turnovers, to just four for Marquette.

Marquette starts out a ball of fire, scoring ten points in the first three minutes. And they are still down 50-31. Arlie Jennings, the coach of GW, is realizing he can play varied lineups with Jack; he gets some time at center in the second half...then moves to the point a few minutes later. Jack then gets time to watch, as the blowout is on. GW rolls, 78-62.

Jack doesn't have a particularly good shooting day (7-18), but he does go 14-15 from the line. A tidy 30-10-7 line, though, has the nation abuzz.


12.4.81: vs South Carolina State (5-1)

The Bulldogs have a talented starting line, led by junior guard Dannie Scruggs and senior forward Dougie Normand. Normand, in particular, will be difficult to stop; he is averaging 20.7 points per game. Dawkins will likely draw the assignment on him. The Bulldogs own wins over 4-1 Utah and Florida, and have lost to Morehead State. Honestly, there is no definitive prediction for this game.

The game's first five minutes belong to GW, as Jack gets going a bit early (3 points, 3 boards). They hold a 10-5 lead, and quickly build it to 15-5. Jack is limiting Norman considerably. Another run pushes it to 28-12 with 7:30 left. SCSU is shooting just 25%, and look bewildered by Jack. Normand finally heats up, getting to 12 points with four minutes left, and pushing the deficit back to 30-23. It is discovered, at this point, that SCSU has a backup center named Jackson Goodnight. His parents named him that so that, on any form, it would read "Goodnight, Jackson". When pressed with the information that any name would have worked and, perhaps naming him Moon would have been funnier, Jackson's father mentioned something disparaging about the complaintant's mother.

Anyway, GW got to a 42-29 lead at the half, and it's good that the half came. SCSU was hot to finish the half, and the Colonials played erratically without Dawkins in the lineup.

With fifteen minutes left, Normand's three got the Bulldogs down to within seven. Dwight Davis and Chuck Crane responded with a run that pushed the lead back to 14. Jack is not having his best game, and comes out with 12 minutes left, the lead at 14 (53-39). Jack, in foul trouble, has to come out for an extended time. By the time he returns, the lead is 16. The team passed a big test...play well, and sustain against a good team, without Jack. They didn't play great, but they got enough stops that the result, 73-55, is not in doubt.

Dawkins, Davis and Crane finish with 17 each. Normand scored 25, but did most of his damage against Leroy Mountain. GW won by 18 despite committing 21 fouls (to SCSU's 11), and had 17 turnovers. They shot 51% from the field, while SCSU shot 34%. That was the key.

Week 4: 12.7-81-12.13.81

Kansas and BYU flipped again. Indiana and Maryland moved into the top ten, while Baylor fell to Duke and dropped. Then Baylor beat Kansas State and took them out of the top ten with them.


12.10.81: vs Temple (1-3)

Temple is not good. Dexter Hemingway is their leading scorer, at 18.3 points a game. But so far, they are more than mediocre. It should be a comfortable win for GW.

And, to start, it has been. A 17-5 lead after five minutes, and really, nothing out of Dawkins. Crane has eight points. After ten minutes, it's 29-11, and Jack has eight points, with three rebounds. It doesn't get any easier for Temple. It ends with a 44-19. Jack has 12 points and four rebounds. Temple has fourteen turnovers.

In the first ten minutes of the second half, GW stretched their lead to 63-30. There really isn't much else to report on this game. The final is 94-41, and Temple felt every bit of that defeat.

Jack finished with 31 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists. Mountain and Crane appear to be the usual suspects around Jack's performances thus far.


Through a fifth of the season, GW is 5-1. Here are the season numbers so far:

Week 5: 12.14.81-12.20.81

GW entered the polls again, this time at #25. Meanwhile, BYU fell to surging Missouri (13th), and dropped from 2nd to 4th. Duke and Penn moved up. Rice and Baylor moved into the top ten, while UTEP (loss at KSU) and UNC (at Delaware State) tumbled down the poll.


12.14.81: at West Chester (3-3)

The Rams have three players scoring double-digits, led by guard David Densmore's 18.3 points a game. Andrew Showalter is huge (6'11, 268). This is the kind of team--experienced, with a huge guy in the middle--that gives the Colonials trouble. Even though the Rams haven't won more than twelve games in each of the last three seasons, they have enough resolve to win.

GW got out to an early lead, onto to see WCU wrestle it back. Dawkins, again, got off to a slow start, not scoring over the game's first eight minutes. Leroy Mountain did the heavy lifting, scoring 11 of the team's first 18. GW is good with their second unit; they have maintained the lead while the first team is out. Dawkins scored his first points with 6:30 left, sparking a run that got a three-point lead out to 14, at 34-20. He could not miss, scoring 18 as the club went on a 26-3 run to close out the half. He finished the half with 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. Densmore has 12 points for West Chester.

It looked like it would be a game. And now...Dawkins singlehandedly ended this game.

The final is 96-59, and you have to wonder if GW will be challenged often enough this season to grow. Getting confidence to win in tough times is important, but you have to face tough times, too.


12.19.81: vs Lafayette

What was said just a few minutes ago (okay, it was half an hour ago...Kimmy Schmidt and crunches...you didn't know, it's cool), forget all that. And that part about the Schmidt and crunches, forget that too.

Lafayette is legit.

The Leopards have an experienced backcourt of Cary Olson and Brian Jones. Forward Robin Jack is the most talented player Dawkins has faced this year, and center David Rollins is averaging 17.8 points a game. One of the Leopards' losses is to BYU; it came 91-82. They are a favorite for the ECC title, and arguably the best team in the northeast.

This will be a test. Their biggest so far.

(You can tell this is being done, not only on the fly, but without edits. Read the past few paragraphs again).

Now, to the game...Olson went down to injury early, which gave GW an unfortunate advantage. The other, more fortunate advantage, is Dawkins. He scored 12 early points, shouldering the load. Later, though, play was stopped, as Dawkins was hurt.

There was a murmur in Washington.

And, a couple of minutes, he returned. But so did Lafayette, cutting it down to two, as Dawkins stopped scoring. The balance of Lafayette was keeping up with the star of Dawkins. The Colonials managed to stay resilient, and managed to re-take the lead at the half, 45-42. Still, this game has Lafayette written all over it.

Nobody told the Colonials that. They stretched the lead to ten early in the second half, behind Dawkins, Willie Negron, and Davis. Lafayette tried to pull in, but as soon as they would, the Colonials would stretch it back out to double-digits. Dawkins slowed down in his scoring, but GW did not. They got it to 19 with 4:45 left. Their defense clamped down on Lafayette, who is shooting just 42%. They'd finish at 41%, shocked by GW, 90-76.

The biggest surprise in this game? GW's fourteen blocks, to just one for Lafayette. Negron had seven of them, Dawkins four.

Dude. :popcorn:

It's at 795 now, regular font, margins and spacing.

The crazy part? I imagine it's about half over. Maybe two-thirds.

Week 6: 12.21.81-12.27-81


The top ten is solidifying, though there was still a little movement. The big news came from Cornell dropping Indiana, then taking their spot in the top ten. Rice fell to lowly LSU, and slid from #9 down to #22.


George Washington used the big win over Lafayette (cough) to move up one spot, checking in at #24. Going into this week, Jack is day-to-day, but at 98%.


12.21.81: vs. Howard (3-6)


Howard is a far cry from Lafayette, though don't sleep on the Bison. They own a win over defending champion, Texas Christian. In fact, it is the Horned Frogs' only loss. How that happened, whether Howard drugged TCU's Gatorade or what, nobody is what sure. The team has two point guards with talent, and a seven-footer in C Bill Hipp. Justin Travis, the team's SF, averages 17.6 points a game. But he's shooting just 44% from the field, and scores the bulk of his points from the inside. Good luck doing that against Jack, who averages 2.9 blocks a game.


Well, he's doing it. He has four early points, and Howard owns a 13-5 lead after five minutes. That's countered by Jack leading a run to tie the game. Howard, though, is game. Travis and Hipp share 16 equally, and they keep the slim advantage on GW for the next ten minutes. GW finally takes their first lead with just under six minutes left, but Howard gets it back. GW is shooting 33% from the field, and has five first-half turnovers. They begin to stretch it out a bit, behind Leroy Mountain and Richie Hulett. At the half, they lead 40-29, as Howard went cold, and turnovers led to a few easy buckets for the Colonials. Travis finished with 10 for Howard, while Mountain and Dawkins have 11 each.


The second half comes with the realization that Jack is shooting a lot, and is cold. He also has 20 points and 12 boards (make that 22-13). GW gets the lead to 53-33 with 15 minutes left, and the rout is on. Jack comes out with 8:30 left, 29 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, and a 25-point lead for GW. Not much else to say.


GW owned the boards on Howard, a mild surprise. And they faced seventeen turnovers on the Bison, while blocking seven shots. Jack's 32 and 15 rebounds were not a surprise. His 12-26 shooting was. He asserted himself on the offensive end more than any other game. That worked in this game...but it won't all the time. GW had four players averaging double figures going into this game. That diversity was a big reason for their early success.


12.23.81: vs Army (3-7)


Army is decidedly worse than Howard, scoring only 56.7 points per game. This should be an absolute blowout. Army has played four ranked opponents:


#17 Furman: L 62-53
#7 Maryland: L 90-55
#18 Baylor: L 93-35 (!!!)
#6 Clemson: L 78-49


This is likely a 25-point game. They start three true freshmen. Even if you took their best talents and combined them into one player, that player would be a yellow-green. Jack might eat them for some nourishment; you know, because he feasts on fellow freshmen to sustain himself. Army has six of them.


Of course, Army led 9-8 after six minutes. GW is shooting 26% from the field. Jack has four points and six boards, but is shooting a lot. GW has started to pull it out, but Army, taking offense to the preview above, is hanging around. In fact, with 5:11 left, they led, 25-24. This isn't helped by the 13 first half fouls by GW.


The first half ends at 34-31. If this were FM, this is where you'd share disappointment with the team, tell Chuck Crane (5 points, 2 boards) that he can make a difference, and tell Richie Hulett (0 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists) to go out there and prove a point! (I own FM10, and that's in there. I use it sparingly, usually when their H/T match rating is around 6.0.)


Oh, GW is shooting .077% from three. What is that, 1-for-13?


GW starts off hot out of the gate, getting out to an eight-point lead, then ten. Jack is up to 17-10-3. After that...well, I got a text, looked away, looked back, and it was suddenly 100-64. Jack finished with his first triple-double, going for 30-12-12, along with three blocks. Crane finisehd with 17 (he made a difference!), while Mountain added 15. Lowell Simmons, who would go on to form his own one-man law firm by legally adding a hyphen to his name, led Army with 14 points.

Week 7: 12.28-81-1.3-82

Top-ranked Kansas fell at home to Dayton, 52-43. That paved the way for Duke (13-0) to take the top spot. Penn (10-0) is now second. There was limited movement in the top-ten, save for Cornell falling from #9 to #16, for losing to Southern Cal in the final of the Las Vegas Shootout. Could you imagine Cornell in 1981 Las Vegas? That would be the best Revenge of the Nerds ever.

Our heroes are up to 20th, and gaining momentum.


12.31.81 - vs William & Mary (1-10)

The Tribe is on an one-game winning streak, that coming at Howard, 72-62. That snapped a ten-game losing streak. There is some talent, namely in guard Wilmer Gattis. Guard Richie Matias is their leading scorer, while forward David Hernandez averages 10.2 points and 6.3 rebounds a game. They are probably not a worthy foe on George Washington's march to 1982.

GW started on an 11-0 run, Jack scoring three points, and netting three assists. The score is 25-6 after ten minutes; Jack has scored ten points. When he comes back, it is 35-16, and a five-second call is forced upon him. Stunning, really. At the half, it's 42-23. Jack has ten points, three rebounds, and five assists. Decent numbers, but the Colonials really took their foot off the pedal after that devastating start. It's a bit disappointing.

That said, they're also a second half team.

Naturally, William & Mary scored the first eight points of the half. This gave them the confidence to try a full court press, which was just a bloody awful decision. GW broke that, but they are still having trouble scoring, as the Tribe pulled to within 11. They are not shooting well since that initial burst. But there's Jack, scoring plus the foul, to put the lead back to 21. Negron (12 rebounds) is becoming quite a reliable source for boards.

Meanwhile, Dwight Davis has 21 points, complimenting Jack's 24 brilliantly. When Jack is pulled with three minutes left, it is 82-50. This was the expected result, and while it was earned to start, it seems like GW lacks that consistent drive. It comes and goes. It will be their downfall this year (which is expected, they're rubbish anyway). The final is 88-50. Jack has 24 on 9-20 shooting, but with eight assists, six rebounds, three steals and two blocks. An all-around performance for Jack.

George Washington ends 1981 10-1, and the darlings of the press, who all want to climb aboard Jack's bandwagon.


1.2.82: at Richmond (8-3)

The Spiders offer a severe threat to the Colonials. They haven't really beaten anybody, but they have beaten the teams they should have. They have solid talent at all three levels, from guard Willie McGee (10.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg), forward Charlie Alberto (18.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg) and C Brad Mapes (5.9 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.1 bpg). Doesn't "Brad Mapes" sound like the whitest center you've ever seen?

This will be a very tough game for GW. A loss is easily attainable, especially given how they have only played four road games, and only a couple of games against solid teams (3-1 vs the top 100).

(Sure enough, when Mapes saw Dawkins, he said, "Why, that fellow appears to be of extraordinary talent! That behemoth may be otherworldly, like I saw on NOVA a few evenings ago!")

Leroy Mountain picked up two quick fouls, causing the team to bring in John Sandy. Sandy has averaged just 2.1 minutes in his seven games this year. Interesting decision. Richmond has an early 11-8 lead; Jack and Crane have all of GW's points. A few minutes later, Jack takes over at the point, causing Sammy Anderson, Richmond's point man, to shake in his shoes. He would quickly foul his way to the bench.

With 13 minutes to go, Richmond holds an 18-16 lead. It's Dawkins and Crane and that's it for the Colonials. The Spiders are doing a great job of bottling Dawkins up on the boards; he just has two through the first two minutes. Richmond builds a 25-19 lead with nine minutes left, but Brian Dolozier's three-point play cut it to three. This is the kind of game, though, where you want Jack to assert himself. It's 32-24 with 6:30 left, and Jack hasn't taken a shot since he came back in the game. On cue, he finally shoots out of a timeout, and scores. Butit isn't enough. Richmond is running the Colonials out of Dixieland, leading 42-30 at the four-minute mark. Granted, Richmond is shooting 57%, but they are continually getting good looks.

Jack leads a comeback, but a chance to cut the deficit to three is missed when Jack missed a dunk. Mapes hit a jumper on the other end; an Alberto three made it 50-42 at the half. Alberto ran down the court taunting the Colonials afterward. Surely, this will not sit well. Jack has 16-7-4 numbers, while Crane has eight. Mapes has ten to lead a balanced Spiders outfit. The Colonials did well to cut the deficit in half, and looked the better unit in the final few minutes of the half.

Sure enough, on the first shot of the second half, Alberto is fouled on a dunk attempt. Hard. He retaliated on the other end by fouling Jack on his dunk attempt. This game is getting heated. Jack fouled Alberto, had some words with him, and then hit a three to bring it to within one. Then he fould Dwight Davis to grab their first lead, 54-53. This looks like a different team. Mapes tries some white guy charm in arguing a foul call, but to no avail. Jack has 23-7-8 numbers now. Mapes and Alberto have three fouls each, while Crane has three for GW.

With 12:06 left, Alberto picked up his fourth foul, nearly tacking Negron on a shot attempt. The bucket fell, giving GW a 64-63 lead, and sending Alberto to the bench. Negron hit the freebie, but RIchmond ties it back up. Preston Elson picks up his fourth foul a couple of minutes later. After a Richmond miss, Jack hits a three to make it 70-67. He has 29-9-9 right now. Hulett's three makes it 73-67, and you can feel the tide shifting. Jack has taken over this game. He gets his tenth rebound and tenth assist in the same breath. Then gets his 11th assist immediately after, opening up a 77-67 lead with seven minutes to go.

Richmond comes back, getting it to 79-74 on Sammy Anderson's three. He then hits another to get it to 81-77; Anderson has 17 points. John Kindle's shot gets it to 81-79. They tie it on two free throws, and then take the lead on James Kaylor's three-point play. The momentum shifts in this game are amazing.

Jack hits Davis for a three to tie it again, but Richmond answers. Mountain counters, but Alberto hits a three. With 2:31 left, it's 91-88. Jack has to come out, and Cliff Donahue hits a three to make it 92-91, Richmond. Mapes fouls out, but Crane can only hit one of two. Anderson returns with a three, giving Richmond a 95-92 lead. Unfortunately, GW takes bad shots down the stretch, Richmond hits just enough free throws, and takes the 98-93 win over GW.

It's a learning experience, going into a hostile environment, and not getting too flusters. Of course, they also blew a ten-point lead with bad substituting, bad shooting, and losing their form. But, well, Jack's young. And Hulett is young. You hate to phrase it like that, but the other guys won't be there when this team is really good. A loss was predictable, and that's what happened.

Jack won POTG, but I'd have given it to Sammy Anderson. Without his clutch threes (6-10, including two major bombs when they made their run), Richmond falls to DC like when Jefferson Davis lived there. But, Jack's line...29 points, 13-14 free throws, 12 assists, 10 boards, five blocks, four steals...that's enough to cinch that up, no?


As the new year hits, this is how George Washington looks.

If you're skimming the game results, do yourself a favor. Go back and read the last game played, the Richmond game. That had the atmosphere that is difficult to find in text sims. There was hostility, a road game vibe. I don't know if I captured that well enough...I write everything on-the-fly, and while I slow the game down to try and keep up, I do concede some of my creativity (for better or worse) when I write like this.

Regardless, the game was phenomenal. To watch Jack lead that run, and then watch Sammy Anderson bring Richmond right back...that was worth writing.

Week 8: 1.4.82-1.10.82


The first #1 team of 1982 is The University of Pennsylvania. The Quakers won at #24 Dartmouth and at Cornell. Those impressive wins vaulted them over Duke. Missouri fell to Western Kentucky and dropped from ninth to #13. Virginia (11-1) slid into the top ten.

The Colonials fell, from 20th, to 25th.

(Note: I learned a lesson. Print the polls on Monday. Penn lost during the week, and will lose their #1 ranking.)


1.7.82: vs Miami-Ohio (5-5)

The Red Hawks are a quality group that is a couple of years away from being real quality. They are littlered with freshmen (eight) and sophomores. Just one senior on the roster, and one junior. That senior, though, is former JuCo Adolph Owens. He is averaging 21.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. After him and Graham Ulrich (11.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg), there is not much flight to the Red Hawks. They do have Chinese import Xing Su, who wishes he had done better in geography as a youth.

The game opened with C Willie Negron hitting a three. Well, okay. Jack then had the next six points. Owens countered with seven points, keeping the game tight at 12-11 through five minutes. Jack comes out at the 11:00 mark with the game 16-13, GW. This second unit gets more frustrating with each passing game. Porter Ali and Brian Dolozier are an absolute misery to watch. Meanwhile, GW cannot shake Miami-OH, who hasn't scored in minutes. There are twelve turnovers and 34 points between the two teams. I don't think there's been a point scored in six minutes. Finally, GW begins hitting again, stretching their lead to 26-15 behind Crane (6 points, 6 rebounds). Hulett and Crane hit buckets to stretch it to 32-19. Dawkins has been called for three seconds three times in the first half. He makes up for it with a three to make it 35-22, GW; he then adds a three-point play, helping the Colonials to a 41-24 halftime lead. It was not pretty, this clang festival of frustration in offense. The Red Hawks are shooting 33%, 66% from the line, and 18% from 3. GW is shooting 48%, just 53% from the line, and 36% from 3. Owens has 11 for Miami-OH, while Jack has 12. Crane has 8 points and 7 boards.

(Sometimes, when writing up these recaps, I get this far and think, "Eh......". This is one of those games.)

Jack has no assists yet, which is interesting. Pretty sure that has yet to happen in his career. He exits with 14 points, 2 boards and no assists, and a 50-34 lead for GW. That allows for Porter Ali to get in and start chucking. He actually hits a three, and pushes the lead to 19. The Red Hawks go on a 9-0 run to cut the lead back to ten. Jack ends that with a three-point play, then hits a twisting jumper in the lane to push it back to 60-45.

With 7:30 left, Jack gets his first assist, then follows that up with his second. He's at 21-6-2. Miami keeps floating a challenge into this game, just for the Colonials to shove them back. It's 69-57 with five minutes left, and this screams of Jack coming out with four minutes left. He doesn't, though...in fact, he hits another to get the lead back to fourteen with under three left. Crane gets a steal and throws down a highlight reel dunk (for 1982, remember), and this one is over. Porter Ali and The Scrubs come in, and finish off a lackluster 75-63 win.

GW won this on rebounding. They equally shared thirty-two turnovers, and were out-assisted, something that rarely happens with this group.


1.9.82: vs American (6-8)

The annual Battle For The Capitol (I have no idea if these two face each other each year, but it'd be great if they did...records indicate American owns a 16-7 edge in the series, so I guess it's likely they face each other most years). American owns a victory over top-ten UTEP. They are also Providence's only victory. They also gave BYU a run for its money...but then lost to 3-10 Navy. The Eagles are led by their senior backcourt of Joey Dart and Wade Paulsen. This team has a lot of experience, though very little of it was around for the back-to-back NIT teams from two years ago.

This looks like a win, except it's on the road...in Washington DC. Actually, these cross-town rivalries are intense.

Case in point...Jim Woody hits a three out of the gate. American goes into a press, gets two steals, gets two dunks. It's 7-0, and the game is 27 seconds old. GW calls their first timeout right away. Dawkins gets blocked on a dunk by Williams Carter, future MSNBC correspondent. GW gets their bearings and gets it back to 11-8, on the strength of Leroy Mountain's six. Jack is cold early, not doing anything but foul for the game's first nine minutes.

Williams Carter blocked his second Dawkins dunk. Dawkins returned the favor on the other end. With eight minutes left, Hulett's three tied it at 19-19. Dawkins has just two points and three rebounds. John Sandy makes a cameo, and gets a tip-in to give the Colonials their first lead. Dawkins hit sa three thereafter to make it 27-23. Another Hulett three makes it 30-23. Amazing considering it was 9-0 in a minute.

American's full court press is devastating. GW has eight turnovers. Seven are from the press. They add a few more, but Dawkins' three-point play late in the half gives GW a 41-40 lead at the break. He didn't play well, but has ten points and five rebounds. Paulsen and Dart have 11 each for the Eagles.

Dawkins opens the second half with a bucket. American turns it over, and GW beats their press with Dawkins finding Dwight Davis for a bucket. GW has made some adjustments, and has beaten the press each time thus far. Jack hits a jumper to make ti 53-48 with fifteen minutes left. He has 19-7-1 so far. Dart hits a three with 13:57 left to tie it at 55-55. Antonio Millsap, who would never be confused with Paul Millsap, because of the generation gap, hits a three to make it 61-57, American. They stretch it out to six with ten minutes left. Jack appears to be putting the team on his back, getting it down to 67-65 (24-10-2). Unfortunately, his teammates can't hang onto the ball. Several turnovers, and American gets it to 75-65. A three from Dart makes it 82-67, and a very likely end to this one. GW cannot get a bucket, cannot stop a bucket, and sure enough, that's the finish.

American was definitely the better squad, and earned their victory. They registered fifteen steals, most through their press.

Week 9: 1.11.82-1.17.82


Penn fell to Brown, and dropped to fifth from the top spot. Duke reclaims the top spot, while Kansas, Clemson, and BYU round out the top five. Virginia fell out of the top ten, while Rice slid back in. George Washington obviously fell out of the top 25, but barely.


Some quick stat rankings for Jack (all nationally):


PPG: 27.1 (1st)
RPG: 10.0 (21st; one of four players averaging a double-double)
APG: 6.2 (5th)
SPG: 2.4 (t-12th)
BPG: 3.1 (t-11th)


1.11.82: vs Lamar (6-7)

Lamar is not particularly impressive. They haven't beaten anyone in particular, while they have lost to plenty of nobody in particular. C Terrance Ibarra is averaging 11.2 ppg and 9.3 rpg, but other than forward Jonny Jester (8.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 3.9 bpg), nobody sticks out as being a threat. This is the opposite of most teams GW faces...these guys work from the inside-out. Senior Jorge Turner (R/Y) should be destroyed by Jack at small foward, if they are matched up.

Negron wins the jump for the first time this year. And Jack assists on the first basket...and the second. And the third. This is good news for the Colonials. Negron hits a three, giving GW a ten-point lead. Jorge Turner, who has been abused to this point, gets hit with a technical foul. Playing Jack will do that to you, I guess. With ten minutes left in the first half, it's 23-16. Jack's line: 1-2-4. Lamar has eight turnovers to none for GW, but the Colonials are shooting 36%. That is why the game is 26-17 instead of 46-17. They're shooting 55% from the line...this is an awful shooting team, really.

Cliff Donahue gets charged with a technical after a dunk. There's a chance to put this game away, and he goes and does that. I hope he doesn't come back, and runs sprints until he passes out after the game. That said, GW gets nine steals, preying on a poor ball-handling team, and turns around the shooting (44%), leading to a 40-25 lead. Jack has just five points, but six assists with four rebounds. Leroy Mountain's 12 leads all scorers. He pushes it to 19 as GW pushes their lead to 19. Jack, with 12:30 left, has scored just two points in the second half. The rout is on with twelve minutes to go. Honestly, this is just letting the game run down...Jack scores his 12th point with six minutes left. His line is 12-7-9, as GW leads by 26. This is likely how it'll end, as he, and the rest of the first team, comes out. Donahue comes back, that nimrod. On cue, he misses a dunk on a fast break.

Amazingly, Lamar has 25 turnovers. The final is 71-47, as it was all GW in the second half. Jack is named POTG despite shooting 4-10, for his 12-7-9 line, with four steals and three blocks. And no turnovers. Mountain has 23 points in the leading effort. The maligned Jorge Turner was the only Lamar player in double figures, with 11.


1.13.82: at La Salle (7-8)

The Explorers have a bit of a storied history that is fading from their current situation. They used to be good for 20+ wins a year and, usually, a NIT bid. Two seasons ago, they were 22-11 and reached the second round of the NIT (which is nothing to scoff at). Last year, though, they suffered their worst season, at 10-22. Never before had they won fewer than 14 games. Head coach Luther Augustin is feeling the heat in Philadelphia.

He's trying to win with youth; three juniors and a sophomore are in the starting lineup, and there is just one senior on the roster. The Explorers' backcourt, juniors Royal Swinton (13.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.9 spg) and Carey Smith (12.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.4 apg) lead the way. Sophomore forward Kyle Packard is the team's leading scorer (14.2 ppg), but turns it over a lot. He does have good size, though, at 6'6, 226, and is a two-year starter so far. So, despite his inability to handle the ball, and a distinct lack of desire for defense, he may be able to tire Jack out a little.

Jack hit an early three-point play, then hit a three from way downtown, getting GW to an early 8-0 lead. Then he drew a charge on Carey Smith. Another two free throws, a blocked shot...he is everywhere. La Salle, caught in the crossfire, got GW into the bonus with fourteen minutes left in the half. Stunning. La Salle ripped to a 23-10 lead. Jack moved to the point, finding Leroy for a hoop. When the second team came in at the ten-minute mark, it was 29-15. With 5:44 left, Jack's three made it 41-22. Mountain and Dwight Davis have combined for fifteen points. GW is overwhelming La Salle's kind-of-vaunted backcourt. La Salle finally had enough, and Packard was called for a technical foul. Dawkins hit all the free throws, giving GW a 55-33 lead. Daniel Green got one a couple of minutes later. At the half, it's 58-35, Colonials. La Salle (17 fouls) totally destructed down the stretch.

Jack's line: 27 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists.

Early in the second half, Royal Swinton got charged with a technical for arguing a foul call. This is amazing. Jack has taken a facilitating role in the second half, getting six assists in the first nine minutes. When Jack comes out, it's 83-51. There are ten minutes left. At 5:45, it is 96-56, and La Salle has 14 fouls in the second half, to GW's four. This game is in Philadelphia.

The final is 103-67, and honestly, it wasn't even that close.

Week 10: 1.18.82-1.24.82


Duke (16-1) fell to #24 North Carolina at home. The loss means nobody will go undefeated this year, and Duke is no longer #1. Kansas slides back into the top spot. It seems like nobody wants the top spot. And, lo and behold, Kansas has to travel to #4 Kansas State, and former top-ten Missouri, this week. For the first time this year, nobody was booted from the top ten.

George Washington slid back into the top 25, at #23. Southern Illinois is also new to the poll.


12.18.82: vs VMI (6-9)

The Keydets have the best player George Washington has faced to this point. Junior point guard Maximo Benson is averaging 12.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg, and 5.3 apg. He rates as a B/B. Furthermore, he is an accomplished perimeter defender. It will be interesting to see if he defends Jack. He's only 6'1, 197...but he's lightning quick.


The rest of the roster...C Don Melendez is averaging 11.7 points and 8.5 boards. Forward Brian Smith is putting up 15.8 points, while off-guard Glen Beaton is averaging 10.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.5 steals. He would, in a few years, spoof Glen Frey with "The Beat Is On". It would be on a knockoff MTV Jock Jams CD a decade later.

GW has three turnovers early, uncharacteristic of them. And Jack is an early exit from the game, only to come right back and run the point. VMI takes an 11-8 lead with thirteen minutes left. Crane, early on, is a beast (4 points, 4 boards). VMI has five early steals. GW is not taking care of the ball. Early John Sandy sighting! That's usually not a good thing. Behind Crane's nine points, GW takes control at the ten-minute mark, going up 27-17. Crane continues to score; he now has 17 points in the first half. Between he and Jack (eight points), they have outscored VMI (35-24, 5 minutes left). Jack has a ho-hum 8-4-3 with 2 minutes left, but GW is up 47-34. Crane hits another, getting 19 points and six boards, as GW leads 49-36 at the break. Jack has 8-6-4 with a couple of blocks. VMI has seven steals, but they all came in the first twelve minutes. Once they stopped getting them, they stopped stopping GW.

Arlie Spencer seems to be trying a new sub pattern, taking Jack out early so he can use him at different spots. Crane, meanwhile, is up to 25 points. Jack is at 15-9-6, as GW has a 68-42 lead with 12 minutes left. GW has outrebounded VMI 40-16 so far. Negron has registered a double-dime (10 points, 10 boards), while Crane just got his tenth board, to go with 28 points. 77-48 with six minutes to go. Jack is at 17-12-7. His final bucket is an emphatic dunk, and the foul. GW goes up 87-53, and the subs are on. The final is 93-57. Crane scores 31 on 12-16 shooting, while Jack has 22-12-7. Tommy Humphrey had four points, with ten rebounds, in 17 minutes. Dwight Davis inexplicably shot 2-12 from the field. GW hed a 55-26 edge on the glass, but shot 1-14 from 3. Ick. Jack hit the only one, going 1-4. Davis was 0-7.


1.21.82 - at Rider (7-8)

The Broncs are talented, as much as any they have faced thus far. David Brenneman is the Rider's most talented player, averaging 12.9 points and 8.3 rebounds a game. Small forward Robby Pitzer is averaging 19.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists. They are two of the four players averaging double figures in scoring.

The one thing GW has going for it is that Rider has not played anyone nearly as good as they are. The argument against that for the 14-3 Colonials, though, is...well, just how good are they?

GW could lose this game, easily.

Pitzer opens up with six points, while Mountain scores five. The game is tied at 11 early, and Jack is having a slow go (2-3-3). I say that, and he hits to tie it at 17 with 13:23 left. Jack then found Davis for a basket. He does have four assists. At ten minutes, it's 23-21.

Porter Ali is in, which is bad news. On cue, he misses a dunk, but Jack cleans it up. GW has twelve fouls with 7:30 left in the first half. Pitzer has 12 points. Jack has a massive offensive board and put back, giving him 10-8-4 numbers. It's 38-37 with four minutes left, but Jack, again, puts them up. Manny Chapin missed a dunk. He is good at that. The Colonials push the lead to 44-37. The team is doing a great job of holding Brenneman (3-2-0). Chapin, who didn't have the best half, fouled William H. Lacy on the final play of the half. He hit one of two free throws, making it 48-43 at the half. Jack has a double-double in the first half (14-10-4). Elisha Schnell has 10 points and 9 rebounds. Mountain has eight points; Crane, after his great game against VMI, has registered only three fouls. So has Negron.

Negron picks up his fourth foul two minutes into the second half. Humphrey, who has three fouls, comes in. Rider already has four fouls three minutes into the half. Amazing. Jack is up to 22-16-5, as GW gets a 58-46 lead. Diederick Papst, a forward for Rider, may be the best name in this universe. Meanwhile, Jack puts GW up 65-50; he now has 26 points. Jack scores on Papst, then hits the freebie. He's got the team on his back right now. Hulett's three, with 11:30 left, may be the dagger. 71-54. Rider has ten fouls with 10:40 left, and the GW goes up 49-56. There is no sign of Brenneman (6-2-0). Jack has 33-21-6. He is putting together an all-around great performance.

Chapin has zero points, but 11 boards. On cue, he misses another dunk. Jack cleans that up, gets another assist. The subs come in, as this game is wrapped up quickly. The final is 95-76, which is not indicative, at all, of how this game was played. It was an absolute demolishing of a good team. Jack took thirty shots in this one to get his 37 points, but it was his 25 rebounds--11 offensive--and eight assists, that won this game.


1.24.82 - Bucknell (12-6)

The Bison are talented, have played a difficult schedule, and have more than lived to tell the tale. Losses include BYU (78-70), Kansas State, Nebraska, TCU, and at 16-4 Manhattan. Their RPI is 9th in the country. This is a very veteran team (four senior starters), which is predicated on defense. As far as their players, guard Mark Nichols (B/B) is the reigning ECC Player of the Year, and likely will be this year. He is averaging 12.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg, and 4.5 apg. Neil Wacker averages 14.5 ppg despite starting only seven games. Jay Brown and Basil Baca both average in double figures, with high efficiency ratings.

This will be one tough, tough team to beat...even in Washington.

The Bison are very banged up at center, though; starter John Caudell, and backup Al Cooper, are both injured. Caudell will play, but his effectiveness is in question.

Bucknell gets off to a 7-0 run, with Baca scoring five of them. Nichols hits a three, and Bucknell gets out to a 12-0 start. GW misses their first nine shots. The Colonials get it to 17-9 with 12:19 left, but they are shooting very poorly. Nichols has eight points and three assists early, while Jack has 5-2-1. Jack hits a 3, getting it to 21-16. Their fight back into this is impressive, but Kraig Ford hits seven in a row to make it 28-19. Jack gets to 10-2-2 as GW pulls to 33-30 with three minutes left. Mountain ties it a possession later, and GW is now shooting 40%. They take their first lead right at the end of the half, on Mountain's leaner with :07 left. There is balanced scoring on GW's roster, as Dawkins (12), Crane (10) and Mountain (9) are leading the way. GW has out-rebounded Bucknell, 20-12. Nichols has 11 points and five assists for Bucknell. Surely, this team has brought the fight back to the Bison.

GW hits the first seven points of the second half, punctuated with a Jack three. GW has outscored Bucknell 18-3 to start the second half, and, with 12:14 left, have a 63-48 lead. Jack is up to 23-6-6, while Crane is at 12-6-4. Jack gets over 30 points, as GW has a 77-57 lead with under eight minutes left. John Sandy sighting with six minutes left! It's 79-60, GW, in a rather surprising coast...especially given the 15-2 start Bucknell got on. Since then, it's 81-47, GW. The final is 87-67, and may be the game where GW announced it was to be taken seriously.

Week 11: 1.25.82-1.31.82

Kansas fell from #1, after losing to #3 Kansas State in Manhattan. They only fell one spot, switching with BYU. Washington rose to #9 after seizing control of the Pac-8.

GW moved up five spots, to 18th. They are 16-3 and looking strong.


1.30.82: vs Hofstra (11-7)

The ECC team is nowhere near as talented as any of the teams GW has faced lately. Offensively, they are led by guard John Olivier, who is mildly humorous. He's averaging 15.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists. Dustin Tse, a senior guard who has never lived up to his promise, is averaging 13.5 ppg and 4.9 rpg, for what its worth. (He's a red/green as a senior, with no signs of recent injury.) They have solid defense, but offensively, they are absolutely no good. GW's disruptive defense should be enough to beat Hofstra.

GW starts of shooting poorly, but not nearly as bad as Hofstra, who is 1-for-10. It's 15-2 after seven minutes. Jack has ten points in the first ten minutes, and it's 19-3...make that 21-3. This will be a quick recap. Hofstra finally scores, making it 25-6 with six minutes left. Olivier hits a couple of buckets, and the half ends with GW up, 39-13. Hofstra is shooting 17% from the field, with ten turnovers. Jack has a 15-3-2 line.

The best you can say about the second half is that it was played, and the game was completed. GW dragged itself through the second half, not really connected to it.

Here are the player stats through January:


Looking at this, I think the team is going to really benefit when Richie Hulett matures. His numbers are fantastic for such a bit role.

The shooting stats are amazing:


Jack is averaging nearly a 50-40-90 as a freshman. And nearly 1.5 points per shot. That's ridiculous, especially for such a high-volume shooter. Mountain, who is getting better looks than he has ever gotten in his career, is way up, too. Dawkins adds so much to their efficiency, it is rather amazing to see. If they are able to get more talent behind him, the team's offense, already 2nd in the nation with this lot, may become legendary.

And the team stats:


Finally, here are the national leaders. Jack's rankings will come shortly. (Author's Note in 2017: A few of these names become more prominent years later. Especially Brian Crawford...and, as I write in the current, Douglas Leduc. Really cool to look back at this and see them as I know them now.)


Jack's ranks:
Scoring: 1st
Rebounds: t-11th
Assists: 4th
Steals: t-6th
Blocks: t-16th

Enjoying the dynasty. What are the league rules in terms of early departures? Are you guaranteed a minimum number of years for Dawkins?

No early leave. I wanted it old school.

Week 12: 2.1.82-2.7.82

In a never-ending rotation of top teams, BYU lost to #6 UTEP, 75-72, and fell to #3. Kansas (18-2) reassumed #1 after a week away, while Kansas State, who unseated Kansas two weeks ago, is now #2. They would have a right argument, had they not lost to Oklahoma immediately following the Kansas win. Clemson and Duke, ranked fourth and fifth, also received first-place votes. Right now, the top team of the week is anybody's guess. Nobody is outright dominant, and it should make for a rather crazy March.

The shakeups didn't end there. Penn has lost three straight, and tumbled out of the top ten (to 11th). Maryland lost two straight (to #14 Virginia and to #4 Clemson, both on the road), and fell to 8th. Baylor (12-5) slid into the top ten. There has been a lot of shakeup this week.

Meanwhile, the highest-ranked independent team in the land, George Washington, moved up another spot, to #17. What's more, in the first Bubble Watch, GW is considered one of three indy teams to be a lock. Their SOS is horrific (174th), but their RPI (34th) is solid, and barring a major collapse from their 17-3 record, they should coast into the NCAA, perhaps as a six-seed. They have three tough games remaining...at Illinois State, home to VCU, and at West Virginia.



For what its worth, Georgia Southern is considered a lock, too. GW beat them in the opening game of the season.

Week 12 (cont'd): I have to break up some of these posts, as they're too long for the forum to handle.


2.1.82 - at South Carolina (10-11)

The Gamecocks outscore their opponents despite the losing record (72.9-71.9). They also own a win over #12 Indiana, and suffered a tough loss to Murray State, who is ranked atop the RPI. Their biggest issue seems to be on defense and with rebounding (they get outrebounded). Their defense is 167th in the nation. Not good when you have the #2 ranked offense, and the top offensive player in the nation, coming to your building. Still, you have to give them some respect.

The Gamecocks start four seniors and a junior, so don't expect them to be phased by the arrival of Jack. This group of seniors has had a history of losing; they equate as the worst class in school history, as far as wins and losses are concerned. The school is suffering its fourth straight losing season; they never had three in a row. They've won the NIT twice, and reached the Elite Eight back in 1951. While those glory days have surely faded, this is still a very proud program.

Charlie Sather (10.5 ppg, 5.2 apg, 3.1 rpg) and Otto Sharma (10.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 3.0 apg) lead the team on offense, which is multi-faceted (six players averaging at least nine points a game). They are without starting forward James Bell, which hurts their depth.

Chung Rehm scores for SC on the opening possession; Jack returns volley, and already, GW Is crashing the glass. They had four offensive rebounds on one possession. Jack hits a three, making it 7-4 early on. The Gamecocks are going to try to press GW. This probably won't end well for them. With 12:41 left, the rebounding margin is 11-2, and GW is up 16-6. Jack has a 7-5-0 line. In fact, there are no assists for GW so far, which is alarming. Jack comes out with an 11-5-0 line. Still no assists...this is weird. Jack returns a minute later. Tommy Humphrey has really come on for this group lately, getting a steal and a dunk. The lead is 32-16 with five minutes left. Still no assists. GW is going on drives, not passing. Jack is 14-7-0 when he comes out. Hulett comes in at SF, which is a surprise. Cliff Donahue gets time at SG in this game.

At the half, it's 41-23. GW has out-rebounded SC 27-13, and SC has eight turnovers. It wil be very interesting to see how many of those rebounds are offensive. GW has just one assist, slashing their way to the basket often. It's working, but I hope it's a one-game thing, and due to South Carolina being a putrid defensive team.

Jack gets an assist after a steal on SC's first possession. Then he finds Crane for a basket. It appears they're going to have Jack facilitate more, which he is very good at. His line, right now, is 20-8-2. The lead gets to 49-26 with sixteen left, forcing SC to call time. The lead gets to 57-28, as GW is now passing the ball well and causing SC to fall one step behind repeatedly. Chung Rehm is the only player for SC that is scoring with any consistency (13 points). Jack is up to 27-9-4 before he gets relieved at the ten-minute mark, with GW coasting, 67-36. He immediately comes back and finds Crane for the hoop, then finds Mountain (17-6-0) for another. The lead gets to 78-38, and SC has not been outclassed like this this year. You have to wonder if GW is a legit contender with the way they play, or if they're the King of the Also-Rans. Negron registers a double-double (11 pts, 12 reb) before the subs come on for the final five minutes, GW up 80-40. The final is 84-51, with the only things of note where Humphrey potentially fouling out of a forty-point game (he didn't) and Jennings calling time with 1:51 left to chew out the subs. Good effort by GW, and a well-deserved victory.


2.5.82 - at Illinois State (14-8)

South Carolina and Illinois State have played two similar opponents, Indiana and Murray State. Whereas SC went 1-1 against them, the Redbirds went 0-2, and neither game was tremendously competitive. The Redbirds have only one win over a decidedly winning opponent, that being Marshall (16-6). Other than that, their record is very pedestrian, even if they're 2-3 against the top 50, and 4-3 vs the 51-100. They don't rebound at all, but they keep opposing teams off the boards. They have a stout defense, ranked 11th in the nation. But they don't bring it offensively (186th), and that inability to score should be what kills them against GW.

They do have a star in guard Jeffrey Matt, a senior whose first point will be the 1400th of his career. He is eighth all-time on the school scoring list. And they have 7-0 C Charles Merrifield, who is a blocking standout (he is the all-time leader at ISU, by a long shot, with 238 coming into the game. Second place has 216). Redshirt senior Jeromy Catron has an outside shot at 1000 points; he is averaging 13.8 points a game this year. With Dwight Davis potentially sidelined with a minor injury, he could be in line for a big game.

GW comes out with Mountain hitting a three right off the bat. Davis is in the starting lineup. ISU is in a press, which Jack beats easily and throws down a dunk, as if to tell the Redbirds that won't work today. They come out in it again, and he beats it again, this time finding Leroy. GW, meanwhile, has forced two shot-clock violations in the first seven minutes, and lead 14-7. Jack has 7-5-3 in the game's first ten minutes (GW up 18-10, as Jack gets his fourth assist). Crane is warming up (six points). The pregame notion that ISU would not be able to score enough is appropriate. WIth 4:37 left, it's 23-10, GW. Jack has two uncharacteristic turnovers, throwing it into the stands, and traveling. Still, he is at 10-7-5 with three minutes left, and it's 26-15. The frontcourt of ISU is having issues with conditioning, and it's causing GW to win the board battle. The score is 37-19 at the half, and there seems to be no touching this GW team at the moment. Jack has 17-7-5 at the break, while Leroy has ten. Nobody for ISU stands out. They have 11 turnovers, with just one steal. GW has just six turnovers, and six steals.

Negron collects his third foul to start the second half. Jack hits a bucket; he has 19, ISU has 21. Now Jack has 21 (16:38 left), tying ISU by himself. And then he hits another, and has outscored ISU by himself, 23-21. Leroy scores off a Jack pass to make it 49-21 with 13:59 left. Jack picks up a double-double (27-10-6) with GW leading 53-23, ten minutes left. Illinois State embodies the phrase, "win ugly". That's a double-edged sword. The Redbirds are catching back up to Jack, as it's 59-28 with 6:15 left. Jack stretches his lead back to 32-28 (he has a 32-11-6 line), then scores again to make it 63-28. The subs come in with it 67-30, meaning Jack outscored them during his time in the game. It's 69-30, and it will still be a struggle for the Redbirds to eclipse Jack. Porter Ali hits two threes, amazingly. With two minutes left, it's 75-32.

It ends 76-32. Jack Dawkins just outscored an entire team by himself, and he sat out the final five minutes. Jeffrey Matt was harrassed into a 3-15 night, with seven turnovers, while Catron, he of potential thousand points, went 0-3, and was held scoreless.


2.7.82 - at Virginia Tech (8-15)

The Hokies are playing out the string, losing nine of ten after winning six straight. They have no discernable talent, no interesting players to speak of outside of guard Henry Roberts, and rather, no chance to beat a team playing as well as George Washington is at the moment.

Sure enough, GW gets out to a 13-2 run to start (make it 15-2), on the strength of eight Leroy Mountain points. GW opens it up to 20-4, and they're shooting well, and playing deadly defense. There won't be much to recap in this one. It's 26-9 after ten minutes, and if the Hokies don't start making some noise soon, it'll just be highlights.

VT, somewhat, has come back, getting to within 36-23. Dawkins has a 12-6-3 line. Hulett pushes it to 40-23 after hitting his second three. At the half, it's 43-26. Jack has a line of 14-6-3. GW didn't suffer a turnover in the first half, while VT had seven turnovers. No way they're going to turn around from a 17-point deficit without getting any turnovers.

They tried though, getting it to 43-33, before Jack turned it around. He has a 24-8-5, and it's 57-33 with 12:56 left. GW is already in the penalty. He'd get up to 37 points before coming out, with GW up 71-37. So, they're on a 30-4 run. John Sandy sighting! He hits a three! The final is 89-46. Jack finished with 39-11-5.

Week 13: 2.8.82-2.14.82


For the first time, seemingly all year, there is a repeat #1 team in the land. Kansas stayed atop the polls, while Kansas State is right behind them at #2. Clemson received six first-place votes and slid up to third, trading playces with BYU. Penn and Indiana moved up to the top ten, replacing Baylor and Southern Cal.

GW (20-3) made no change in the poll, staying at #17.


2.10.82: vs Virginia Commonwealth (14-9)

The Rams are 14-9, but have outscored their opponents only by a point per game. So, this could swing either way for them. They have young potential, namely in forward Major Knotts (12.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg). Moses Sim, a senior guard, is a great name, and has played great (10.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.7 apg, 1.0 spg). They have a solid defense (36th in the country), but they don't score much, and have some issues rebounding. It will be a tall order for VCU to get this win. Nobody is playing better at the moment than the Colonials.

Jack scores the first five points for GW. VCU is matching them early on...it's 11 with 15:47 left. VCU is shooting 60% from the fieldin the first several minutes, taking a 19-18 lead. Jack has 12 points, as the rest of the squad is struggling to shoot. Jack puts them up 26-24 with 10:10 left on another three. He has 17. John Sandy sighting! In the first half! He gets a steal and a breakaway layup! That's still not good, seeing him that early. VCU, with eight minutes left, is shooting 64%. Both Davis and Leroy have two fouls each, forcing Jack to go to the point, and the John Sandy sighting! VCU is 7-9 from 3...unbelievable. Five minutes left, VCU up 37-36. They got a bit cold towards the end of the first half, but a Richie Rojas dunk off a steal makes it 49-43 at the half, in favor of GW. GW's got a 16-13 rebounding advantage, and has forced nine turnovers, to just six for VCU. Jack's line: 17-6-6. Rojas has 13 for VCU.

The Rams score the first five points out of the half, before GW rights the ship. Jack gets a couple of assists, and gets the lead out to 58-52 with 15:40 left. Mountain is hitting shots; he's up to 13 points. Jack hits a three, then turns around and does a bit of taunting. Nobody wants to see that. With ten minutes left, it's 71-60. Jack has 22-8-10. With nine minutes left, he's one rebound away from a triple-double. Rojas is hitting again; he's up to 19, and it's 81-68 with six minutes left. Jack gets his tenth board, and now has the trip-dub. He gets a ten-second break, comes back and his some free throws. With three minutes left, it's 85-74. They'll go on for a 90-78 win, one that was far tougher than anyone (me) thought it'd be.


2.14.82: at West Virginia (14-9)

The Mountaineers feel like a carbon copy of VCU. They don't have any real standouts. They have scored exactly as many points as they have given up, yet have won close games. They own exactly one solid win, that being an opening night win against Manhattan. Other than that, they haven't beaten a single team with a winning record. Their only game against a ranked team came in an embarrassing 60-35 loss to Virginia. Truth be told, they're 14-9 because they're 12-5 against teams not in the top 100.

They're lead by the inside-out duo of PG Barton Cramer (12.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.7 apt, 2.3 spg) and C Ty Turman (11.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg). They're going to be without their leading rebounder, Sheldon Ware (7.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg). They weren't a particularly good rebounding team to begin with...this has disaster written all over it for WVU.

Then again, VCU shot the lights out to hang around. Why can't they?

Leroy Mountain...not the best start to the game. He tosses it out of bounds on the first possession, then collects a foul on WVU's first possession. It seems like most of these games start with a Leroy foul. Wonder if that'll be a thing once he leaves..."man, remember the days when Leroy always had to foul in the first fifteen seconds? He swore we wouldn't win without it".

Oh, meanwhile, the game carried on. With five minutes gone, it's 10-6, GW. Jack has 8 points and three rebounds. In Tommy Humphrey's absence, Manny Chapin is getting early time. He scores on his first shot, and collects two quick rebounds. Hulett comes in and hits a quick three. He is getting more dependable, it appears, from downtown as of late. Halfway through the half, it's 18-10. Jack has a 10-4-0 line. WVU is shooting horribly (29%), but they're getting to the line, and GW isn't exactly lighting it up, either. Cramer and Turman, the two players spoken of before the game, have 12 of WVU's 14 points. Jack suffers his second foul with 5:44 left. Wonder what happens if he gets a third in the first half. He hits with 3:33 left, making it 26-17. He has a 12-6-0 line. This game has been very stagnant, due to poor shooting/good defense all around. Jack hits a conventional three-point play, and has 15 points. WVU stretches their lead on him out to 19-15, but the other players have contributed to a 32-19 score at the half. GW controlled the boards, 23-15. But WVU forced seven turnovers on GW, and blocked four shots. Doesn't happen a lot to GW teams. Jack has 15-7-0 at the break.

GW got five offensive rebounds in one possession. One big reason why they're up 38-23, with 16 minutes left. Jack is up to 19-12-0...he has yet to have a game with no assists. There was this possibility earlier in the season, but he finished with three. He's doing his work on the offensive glass. He has 23-14-0, and it's 44-25. He ties WVU and leaves the game with 12 minutes left.

He comes back with 11:38 left, and feeds Hulett for a basket. Hulett has eight points, and may be GW's second-leading scorer right now. It's 52-35, as WVU is trying to come back. Jack puts an end to that, getting fouled on a three and hitting all the freebies. It's back to 59-39, and that should do it with 6:30 left. Jack scores again, and has another 30-point game. Crane has six points and 12 rebounds, Hulett has 10 points, and Jack exits the game to a large ovation by the WVU crowd. The subs are in, it's 68-41, three minutes left, and we'll leave the recap here. The final is 68-49. The highlight in the final five minutes is deep cut reserve, Charles Mitchell, gets into the game for the first time this season. In fact, it is the first in-game action the redshirt senior has seen since his first season, when he played in 23 games. He took one shot, missed, and missed a free throw. He has scored 13 points in his career. So, this isn't a Rudy situation, but it's still nice to see. Now, the only player who has not logged a minute is redshirt freshman guard, Chris Davis. He is a walk-on who was rated 1230th. He is currently unhappy, but that may be due to a girl.

Week 14: 2.15.82-2.21.82


It needs noted that the NCAA suffered a clerical error, which saw Princeton move to the Big East this season. The Tigers are likely to win the conference, making them the first-ever champion of the league. Next year, they will move back to the Ivy League, unless the "NCAA" forgets. Providence will slide into the Big East, as they were supposed to do. The thing with these newfangled computing devices is, sometimes, you don't always read names when you're editing something in the interface.


Kansas fell to Iowa State, and was lifted from the top spot in the polls. Kansas State takes over the top spot, while Clemson slides up to #2. Southern Cal, who is on a seven-game winning streak, slides up to fourth.


The Colonials, meanwhile, are stuck at 17th. It's better than...not being 17th, perhaps.


2.19.82: at Charlotte (14-12)

Charlotte is probably not thrilled with how they match up with GW. They are 176th in defense, giving up 72.3 points a game. Their rebounding rate is about the same. They have a solid offense, one pretty efficient (13th in adjusted FG%). But, still, this doesn't really lend their chances well to a win over GW...at least, according to the trends.

There is five-headed attack on offense. Three players, the backcourt of guards Milan Showalter, Jimmy Butts, and forward George Seabrook, all average 10-11 points a game. Reserve forward Jerome Zink averages 8.9 points a game, while post players Harris Singleton (8.0) and Denis Lockett (7.6) form a...well, formidable duo in the post.

Jimmy Butts hits the first shot fo the game, a three from the right wing. Jack responds for GW a minute later. It is evident that GW will have some difficulty shooting in this game; it's 7-3 after four minutes, before Crane hits a jumper. Jack throws down an emphatic dunk, then blocks one by Zink later. The 49ers are hitting threes all over the place, though, making it difficult for GW to grab a lead. They do with 12:30 left, behind a 10-4-3 line from Jack. Dwight Davis' score off a Jack assist makes it 20-17 with ten minutes left. There is simply no stoppage of play, and for the first time all season, Jack is tired. So is everyone else. They finally get a stoppage with six minutes left, and Charlotte leading 31-27. Porter Ali, who has played better as of late, gets a tip to bring them back to within four. Hulett ties the game with 3:34 left. It is amazing how few stoppages there are in this game...very little substituting as a result. Both teams are incredibly identical in this first half. The only difference is on fouls (7-5 Charlotte) and turnovers (Charlotte 7, GW 3). Jack finishes a 43-38 first half with a 12-5-5 line. Negron has maybe his best half (8 points, 6 boards). Butts has 15 for Charlotte.

Jack opens the second half with a thunderous dunk off a Crane miss. With 17:21 left, Crane hits a shot off a Jack pass that builds a 52-42 lead for GW. Jack is up to 15-9-6. Jack is getting to the line often, forcing fouls out of the outmatched 49ers post players. Lockett has three fouls, Seabrook 2. With 12:50 left, it's 62-49. Jack is at 18-9-8, and building towards another triple-double. As I write that, he gets another assist. Crane is up to 10 points, and playing brilliantly on defense. Dawkins is up to 20-10-9 as the lead is 68-53 with 10:35 left. He gets the tenth assist by finding Leroy for a bucket, making ti 70-55 with 9:30 left. Charlotte continues to hang around by hitting threes. Zink's three with 6:36 left makes it 74-61. Butts has been held to just two points this half, which has been a major key for GW in preserving this lead. It's 76-67 with four minutes left, when Jack hits a shot to build it back to double-digits. Manny Carlisle hits a three with 1:15 left, making it 80-71. Fortunatey for GW, Charlotte flat ran out of time. The final is 85-75. Charlotte shot 48% from 3 (13-27), better than they shot from the field (47%). Jack finishes at 26-13-10, going quiet after the outburst he had in the middle of the second half. He did finish with five blocks. But GW had nine turnovers in the final portion of the second half, which is entirely unacceptable.

Week 15: 2.22.82-2.28-82


One week after Kansas fell out of the top 25, they retook the top spot. They did so by beating former #1 Kansas State, 55-49. The Wildcats fell to #2. Clemson slid to #3, while BYU jumped back to #4, leapfrogging Southern Cal. There is simply a lot of posturing among the top 10 right now. Nobody is losing, per se...this is more how the voters feel that week.


GW, meanwhile, finally moved up a bit more. They're up to #15. They won't move up much more, due to their schedule. But they have moved up.


2.25.82: at Navy (8-19)

If this were real life, I'd have celebrated my second birthday the day before. And I'd have no idea what basketball was, nor a mercy killing. The two are about to come together, as GW is going to romp over them. The Midshipmen have lost five in a row, and seven of their last eight. They own one win over any top-100 team, and are 3-3 against the worst teams in the country. They have a bottom-dwelling offense, which is enough to be crushed by the Colonials. But their defense...really, everything about them...is pretty below-average. Add in Jack's presence, and the way this team approaches offense and rebounding, and you have a major storm about to sink Navy.

They are led by Jeremiah Villalpando (10.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.4 apg).

Of course, after four minutes, it's 9-7. They have four threes, and with fourteen left, it's 15-13, GW. Jack has a 5-3-3 line. Despite Navy's record, they were only outscored by an average of eight points a game. So, they do keep things close. But Jack is hitting now (11-3-3), and they're starting to pull away (25-18, 11:00). Hey, Brian Delozier finaly dunked the ball! And Navy got back into it, again...32-28, 7:43 left. With 6:43 left, Navy came back to tie it at 34-34. Seriously, this team has a lot of fight. Crane, who has been scoring more as of late, has 11 points to help GW leads, 49-38, with three minutes left. Leroy (14 points) hits a three, but Navy comes back...again. They refused to get knocked down.

The good news is, GW leads 59-48 at the half. The better news is, they are a second half team. The bad news is, they just gave up 48 points to Navy. Jack is 18-4-4, but with a pair of fouls.

Jack starts the second half by finding Leroy for a hoop. Then he hits a bucket, and then a three. Just like that, it's 66-48. They get it out to 70-48 with 15:45 left, and keep pushing out. Yes. second half team. Jack is 23-8-6 right now, while Leroy has 16 points. Navy's first points come with 13:50 left, the score 75-50 in GW's favor. Brian Earley has four steals in this game. Jack comes out with ten left, and the score 79-52. Not much to say here. Negron has 2 points and 10 rebounds right now. The starters come back, but not for too long. It's 94-57 with 4:22 left. Navy has nine points this half. GW has 41. This has been convincing. The final is 102-65...what was felt to be a difficult game ends in a laugher.


2.28.82: vs Long Island (16-13)

The Blackbirds own a win over #23 Wake Forest, and have won four in a row, seven of the last eight, and nine of their last eleven. They have a solid offense (69th), an awful defense (165th), and they get outrebounded. The game is also in DC, and with their current form, GW should have more than enough to see off Long Island.

The Blackbirds do pass well, with a high number of assists as a team. They have four scorers in double-digits, led by G/G PG Neil Delvalle (13.0 PPG, 6.0 APG. This should be a high-scoring affair, which should benefit GW, who is still #2 in the nation in offense.

Long Island also has a player named Timmy McBroom. Awesome.

Dwight Davis is hot out of the gate, scoring the first seven points for GW. Negron hits another of his patented "Don't shoot it!" threes, making it 10-2. Jack is off to a very slow start, going for just two boards and two rebounds in the first five minutes, which has GW up 16-7. With 11:43 left, and GW up 19-12, Jack only has one point, and has missed the four shots I've seen him take. GW opens up a 27-12 lead with 9:29 left. Jack's line: 1-5-3. Robert Mulvey and John Sandy (John Sandy sighting!) get early run, which is rather amazing. Mulvey averages maybe two minutes a game. I guess there's an injury somewhere in there.

Long Island has another player, Basile Decroy. Sounds like he'd make a great Doctor Who character. Someone who helps the Doctor in the 1930s, defeat the Cybermen. Jack is up to 4-8-4, and with 3:31 left, it's 41-14. This is out of hand, and has me talking about Doctor Who (which is always good). Devalle has only two points and one assist for Long Island. Jack is up to 7-8-6, and it's a 47-19 lead with 2:20 left. Davis has 12 points, and GW has a 24-11 rebounding edge (and an 11-4 assist edge...seven of which belong to Jack). It's a 53-21 lead for GW at the half. Jack has a 7-9-7 line, shooting poorly, but getting his teammates involved in a big way. The Blackbirds are shooting just 25% from the field (1-10 from 3), while GW is shooting 56%. That putrid defense is hurting LI in a huge way.

The Blackbirds show their frustration with three fouls in the first thirty seconds. Jack hits a three, making it 61-24 with 17 minutes left. He's up to 10-10-8. Crane has twelve points now as well. Jack needs one more assist for another triple-double, which I think would be three in his last four games. He has a 12-13-9, and it's 67-30 with 12 minutes left.

It's now down to three minutes left, and Jack can't get that tenth assist. It's 79-39 as he comes out. The game ends in a 84-42 rout. Jack finished 18-15-9 with five more blocks. Given his start, this is a pretty stellar outing.


Jack's stats in February: 28.4 PPG, 12.5 RPG, 7.5 APG, 3.8 BPG, 1.5 SPG. Quite impressive.

Here are the team stats:


And their season snapshot:


Jack's rank, statistically:

Scoring: 27.4, 1st (2nd has 24.6)
Rebounding: 11.0, 5th (1st has 12.3; Jack is the only player averaging a double-double this season)
Assists: 6.8, 4th (1st has 7.5)
Steals: 2.1, t-20th (1st has 3.2)
Blocks: 3.2, t-10th (1st has 4.7)

Week 16: 3.1.82-3.7.82


Kansas remained atop the polls for the second straight week, tying the longest stay any team has had atop the polls this season. In fact, the top five remained the same for the first time this season. Penn fell out of the top 10, but only to 11th. And Big East power Princeton moved up to 24th. They'll probably hate going back to the Ivy next year.


George Washington, now 25-3, winners of fourteen in a row, slipped a spot, down to 16th. This is due to rising Texas Christian. The defending champions moved from 17th to 14th. Here's a quick projection as to the top four seeds in each region:

East: 1) Kansas State 2) Maryland 3) Penn 4) George Washington
South: 1) Clemson 2) UTEP 3) Arkansas 4) TCU
Midwest: 1) Kansas 2) Duke 3) Washington 4) Indiana
West: 1) BYU 2) Southern Cal 3) Baylor 4) Rice


3.4.82: at Montana State (18-9)

George Washington finishes the year with the Big Sky leaders. The Bobcats probably didn't factor on this being such a big game when they scheduled it, but here we are. This will be a great matchup for the Colonials; the Bobcats are sixth in the country in defense, and they prevent rebounds by the other team. They are seventh in oFG%. GW has not had a battle like this in a couple of months.

F Tommy Muniz (15.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and G Timmy Herbert (14.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.0 apg) lead the offense, while F Ramon Gonzalez (9.7 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 2.8 bpg) is the steady presence in the post. The key for GW is to force the Bobcats into an up-and-down game. They aren't particularly adept at offense. So, their best bet is to get off to a hot start, and force Montana State to run with them. They probably can't.

That said, this is probably where GW's winning streak is broken. This is a good team, and it's a long road trip. If GW comes out with a decisive win, though, that makes a good statement heading into the NCAA.

Jack finds Negron for the first basket of the game, then gets a tip off a Leroy miss. The game starts slow; 8-7 GW after five. Davis taunts MtSt after a three, which is no good. Jack has an early 4-3-3 line; at ten minutes gone, it's 15-14, before Herbert (8 points) hits a three. Manny Chapin follows with a bucket to tie, and Hulett hits a three to take a 20-17 lead. Herbert hits again to tie it with eight minutes left, and Muniz (7 points) gets a steal and layup to take the lead again, 22-20. Jack has a 6-4-4 line with 6:40 left. Just kind of neat. GW controls the boards, 16-10, but trails 26-25 with 3:53 left. This has Bobcats written all over it...GW does not play this drag it out style well. Mountain hits a three with 1:44 left, and it gets down to one...Jack hits a jumper to give GW a 30-29 lead with a minute left. The Bobcats get a hoop before the half, and it ends 31-30. Jack has a 8-5-4 half, while Herbert has 14 for the Bobcats.

Davis hits a three off a Jack pass for the first points of the second half. Manny Harris gets his first points on a three to give the Bobcats back the lead. This feels like a game where Montana State allows GW to get within one, but then pushes the lead back out to three or four. GW, on two Jack freebies, finally takes a lead...then he finds Dwight Davis for another score. Muniz hits a three to tie it up though. They keep hitting threes at the right time. With 15:41, Leroy gets a breakaway layup for a 47-46 lead.

Gonzalez is really a skilled defender at the basket. He has a handful of blocks, and now just drea a charge on Jack. Mt St takes a 50-49 lead on Harris' breakaway layup with 13:20 left. Then he hits a jumper for a three-point lead, but Humphrey answers off Jack's eighth assist. Every time I write that GW has taken the lead, the Bobcats retake the lead. Jack is up to 18-9-8, but GW cannot stop Mt St from retaking the lead. It is constantly a one-point game. With eight minutes left, it's 58-57, Montana State. Hulett scores at 7:29 left, but Richie Gonzalez ties it with a freethrow. Then Robert Tate takes a three to make it 62-59 with 6:30 left.

This is the most back-and-forth game I've seen in awhile. It's 64-63, Bobcats. Damon Holler, on the court for the first time, hits his first basket. Now it's 67-66, GW, with 3:36 left. Jack's at the point, and he gets his ninth assist. Leroy suffers his fourth foul with 3:15 left, and GW up 69-68. Another turnover, and a Herbert three, and it's 71-69 with 1:30 left. GW ties it on a Crane jumper, and Muniz hits another three. It's 74-71, and they get insurance from two threes, and will hold on, 76-71. This was an icnredible back-and-forth game, but Montana State was the better team. It wasn't even a really rough loss for GW. It does break the momentum going into the NCAA Tournament, though.


Here are the final player stats for the regular season:


The final team snapshot:

Week 17: 3.8.82-3.14.82

Kansas State is the new #1, after Kansas lost at #19 Nebraska. Kansas slides down a spot and Clemson, despite having eight-place votes, is stuck at #3. GW, upon losing to Montana State, falls two spots to #18.

On Sunday, March 14th, the first-ever sixty-four NCAA Tournament was announced. There were definitely some shocks. A BYU team that stayed in the top five all year was a four-seed in the West. Our intrepid heroes were placed in the East as the fifth-seed, where Penn, the Ivy League champion, is the #1 seed. GW will get East Carolina (21-12), champions of the Southern Conference.

Since this is my dynasty, I might as well do bracket picks. I enjoy doing them.

West
1) Kansas over Delaware State
8) Cal over 9) McNeese State
4) BYU over 13) Columbia
5) Indiana over Texas Tech
2) Duke over Pacific
10) Princeton over Duke
3) Rice over Richmond
6) Dartmouth over 11) Iowa State

Kansas over Cal, BYU over Indiana
Princeton over Duke, Dartmouth over Rice

Kansas over BYU
Princeton over Dartmouth

Kansas over Princeton

Midwest
1) Kansas State over 16) Central Michigan
8) Texas over 9) Seattle
13) New Mexico over 4) Virginia
5) Iowa over 12) Illinois State
2) TCU over 15) UNLV
10) Bucknell over 7) Yale
3) UTEP over 14) North Carolina State
11) Montana State over 6) Nebraska

K State over Texas
New Mexico over IOwa
TCU over Bucknell
UTEP over Montana State

Kansas State over New Mexico
UTEP over TCU

Kansas State over UTEP

South
1) Clemson over 16) La Salle
9) Brown over Marshall
4) Southern Illinois over Oklahoma
5) Murray State over 12) Colorado State
2) Arkansas over Tulane
7) Wake Forest over 10) Kentucky
3) Washington over San Francisco
11) Lafayette over 6) East TN State

Brown over Clemson
Murray State over Southern Illinois
Wake Forest over Arkansas
Washington over Lafayette

Brown over Murray State
Washington over Wake Forest

Brown over Washington

East
1) Penn over 16) Georgetown
9) Manhattan over 8) Louisvile
4) Baylor over South Caroina State
5) George Washington over 12) East Caroina
2) Maryland over 15) Tennessee
10) St. John's over 7) Pepperdine
3) Southern Cal over 14) GA Southern
6) Cornell over 11) Western Kentucky

Penn over Manhattan
GW over Baylor
Maryland over St. John's
Southern Cal over Cornell

Penn over GW
Maryland over Southern Cal

Maryland over Penn

Final Four
Kansas over Brown
Kansas State over Maryland

Final
Kansas over Kansas State

What is it with Kansas owning leagues I'm in? Regardless, this is how it feels at this moment.

NCAA First Round: 5) George Washington (25-4) vs 12) East Carolina (21-12)

There are similar opponents here. Both played GA Southern early in the season. Both won. Both played Richmond and lost. Both lost at Richmond. Both won against VCU, though GW crushed them. Both destroyed William & Mary; then again, everyone did that. East Carolina beat Virginia Tech by 19. GW won by 43.

East Carolina won a lot of close games. They were 0-3 vs the RPI top 50, but 12-4 against 51-100. Their offense is not very good (135th), but their defense is okay (51st). They foul a lot, which should benefit GW. And they allow other teams to shoot reasonably well. Given the volume of shots GW can get off, this severely benefits them. ECU is also a pretty bad rebounding team. There are a lot of things in the Colonials' favor here.

The Pirates have a reasonably solid starting five, but a bad bench. PG Tony Woodall (G/B) averages 8.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists a game. Guard Eddie Spell is their leading scorer, at 14.0 points a game, along with 4.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists. McKinley Kirkham, a guard masquarading as a forward, averages 13.1 points. Their leading rebounder, redshirt senior Ramon Norfleet, is banged up, but will play. They start four seniors and a junior, but their bench is very inexperienced.

This should be a double-digit win for GW. Though, guys named Ramon give the Colonials fits.

Jack gets the first bucket of the game, then the second. Jack hits a three from the wing, and it's 7-0, Jack. Eddie Spell finally ECU on the board, but Jack hits again. It's 11-2 with sixteen minutes left. Jack gets two assists with his nine points, then takes a quick seat. 17-5 GW with fourteen minutes left. Jack has an early 11-1-2 line. Crane goes coast to coast for the bucket! It's 21-5 with 10:15 left.

Jack hits a bucket off an offensive rebound, making it 25-8 with nine minutes left. ECU looks like a deer in the headlines, honestly. They're shooting just 14% from the field, and are getting outrebounded 16-6. Woodall is starting to get a bit warm, with five points...it's 29-16, and ECU is creeping back. With five minutes left, GW leads 33-18, and Jack has a 15-5-3 line. Davis punctuates things with a massive dunk off a steal, putting GW up 39-18 with four minutes left. Matthew Pruitt...seems like he's fouled out in the first half. With seven fouls. Every time he's seen, it's fouling someone. It's rather amazing to see how well-rounded Jack has become...early in the season, he'd do one thing really well, and the other things kind of well. Now, with a 48-24 lead, he has a 15-6-4. That's how the half ends...48-24. Crane and Davis have six each. Spell has eight for ECU, who was outrebounded 23-10 in the half.

Jack opens the second half with a basket, then gets another. Sounds familiar. It seems as though he is attempting to assert himself more often here. It's 55-27 with 16:23 left, after Hulett gets a three-point play. Jack hits another bucket, and this one is really over. Jack's up to 23-10-4 at th3 14:00 mark, and it's 60-27. Two more free throws, and he's close to outscoring the Pirates. The rest of the game, honestly, it just sort of running...71-49, six minutes left, and the starters are heading out. Jack gets another assist, getting him to 25-13-7...he gets another assist as I write that. Then another. ECU has shot well the past few minutes to get the game respectable, but now, the subs are in, it's under three minutes, and the end is nigh for the Pirates. The Pirates have done very well to get it back down to a 77-63 final.

Honestly, after watching the game...if GW plays the way they did for the first 28-30 minutes, they can beat *anyone*. If they play the way they did for the last 10-12 minutes, they can lose to *anyone*.


First Round scores

West
Kansas 91, Delaware State 36
McNeese State 73, Cal 70
BYU 70, Columbia 70
Indiana 79, Texas Tech 59
Duke 97, Pacific 71
Princeton 76, Santa Clara 61 (10 over a 7, but come on)
Rice 86, Richmond 50
Dartmouth 85, Iowa State 72

Midwest
Kansas State 84, Central Michigan 57
Seattle 68, Texas 43
Virginia 80, New Mexico 77
Iowa 66, Illinois State 59
TCU 94, UNLV 61
Yale 88, Bucknell 80
NC State 76, UTEP 68 (14 over a 3)
Nebraska 41, Montana State 33 (wow)

South
Clemson 86, La Salle 75
Brown 87, Marshall 58
Southern Illinois 83, Oklahoma 68
Colorado State 82, Murray State 75 (12 over a 5)
Arkansas 65, Tulane 53
Kentucky 74, Wake Forest 68 (10>7)
Washington 78, San Francisco 58
Lafayette 82, East TN State 75 (11>6, but predicted)

East
Penn 89, Georgetown 65
Manhattan 86, Louisville 76
S Carolina St 84, Baylor 77 (13>4)
GW 77, ECU 63
Maryland 81, Tennessee 61
St. John's 77, Pepperdine 76 (10>7, was going to take this but didn't)
Southern Cal 92, Georgia Southern 83
Cornell 102, Western Kentucky 69

NCAA Round 2: vs South Carolina State (23-9)

The MEAC champs shocked Baylor in the first round. They are a reasonable team...not particularly great in any one area, don't shoot well, but they do enough to get wins. Granted, much of that was against the bottom part of the nation (17-1 against teams not in the top 100, 6-8 against the top 100). They are outrebounded by opponents, and shoot the ball horribly...but they force that out of their opponents, too.

Guard Douglas Normand averages 20 points a game, along with 5.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists. He is one of the best all-around players the Colonials have faced. Dannie Scruggs (13.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg) and guard Albert Coker (10.4, 2.9 rpg, 2.4 apg) are the supporting cast. The bench leaves a lot to be desired. GW will be able to leave Jackson Goodnight (one of the better names seen) and Nathaniel Reichert alone on offense.

Oh, and this...December 4: George Washington 73, SCSU 55. Here is that boxscore:


Onto the game.

Reichert opens with a score, which Jack counters. Crane gets a dunk off a steal, and then feeds Mountain off another steal. That three-point play makes it 7-2 early. SCSU won't go away, of course...Gary Westmoreland, off the bench, provides a punch, getting it to 10-9. With twelve minutes elft, it's 19-17, GW. Jack is not doing much, but the supporting cast is playing well. Crane has seven, Leroy 6, Davis 4. Sooner or later, GW is going to pull away from this. SCSU has nine turnovers and seven fouls already. Normand has seven points so far.

Jack comes back and gets a quick assist, and you have a feeling that he's going to go off soon. On cue, he hits a shot, giving him 4-2-1 now. Jack hits another bucket, and it's 27-21 with five minutes left. Normand hits a three, and SCSU is playing impassioned basketball right now. Jack gets two free throws, then finds Davis for a bucket. But again, SCSU hits...well, two threes to tie it. Davis responds with a three, but Normand (13 points) beats the press for a dunk. Jack responds. Delozier misses four straight free throws...gah. He's useless sometimes. Negron now misses two. Instead of a 42-35 lead, it's 36-35 at the break. And if you're a GW fan, you may worry a bit. This feels like the Montana State game all over again.

Leroy opens with a three off a Jack pass. Crane scores, and Jack hits a three, and now it's 44-37 with 18 minutes left. SCSU is starting to press, fouling a couple of times, and turning it over. Dawkins is scoring at will and drawing fouls, and it's 49-37. He has a 14-5-4 line at the moment. Scruggs stops the bleeding a bit, but Dawkins finds Humphrey for a hoop. Normand scores his first points of the second half, making it 53-42 with 15 minutes left.

Dawkins just took SCSU's soul, getting three offensive rebounds and drawing a foul. It's 56-44 with 10:44 left, and Delozier, again, stinks up the joint. He had been playing a bit better, but wow, he is awful tonight.

Dawkins is up to a double-double, and he hits a three to make it 59-44. He has 18-11-6 on the night, and gets another assist on a Davis three. SCSU is pressing, and this seems to be the beginning of the end for SCSU. They have 16 turnovers, while GW has 5. Jack is up to eight assists...now nine. 68-48, 7:17 left. GW isn't crushing the boards, but they are ripping the offensive rebounds. With 5:13 left, Jack gets his triple-double, and it's 74-50. Jack has 22-13-10, four players are in double figures, and this one is over. Jack puts the exclamation point with a massive dunk over Jackson Goodnight, and SCSU is put to bed. The final is 84-63, and the George Washington Colonials are off to the Sweet Sixteen.

Normand scored five points in the second half, and three came in the final minute. That was the key...they shut him down, and the rest of the offense didn't know how to adjust. Of course, Jack and the endless onslaught of quick scores was the other key.


Round 2 Scores

West
Kansas 71, McNeese State 49
BYU 78, Indiana 53
Duke 89, Princeton 80
Dartmouth 91, Rice 75

1) Kansas vs 4) Brigham Young
2) Duke vs 6) Dartmouth

Midwest
Kansas State 102, Seattle 80
Virginia 81, Iowa 73
Yale 92, TCU 83
NC State 76, Nebraska 59

1) Kansas State vs 4) Virginia
7) Yale vs 14) NC State

South
Clemson 85, Brown 51 (so much for that upset)
Colorado State 70, Southern Illinois 60
Arkansas 67, Kentucky 60
Washington 86, Lafayette 80

1) Clemson vs 12) Colorado State
2) Arkansas vs 3) Washington

East
Penn 89, Manhattan 67
George Washington 84, South Carolina State 63
Maryland 87, St. John's 69
Southern Cal 66, Cornell 49

1) Pennsylvania vs 5) George Washington
2) Maryland vs 3) Southern California

The Colonials wanted this. Now, they've got it. Three of the greatest programs over the last 15 years are in their bracket.

The One That Got GW On The Map

NCAA Sweet Sixteen - vs Pennsylvania (26-6)

The Penn Quakers are one of the finest programs never to have won a championship. They have a record, historically, of 777-249. The Quakers have won the Ivy 14 times, with 27 NCAA appearances. In there, they have nineteen sweet sixteen appearances (okay, so that was one win, but still), 11 Elite Eight appearances, and one Final Four. They do own a NIT championship. They've reached the Elite Eight three times in the last ten years. This is a program that has been on the cusp, but has not reached the land of the four. They did that in 1963-64.

They start two seniors, two juniors, and a much-heralded freshman in poing guard Dalton Raymond. The leading scorer is off-guard Albert Scott (20.0 ppg), but senior mall forward Andrew Pelayo is what makes this team go round. He averages 17.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists a game. He was the #2 overall recruit in his class. Fellow senior C Cortez Strong (9.4 ppg, 10.0 rpg) was the #5 recruit. Freshman guard Glenn Davis was the #3 recruit. Penn is legit.

Their head coach, Tobias Morgan, is the best in the country at X's and O's.

In short, the Colonials will have to play the game of their lives to beat the Quakers. That isn't to say it is impossible. Penn does not play the greatest defense in the world. But they are a sublime offense (fourth in the nation) and fourth in the nation in rebounding. They also hold opponents to 40% shooting, which is 21st in the nation. So...yes, it's tough, but not entirely impossible.

Pelayo and Jack trade baskets on the teams' first possessionss, and Jack finds Leroy for an early hoop. Jack hits again to make it 6-2. This game will be heavy on Jack, regardless of the outcome. He hits again, and it's 8-2 with 17:21 left. He did pick up a foul, so that will have to be watched.

Jack assisted Richie Hulett on a three-point play, and Penn is down 11-4 after four minutes. Penn's power forward is Jimmy Clow, which is a fantastic name. After five minutes, it's 16-8, and Jack has an 8-3-3 line. Scott hits to make it 16-10, and unfortunately, this kind of game is unsustainable for GW. But if they can get enough of a lead, they might be able to fend Penn off late. Raymond hits a three to make it 20-15 with twelve minutes left.

Jack draws a foul on Tony Steinmetz and hits both freebies to get it to 22-15, then hits a jumper shortly after. With ten minutes gone by, it's 24-17, GW. Jack assists Davis on a basket, but Steinmetz hits a three. Jack dunks and is fouled by Steinmetz on the following possession, and GW leads 29-20.

Jack comes out, but GW keeps rolling. Davis hits a shot, which Cortez counters. Scott then stels from Donahue...twice in a row. Delozier tries a shot, which is never a good idea. With six minutes left, it's 31-24. Jack comes in and drills a three. He has 18 first half points. Jack finds Crane for a basket, making it 37-28, giving Jack an 18-8-5 line. Jack draws Steinmetz's third foul, and hits two free throws. IT's 39-30 with three minutes left.

Penn goes on a small run, getting it to 39-35 behind Pelayo and Raymond. Anothre three after Jack's sixth assist, and it's 41-38. Scott makes it 41-40, but Leroy drills a three. Jack gets his tenth rebound and seventh assist ten seconds between each other, and GW leads 47-40 at the break. Jack played his best half of the year, going 20-10-7 against one of the top teams in the nation. Penn didn't play poorly, but GW controlled the boards, 25-20, and held Penn to 43% shooting. Hopefully, there's a carbon copy of the second half to follow.

GW opens with Jack hitting a jumper. 49-40. Jack then gets an offensive board, showing this game may be Jack's playground. Crane is starting to warm up, getting a block and another score off a Jack assist. It's 51-42 with 15:45 left. Leroy drills a shot, making it 53-43. Leroy has 11 points. Scott hits a three, and Pelayo blocks Jack. Hueltt drills a three, and it's back to ten, 56-46, with 12 minutes left.

Davis hits a three off a Jack pass...Jack's ninth assist, and it's 59-47. He has slowed down on scoring, but he's getting the ball around. Of course, he scores right as I write that. Leroy drills another three! He has 14, and it's 64-51, ten minutes left. Pelayo has his second foul. Jack has two, Crane has two, and Davis has three for Penn.

Steinmetz hits, making it 64-55. You feel like Penn has a run in them...Steinmetz hits another three, and it's 64-58. GW is getting tight. Steinmetz hits another shot, but Hulett counters off a Jack pass. Triple-double for Jack, who is now on the bench with seven minutes left. If they can weather this storm...Michael Clegg hits a shot, but Hulett follows with another three to get it to 69-62, with 5:30 left.

Jack returns, gets a steal and a dunk. He has 26-13-10. Jack follows with a block. 71-62, 4:24 left. Pelayo hits a three, but Leroy follows with a layup and the foul! Under four left, 73-65, 3:15 left. This is remarkable. Pelayo gets his third foul, and now fourth. Penn is off to shoot free throws with 2:08 left. It's 75-65, and Penn is running out of chances here. Jack hits two free throws, and it appears Penn is not going to win this. Unbelievable.

Scott gets them back to within nine with :48 left, but a missed three, and this one is over. George Washington gets the 77-68 upset in a game they controlled from start to finish. This is incredible.

Jack's final ine is 28-15-10, though he did most of that damage in the first half. His teammates brought it in the second half. Leroy finished with 16 points and six boards. Hulett had 13 of the biggest points of his career. Crane had seven points and 10 boards. GW controlled the boards, 50-33.

Scott scored eighteen for Penn, who finishes at 26-7. Steinmetz had 16 in an outstanding performance. But Pelayo, who had Jack guarding him, was hounded into a 4-12 effort for 14 points.

Sweet Sixteen Scores

West
4) Brigham Young 74, Kansas 70
2) Duke 85, 6) Dartmouth 72

West Final: 2) Duke (27-7) vs 4) BYU (29-5)

Midwest
4) Virginia 70, 1) Kansas State 58
14) NC State 84, 7) Yale 67

Midwest Final: 4) Virginia (24-9) vs 14) North Carolina State (22-14)

South
1) Clemson 82, 12) Colorado State 81 (so close for the Rams)
3) Washington 79, 2) Arkansas 73

South Final: 1) Clemson (31-4) vs 3) Washington (29-4)

East
5) George Washington 77, 1) Pennsylvania 68
3) Southern Cal 83, 2) Maryland 72

East Final: 3) Southern Cal (30-4) vs 5) George Washington (28-4)

NCAA Tournament Elite Eight: vs Southern California (30-4)

The Trojans go seven deep, with B/B players littering the starting lineup. They'd have another, but the starting point guard, freshman Richie Russell, is out with an injury. As it is, they start three seniors, a junior, and a sophomore.

They have balance, at least in the top four in scoring. Those four average between 12.6 and 14.4 points a game. Federigo Moya, their senior C, is averaging 13.6 points and 10.1 rebounds a game. He is one of three players averaging a double-double; Jack and Jeffrey Hahn of Northern Arizona are the others. They are a potent scoring team, but they don't rebound particuarly great. They typically don't have to, as they often shoot the lights out (48%, 5th nationally). GW will need a defensive effort like they had against Penn if they are to have a solid go at winning this game. Southern Cal has thrown up some clunkers, though; they have lost to 12-17 Arizona State, and 14-16 UCLA. So, this isn't as big of a longshot for GW as one would think.

Still, this is likely a Southern Cal victory. They've lost in the first-round of the NCAA each of the last two years, and may be due to return to glory. They won back-to-back NCAA titles in 1970-71 and 1971-72.

USC opens on a 6-0 run, as GW misses their first five shots. Jack gets GW on the board, but another three, by Tod Witlock, makes it 9-2. Jack hits another hope, and with 15:26, it's 11-4. Jack hits again; 11-6, 15:07 left. Jack scores off a turnover he created, and then assists Leroy on the first non-Jack points of the night. Crane throws down a dunk off a steal, and suddenly it's 14-13 with 13:45 left. Jack hits another hoop after a USC bucket, and he has 10 points. GW has five fouls through the first ten minutes. Jack finds Hulett for a basket, and it's 21-19, USC, just under ten left.

Crane picks up his second foul, and has to come out. The Trojans get a steal and go up 24-19. They are without Jack right now. Delozier hit a shot! Holy cow! 24-21...he hit another! 24-23 with seven minutes left. Delozier had two blocks and four points. And Leroy hits a three, and GW goes up 26-24! My goodness!

Crane now hits, and with under six left, it's 28-26. Jack responds to Mora's hoope with a three. GW has owned the last ten minutes. Negron may have three fouls in the first half. Jack assists Leroy on a bucket...he has eight, and Jack four assists. It's 33-31 at the under four minute timeout.

Jack hits from inside at three minutes, making it 35-31. Jack is firing at will, and he has the green light to. Lara ties it with a three at 2:12. Jack responds a minute later with a three, and Manny Chapin dunks off a turnover, making it 40-36. That's how the half ends. Jack's line: 18-5-4. The most amazing stat? Both teams shot 50% from the field. GW didn't make a free throw, and USC shot 60% from 3. So, GW didn't totally outplay USC. They just have Jack. That seems to be the difference right now.

Steve Michaelson scores the first hoop of the second half, making it 40-39. Crane has two blocks already. Jack hits his first points of the second half, but also picks up his third foul. USC takes a 43-42 lead, but Jack finds Leroy to get the lead back. He has a 20-5-5 right now. Leroy adds another basket...and, with fifteen minutes left, Jack gets his fourth foul. USC went after him, and they got him out. This will be massive for this team.

Crane hits to make it 48-45, then gets HIS third foul. Whitlock gets a three to tie it up. With 13:10 left, it is 48-48. Crane gets his fourth with 12:17 left. Unbelievable. Hulett finds Donahue for a 50-48 lead. The freshman has to step up here.

With 11:09 left, Michaelson fouls, and then gets charged with a technical! 53-30, and Leroy follows that with a dunk. With ten minutes left, Dwight Davis hits a three...58-50. Lara follows with five points, and it's 58-55. Davis counters that, 60-55. Mountain adds another, and it's 62-55. Jack and Crane are still on teh bench. The scrubs, who have played a lot of minutes this year, are holding their own.

Leroy hits from WAY downtown, and it's 65-57, seven minutes left. Robert Mulvey is in...this is how deep their bench is going right now. USC gets to within 65-61. With 5:27 left, there is a shot clock violation. USC is suffering major meltdowns with turnovers right now. Jack and Crane come back with 4:30 left. Negron gets his fourth foul, and USC hits the freebies, to get to 65-63. Mora hits a putback...tied up with two minutes left. USC gets a 69-65 lead, as GW cannot hit a shot to tie it. They get a 71-65 lead, and Leroy hits a three off a Jack pass...Crane fouls out with a minute left, and Jack does with 45 seconds left.

The final is 71-68.

George Washington neary pulled it off. That was agonizing.

I tried to post the full game log, but the forum wouldn't take it. So, I'll post the final five minutes.

I should also note, Southern Cal has several players that show up again down the line. Mora, Hansel, and Michaelson all have roles down the line. Tod Whitlock ends up a serviceable player.

And remember the name, Richie Russell. Definitely remember that name.

The Rest of the Way....


West Final: Brigham Young, perhaps the most underseeded #4 ever, dropped Duke, 83-68.


Midwest Final: North Carolina State made a return to past glory with a 79-71 win over Virginia. Since there has never been a double-digit seed in the tournament before, 14-seed NC State is now the lowest-seeded team to ever get to the Final Four.


South Final: Clemson waxed Washington, 88-55.


East Final: *grumbles*


Final Four:
Clemson 84, Brigham Young 68. Clemson pulled away in the second half. Curt Tomes (18 points, 10 boards) and POTG Edgar Dunson (15 pts, 5 pts, 5 ast, 5 stl, 6-6 shooting) led a balanced effort.


NC State 71, Southern Cal 67. NC State continued their roll being 21 points by Darius Boyd, and 17 points, 8 boards, and 4 blocks by C Ariel Kavanaugh. Richie Lara had 19 for Southern Cal


National Championship:
Clemson 72, North Carolina State 60. The team of destiny ran into the team of dynasty. Clemson secured their third national title in the last ten years with a come-from-behind win against the Wolfpack. NC State led 34-25 at the break, but could not withstand Dunson and company. Dunson won Tournament MVP with 13 points, six boards, and five assists. Tomes added 20 points and nine rebounds, while Chris Shinn scored 13 and had 7 assists. Darius Boyd led NC State with 19 points.




Awards: As expected, Jack took National Player of the Year, and National Freshman of the Year. Arlie Jennings won Independent Coach of the Year.

The 1981-82 George Washington squad was, far and away, the best in school history. Here is one more look at them, before we say goodbye.

Time to say goodbye...

Here's a look at the players GW is losing off this monumenta team. There will be some major shoes to fill after this season.


Charlie Mitchell, C. Walk-on, barely played. Got into one game this year, for five minutes.




Brian Delozier, F. Could have done more with himself, especially as an inside scorer. The former transfer from Indiana State had rock hands but a soft touch around the rim. Often times, he did something to agonize fans. But he had his moments.




Cliff Donahue, G. He saw his numbers go down this year, but he never complained. He didn't have the most talent, but he made the most of it. He often did something that endeared himself to fans. He was a four-year reserve, and proud of it.




Tommy Humphrey, F. He was a starter his freshman year, but slid to the bench after. He was a very solid player this year off the bench, shooting 50% from the field, and averaging 3.3 rebounds in his near-fifteen minutes a game. He was asked to bridge the gaps for the starters, which was a huge deal. He did so admirably.

(More players leaving)

Willie Negron, C. He got to shoot threes as a 6'8, 254-pound senior. How many get to do that? He was a starter in his sophomore year, and again his senior one. Steady hand who upped his rebounding totals every season. He leaves as the sixth-best rebounder in school history.



Leroy Mountain, G. He grew into one of my favorite players, even if he had to open each game with a boneheaded play or foul. He averaged neary 13 points a game, and his turnovers were way down this year (cut in half). He was a capable shooter, hitting nearly 48% of his shots. His free throws were another story (he shot 47%! How does that happen when you're a shooting guard?!). He was a good student who was a low-end recruit, and he turned into a capable two-year starter, and someone who could get offense for the team. He saved his career-high, 23 points, for his final game. Unfortunately, it came one step away from a dream.





Chuck Crane, F. Crane, the 61st-ranked recruit coming out of high school, transferred from Rice, and lost a season. He was a two-year starter for the club, and a steady hand for them. He shot 50% from the field this year. He finishes his career with 806 points. He was the right-hand man for Jack.

Finally, here is the official player bio for Jack, after his freshman year. Records and stuff will come after the season flip.

1982-83 Preseason: Where We Find It's Harder To Do It Again


Recruiting: George Washington had the 108th-ranked recruiting class in the country. They snagged one two-star player, and five one-star players. Despite their success last season, it'll take time to get better at recruiting.


More on that later, when the roster is previewed.


Here are the class ranks:




Records: Jack's season was superlative. (How superlative was it?!)


Well, his 883 points were the third-most in NCAA history. The only two who scored more were Ulysses Bishop, of Purdue, who scored 884 points in 1978-79, and Maryland's Hugh Turnage, who scored 909 points in 1977-78. His 234 assists would tie him for 50th-most in a season. His 310 field goals are fifth-best ever. His 200 free throws are eighth-best all-time.

Jack's 26.8 ppg were the most in NCAA history, as well. So was his +/- of 21.63.


Among school ranks, Jack's season was obviously the finest in history. He outscored the former season leader by 264 points. His 368 rebounds are second all-time, only to Foster Williams' 374 in 1976-77, and his 128 offensive rebounds bested Bert Connolly's 105 in 1977-78. His assist total bested Alvaro Jones' 207 in 1975-76. Jones is the top assist man in school history, and has four of the top eight marks. Dawkins should top him when it's all said and done.


Jack's 66 steals are third in school history, right behind Jack Rendon's 68 in 1969-70, and his 73 in 1970-71. Jack had 100 blocks last year, the only person in history to do that. The former record was Tony Burt's 69, all the way back in 1951-52.


Jack is tied for 27th in career points after one season. If he doesn't get hurt, he should own the record by the end of this season. Randell Hotchkiss holds the record, scoring 1620 points in a career that ended in 1971-72. The career leader in assists, Jones, has 609. Jack may beat that by the time he's a sophomore. Charlie Epperson had 919 rebounds in his career (ended in 62-63). That will take time. And Jack is already sixth all-time in blocks in school history. The record is held by Rodney Stallard ('76), who had 148 in his career.


In short...records are going to fall, and quickly.


---


1982-83 Season Preview

1982-83 Season Preview


Well, it starts here...here is the preseaon poll:




The Colonials look a lot worse than last year. Their freshman haven't really gotten better whatsoever, and they lack severe size. They return two starters in Jack and Dwight Davis, and Richie Hulett is stepping into the starting lineup at shooting guard. After that, though, nobody averaged more than 6.1 minutes a game in their career. The freshmen added don't look like they'll amount to much. C Glenn Grayson, who may be the most servicable, is redshirting.


It's going to be a long season in DC. Here is the season guide.






There are going to be severe growing pains. For Jack, though...this might be the moment he understands the matrix.

Week 1: 11.7.82 (just the one day)


George Washington was selected to play in the Coaches Invitational. It is one of the higher-prestiged tournaments available. This year, the tournament is headlined by #2 Rice, #4 North Carolina, and #12 Princeton. #17 Colorado State is also in the tournament.


The Colonials draw Kentucky in the first round. The Wildcats do not have a history like the one we know them to have, which only two Sweet 16 appearances to their credit. That said, they did win the SEC last season, and won a game in the NCAA Tournament. That is the second year in a row they reached the tournament, the first time they did that since 1956-57. It is also their first tournament play since the 1971-72 season. So, this is a program on the upswing.


The Wildcats have four starters back, and seven players with considerable experience. The two most important are four-year starting PG, Denver Rodriguez (14.9 ppg in his career), and shooting guard Jim Rickard, who steps into the starting role for the first time. The Wildcats sport a top-notch backcourt, but their frontcourt leaves a lot to be desired. C Dean Sturtevant will be a headache to deal with, but he is more a rebounding threat than a scoring one.


Cortez Thorpe opens the game with a bucket for Kentucky. Dawkins draws a foul and hits the pair, for GW's first points of the season. With 16:32 left, it's 11-8, Kentucky. Rodriguez has a 4-2-1 line, while Jack has six eary points. John Sandy is now a sixth man, so he'll see a lot of time. Rodriguez gets a steal and a dunk. This team is going to have a hard time scoring...Kentucky is up 21-12 with fourteen minutes left. The post players are fouling like crazy at the moment, which is killing the Colonials. Robert Mulvey had to play the center spot, while Jack has the power forward spot. Mulvey gets a steal and throws it down, with the foul, to get it to 23-17 at twelve minutes left. Jack has a 8-2-0 line right now. Assists may be hard to come by for him.


Freshman Hector Patterson gets some time in, and gets an assist. But UK gets it back out to 29-21. Jack has 8-4-0 at the ten minute mark. Jack gets his first assist, getting a bucket to Davis. Jack comes out with eight minutes left, but Sandy fouls and he comes back in. He hits, getting it to 30-25 with six minutes left. Jack has a 10-5-1 line. GW has 11 fouls at 6:00 left. And Hulett picks up his third of the first half. Depth, and intelligence, are going to be difficult for this group. Still, they're in it...35-29 at the four-minute mark.


Dawkins gets another basket, this to Hector Patterson. He finds him again, and it's 35-33. Chapin hits two free throws, and the game is tied with three minutes left. Jack draws a foul on Sturdivant. Davis hits a three off a Jack pass, and it's 40-36, GW...somehow. Sandy commits a foul, and this is out of hand. Davis has ten points, and it's 40-38 at the half. That was an experience...Jack has a 12-9-5 line.


He hits the first basket of the second half, but Thorpe hits a three, and we're tired at 44. Kentucky hits another three, making it 47-44. Jack gets a foul and hits two freebies, getting it to 47-46. Chapin gives them the lead back on a tip of a Hulett miss. Hulett is having an awful game. 0-1-3-3. Rodriguez (15 points) is heating up...50-48 UK with sixteen minutes left. So is Myles Rubino (seven points). Jack responds to Rubino's three with one of his own. He has a 19-11-6 line, and it's 53-51 with fifteen minutes left. The defense that GW had last year...forget that.


Rodriguez hits again with fourteen left, and Jack is blocked by Thorpe. It's 59-53 with thirteen left, before Hulett finds Sandy. Rodriguez hits another three, and Rubino scores again. It's 64-58...and Rodriguez hits another three. They have no answer for him. None. He has 23 points. John Dollar travels. Just wanted to write John Dollar.


Jack hits a three to get it back to 67-61, then hits another. He has a 25-12-7 line. The seven assists are amazing at this point. Sandy has six boards...freshman Bruce Woods finds Hulett for a hoop. Thorpe scores, and Dawkins responds. It's 73-68 after a John Dollar three. Davis scores off a Jack pass...73-70, eight minutes left. Jack comes out, and this is where UK can win this game. Two freshman and three scrubs in for GW.


Orlando Maley, the worst freshman of the bunch, gets two free throws. It's 77-72 with under five to go. Rodriguez throws down a dunk, and Sandy is called for three seconds. GW is fouling with four minutes left. That's not good. Jack fouls Robert Evans out of the game, hits a three-point play, and it's 81-75. Jack has thirty points. Woods scores, gets a three-point play, and it's 81-78. Jack suffers his third foul...Woods draws another foul and gets one of the free throws. Jack follows a Davis miss with a monster dunk, and it's back to four...85-81. He has a 32-15-8 line. Sandy scores off a Jack pass, and it's 85-83.


GW had a chance to win, with the ball and 14 seconds left, but the freshman, Hector Patterson, threw up an ill-advised shot with five seconds left. Jack...for whatever reason...was not in the game. Arlie Jennings will have to answer for that one.


Kentucky wins, 85-83. Denver Rodriguez scored 25 for Kentucky, who shot 52% from the field. Davis had 17 for GW, who may have firepower...but oh man, that defense...

The Big Step Backward

Week 2: November 8-14, 1982

GW has no games for two weeks, so this will be brief. It is really too early to delve into the polls. Actually, I'm not even sure the rankings were updated this week. Next!

Week 3: November 15-21, 1982

Still a ton of jumbling among the top 25, but BYU stayed atop the poll. Rice fell from 2 to 10 after losing to new #11 Colorado State. Honestly, that's the only thing worth mentioning for now.


11.21.82: at VMI

The Keydets are 2-1, and four starters from last year's team are back, and ready to atone for last year's 93-57 demolishing by the Colonials. The top two snipers on this year's squad are Maximo Benson, who is an interesting story. He was the 24th-ranked recruit, and Mr. Basketball in Virginia. He ended up walking on at VMI, where he was the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year.

Still, though, 24th-ranked recruit who walked on. His academics aren't great, but if he didn't qualify, he'd have gone on to junior college. It's quite intriguing. As it is, he's averaging 18.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, and 4.0 apg. Brian Smith, another returning starter, is averaging 17.3 ppg and 5.0 rpg.

The Keydets are not overly talented, but they have enough offensive talent to drive the Colonials crazy.

Oh, in another news, Chris Davis enters his second season of being unhappy.

Jack draws a foul on Benson to start the game. That's big. Glen Beaton is back! The Beat Is On! Forgot about him. Benson gets a steal and the hoop for the start. Jack gets the first bucket for GW, with a foul, and the hoop. Jack gets another hoop, and he's playing the point, opposite Benson. At least, for now. Davis comes back with 15 minutes left.

Benson hits a three, and he has seven. It's 9-5 VMI with fourteen left. Jack gets two boards and hits a putback, giving him five. Then he gets two free throws. Right now, it's VMI 9, Jack 9. Jack has nine points and five boards.

WIth 11:34 left, Jack draws a charge on Benson. That's his second. Hector Patterson scores as Jack is sitting out, making it 13-12. With 10:05 left, Jack takes his second foul. So he's out. And VMI is off and running. 25-19 with 8:01 left, before Hulett scores. But now, no defense and barely enough offense, and VMI gets up 32-23 under seven minutes.

Jack comes back, and Benson returns for VMI. Benson draws first blood, scoring a three to make it 35-25. Jack scores to make it 35-27, and Chapin gets a breakaway to get it back to six. Patterson drills a shot, making it 38-31. Woods hits two free throws, getting it back to 38-33 with four left.

Jack gets a tip, giving him a 13-7-1 line. It's 40-35, VMI. They're shooting 59% from the field, while GW is shooting 44%. VMI got another run, getting it to 46-37. Benson has 14. GW goes cold, and the half ends, 49-38. They got their shooting percentage up to 64%.

This looks awful for the Colonials.

Hulett cannot shoot. His numbers after this game will look awful, guaranteed. This game, neither can Davis. VMI scores first, making it 51-38. Hulett misses another three, and Jack picks up foul #3. Jack then scores, making 51-40. VMI cannot get stops, though...it's now 55-42. Benson gets his third foul, and it's 55-43 with 15:26 left.

Davis finally hits a three with 14:50 left, making it 57-48. Jack hits a bucket, and now it's 57-52 with 13 minutes left. Benson responds with a three, but Jack responds with another. Benson coaxes a foul from Davis on a three...Jack responds with a three-point play. Benson hits again, and Patterson responds. It's 65-59...Jack hits another, making it 65-61. Benson hits ANOTHER...and then fouls out. Well, he fouled, then had a technical foul. Jack hits the free throws, and it's 67-66. That's huge.

Jack's line is 28-10-2, and VMI leads 69-66 with 8:49 left. Brian Smith will be counted on. Smith just picked his pocket, and fed Woods for a hoop. Then Jack got his fourth foul, and comes out. That's huge. Sandy gets it back to 71-70, but Beaton responds. Davis hits a shot, getting it back to within one. There's 6:16 left, and the team on the floor now is unrecognizable. VMI gets it back to 76-62, and this GW team is choking. Two missed free throws, and VMI hits another pair...

...Hulett hits a three! Then he coaxes a dunk and a foul. Dawkins comes back with 4:30 left, GW down 80-77. They simply can't get the hoop that puts them ahead. They miss ALL of them. And then Smith gets a three-point play out of Hulett, and it's 83-79. This is seriously frustrating.

Ali hits a three with 2:12 left. It's 84-82. They can tie here. Ali is fouled, and he hits both! 1:17 eft, tie game. Kenny Rowlett hits a three. Jeez. They get it to 89-84 with twenty seconds left, and then hit their free throws, and that's it. Final is 92-87.

This is going to be a seriously long season. Jack's finishing line is 30-11-4. GW shot 19% from three, 4-21. Jack shot 12-19. Hulett (3-14) and Davis (3-9) sunk this team.


Where will this team get a win? Honesty...there are so many gaps in this team, especially on defense...this is going to be a heartbreaking season.

Week 4: 11.22-28.82

Brigham Young fell out of the top spot after being flattened by #4 Washington, 105-82. Kansas State moves up, followed by Missouri.

George Washington is nowhere near that list, nor will they be for some time.


11.26.82: vs La Salle (3-1)

Dear God, this will be a bloodbath.

La Salle is outscoring their opponents 86-66, on average. Royal Swinton and Kyle Packard return from last year's time, along with Carey Smith and Franklyn Watts. All four have started for the last two years. The Explorers are ready to atone for last year's 103-67 drubbing. They'll probably do it, too.

Jack hits a bucket on the game's first possession. Then he hits a three. He gets his first foul with 16:50 left. Packard ties it at 5-5 with sixteen minutes left. Dawkins finds Chapin for the basket, getting his first assist. Jack coaxes a foul out of Swinton, which is good plus the freebie. He has eight early points. Smith ties it 10-10 with 12:50 left. Swinton takes the lead for the Explorers, but Jack finds Davis to tie it.

Ali gives GW a 16-14 lead with just under ten left. Jack comes back and immediately gets fouled. He hits both free throws, giving GW an 18-14 lead. He has a 12-3-2 line. Jack assists Chapin on a bucket, then gets a steal, and puts it in. GW has a ton of silly turnovers right now. But they somehow have a 25-16 lead, before Gayle Tinker hits a three. With six minutes left, it's 25-19.

Jack drills a three with 4:44 left. Swinton responds. Smith hits a three to make it 28-25. La Salle gets it to within one, before Jack coaxes Packard into a foul. Packard fouls Sandy...it's his third. GW is now up 33-27 with two minutes left. Sandy has six points. GW went on to a 35-29 lead. Jack has a 21-6-3 line. Swinton has ten for La Salle. GW owns a 23-14 rebounding lead, and lead, despite shooting just 36%. La Salle is shooting 46%.

Corey Ferrin scores to open things up. Jack responds. Then Jack hits a three. It's 42-31, and Jack has 26 points. He hits another, and GW has opened up a 45-31 lead. Chapin hits a shot following a La Salle three, off a Jack pass. Swinton hits another three, but Hulett scores off a Jack pass. He now has 28-9-5. Jack sinks a three off a Hector Patterson steal, giving him 31, and a 52-37 lead for GW.

With 14:27 left, Woods hits his first bucket. A few minutes of nothing interesting happens. Jack gets his double-double, and it's 56-42 with eleven minutes left. He sits, and this is where La Salle can make their run. Except...Mulvey hits a three, and Davis gets a steal and layup. Jeffrey King gets it back to fifteen with a three.. It's 64-47, and Jack returns with 8:43 left. He's playing the center spot, which is where he's been for a lot of this.

La Salle gets it back to 64-51 with six minutes left, and Jack responds with three on her own. He then assists Davis on a three, making it 70-55. They seem to have just enough right now. Jack has a 34-12-6 line...make that 36-12-6.

Hector Patterson may have just driven the stake in La Salle's heart...his three point play makes it 75-58 with 2:30 left. Jack sits, and this one appears over. GW gets their first win...wait! Chris Davis got playing time!

CHRIS DAVIS GOT PLAYING TIME!

Forget Jack's line (36 points, 12 boards, 6 assists, 4 blocks, 2 steals, 4-5 from 3). Chris Davis saw action. That's what you need to take from this one. One wonders if he'll stop being unhappy now.

Week 5: 11.29-82-12.5.82

Kansas State fell to #2 Washington and #3 Maryland by a combined ten points. They fell from the top spot to #20. Missouri is now the top dog. Keep an eye on Colorado State. They're 7-0, up to fifth.

Week 5 Cont'd

11.29.82: vs Villanova (0-1)

The Wildcats played #2 Washington and lost, 103-67. So there's no real barometer on them this year. Recent history suggests they are a perennially losing program, and the 14-17 record in their first year in the Big East does not change that reflection. They have only made three NIT appearances over their history, their best coming in 1951-52 after a 23-9 season.

This current group looks okay, with one tremendously glaring flaw. They return four starters from last year's group. Only one has a career average in double-figures, that being guard Anton Barron (11.7). C Ernie Johnson has averaged 9.6 ppg, and 5.7 rpg, in his career. He is the longest-tenured player in the program, at 90 games and 61 starts. They have eight players who have logged two years in the program, two who have logged three. This is a very veteran group...six seniors. They also have seven freshman, five of which are redshirting (and look awful). It is easy to see why this program cannot get any traction, with that kind of imbalance.

Their frontcourt of Johnson and forward Jake Smith are their best players, color-wise (G/G). Yellow and orange dot the rest of the roster. They are an awful jump-shooting team, and an awful team on the perimeter. Jack and the guards should have a field day...not just there, but on the glass. Nobody has a rating higher than 77 there.

Davis hits a three on the game's first possession. Their small forward's name is Charlie McSweeney. Sounds like a ballplayer from the 1890s. Davis scores five before Anton Barron hits a three, followed by Johnson to tie it. Davis has scored ten in the first four minutes. Then he assists Chapin on a score. It's 12-7 at the 15:45 mark. Davis is on fire.

Jack gets on the board with 15:34 left, before Ronnie Pine scores for Nova. Jack is up to six points, and it's 18-10 with 14 left. GW already owns a 10-3 advantage in rebounding. John Sandy gets hurt, which may or may not hurt GW down the road. Jack drills two free throws, giving him eight, and Sandy is back in the game. Davis gets a foul by Johnson, and completes a three-point play. Jack and Davis have 21 between them. With ten minutes left, it's 26-13 (Sandy just hit a three).

Jack is up to ten points, and Nova is at the penalty. McSweeney drills a three, getting it to within nine. Barron (12 points) hits another three, before Patterson gets a follow off a miss with a monster dunk. Hulett hits a three, making it 34-23 with 6:44 left. Chapin follows that with a make. Orlando Maley sighting in the first half...that's not like the John Sandy sighting from last season. This one is more like, "Oh no, Orlando's in". It's 39-29 with 3:14 left. Davis has 16 for GW. John Mack gets a putback to get Nova back to 39-31. Jack finally gets back in at 1:19. Jake Smith hits two freebies off Jack's first foul to get it to 41-35, but Jack finds Hulett for a basket to end the half at 43-35. Jack's line is 10-4-1...definitely not like the last few games. They own a 21-15 edge in rebounding, but only a 5-4 edge in turnovers. Davis' 16 leads all scorers. Barron has 12 for Nova.

Chapin picks up his third foul on the first possession of the second half, and Villanova is hanging around, at 43-37. Hulett suffers his second foul, and Nova gets to 43-39. Davis answers with a three, and Smith counters that. Hulett breaks the press and gets a layup, and Charlie Duprey answers. Jack answers that with a three, before he fouls McSweeney. Barron then hits a three, before Patterson answers that one. This is a tennis match of made baskets. Sandy gets a three, and the lead is back to 10. Pine hits two free throws, and Jack follows a Davis miss with a monster dunk, then finds Davis for a hoop. He has a 15-5-2 line, and it's 63-50 after Davis (24 points) gets a steal and a layup.

I'm not sure GW has really missed this half. Villanova is doing their best to keep up...Barron has 20 points, and Duprey is hitting some shots. McSweeney just got the steal on Davis, and it's back to 65-56. Patterson gets a three-point play (he has ten) and it's 68-56 with 11:20 left. Porter Ali hits a three, and Johnson counters with a bucket. He has 12. It's 73-58 with ten minutes left.

GW is already in the penalty, with a 9-3 "edge" in fouls. This is no good. Hulett and Davis each have three fouls, and Woods now has four. It's 75-64 with under eight left. Jack finds Patterson for the hoop...good thing he's hitting. Jack scores, and has 19-6-3, as the lead is 79-65. McSweeney gets it to 79-68. Hulett suffers his fourth foul with 4:41 left, but they can't hit the free throws. Woods fouls out after an illegal screen. Sandy comes in, and Jack slides to the four. It's 80-68 now, and Sandy gets his third foul. This is ridiculous.

Jack coaxes a foul out of Johnson, and hits the two free throws. Hulett then fouls out, but Barron misses both free throws. Jack finds Chapin for the hoop...he has four fouls. Patterson finds Ali, and that should do it. It's 86-70 here, and the scrubs come in for the final minute. GW evens up their record at 2-2 with an 86-70 win, one that involved way, way too many fouls. They suffered 24 as a team. Hulett and Woods fouled out, Chapin had four, Sandy and Davis had three. Jack has 21 on just 7-12 shooting. Patterson was a good find in this one, and is quickly becoming a valuable asset off the bench. Davis scored 25, while Jack's reign of 30-point terror is over.

Since it's the end of the month, here's a look at the stats. They are 191st in the country on defense. That's why they won't make the NCAA Tournament. They also don't rebound well at all...they hammer the offensive end, but the defensive end, yuck. They allow teams to shoot nearly 48%, and 43% from three. This does not compute.

(Week 5 Cont'd)

12.1.82: at Richmond (2-2)

Last year's game was the most thrilling regular season affair. Read about it here:
Out Of Nowhere: A FBCB Story - Page 2

This year doesn't really promise to live up to that. This is an unbelievably inexperienced team, with just four players who have seen action in more than five games. SF Charlie Alberto is the program's face now, averaging 14.7 points in his seventy games of service, all starts. He is averaging 21 points so far this year. PG Preston Elson (9.3 ppg in 35 games, 11 starts) and C Garland Hart (3.6 ppg in 66 games, 11 starts are the other two stalwarts of the program. Hart has put up a double-double (10 ppg, 12.5 rpg) so far this season. Richmond did go 19-13 and reach the NCAA last year, but this year is likely one of building.

GW should win this game. They have more motivation (revenge for last year's loss) and a more complete group. Oh, and Jack.

Jack scores the first bucket of the game, and Davis pays tribute to Leroy by fouling right away. Jack has three early rebounds, and now an assist, as Woods scores. And now a foul. Three early fouls by GW. Jack draws a foul on Alberto, and he has five points early on. It's 7-2. Woods puts back his own miss, and GW leads 9-2. Ali scores to make it 11-3, before Alberto counters at 15:00.

Davis picks up his second foul with thirteen minutes left, and both teams have gone cold. Richmond is 1-for-10. Jack finally sinks a three, making it 14-6. GW has seven fouls with 11:45 left. Oy. Orlando Maley and Robert Mulvey are the two forwards right now, as Jack gets a breather. When he comes back, with 9:31 left, it's 18-10. Jack scores to make it 18-10, but Robert Darnell hits a three to cut it to 18-13. Alberto picks up his second foul, this one on Chapin. Jack picks up HIS second foul a minute later. If I'm Richmond, I go after Jack and force him to be passive. Jack hits two free throws, making it 21-14. He has 12-5-1.

Elson hits two free throws at five minutes, and it's back to a five-point game. This is nothing like last year's craziness. It's 24-18 after Davis hits his first points, and Alberto (seven points) counters. Michael King assists Jack, then is called for the foul. The freshman is getting time, which is good. He also suffers two quick fouls. Not good. GW leads 26-22 as we approach a minute...Hulett gets on the board off a steal. Then he's called for traveling. It's 28-26 at the half, and this is painful to watch. GW is shooting 38%, Richmond 26%. GW is shooting 22% from 3, Richmond 14%. GW had 12 fouls. This team is incredibly haphazard on defense.

Jack had 14-6-1 in the first half.

He opens the second half with a block and a bucket. Then another block...and a third. Wow. Davis cannot hit even a lapup right now. Jack suffers his third foul with 17:06 left, but stays in. Davis misses another layup. It's 30-26 with 16 minutes left. Ali scores to make it 32-26. Davis and Hulett are killing GW right now. Jack finds Hulett for a basket; he now has 4-3-2, but I await to see his negative numbers.

Woods suffers his third foul at 14:30. It's 34-31 GW. Alberto scores, and it's a one-point game with 13:38 left. Jack gets an offensive rebound and finds Chapin in one swoop. Darnell hits a three, and it's tied at 36. Jack with another block, but Richmond takes a 39-38 lead on a Ross three. Alberto suffers his third foul, and Jack's free throws gives GW a 40-39 lead. Jack comes out, and Davis hits a three...then taunts. Seriously? You've been awful all game. Shut up.

Richmond has fouled eight times already (nine minutes left). GW only has two. It's 44-39 with 8:30 left, and Pete Deane is getting a ot of time at the moment for the Spiders. Jack is drawing fouls now, and hitting his free throws. GW has opened up a 46-39 lead, and now they're being aggressive on the offensive end. A Davis layup and a Woods dunk, and it's 50-39. Jack has five blocks in the second half, and a 20-9-4 line. Darnell hits a three, getting it back to 50-42. Jack gets it back to ten with 5:07 left.

Hart has zero points and eleven rebounds. Alberto is now in as the center. Very small lineup for Richmond. Ross tips in his own miss to get it to 52-44. Jack needs the ball. It's 52-46 as Ross scores again (10 points). Oh, Jack's not even in. Shot clock violation. That's apt. Hulett goes to the line, and sinks both...but Varnado counters with a dunk. With 1:36 left, it's 55-50. GW is hitting 77% of their free throws...they get it back to 57-53 with 1:10 left. Alberto fouls out, and Jack heads to the line. He hits both, and it's up to 60-53. Thirty seconds left, and Hart fouls out. Chapin sinks both, and GW will escape with a 62-53 win. They didn't play great, but they got the job done.

Jack finished with seven blocks. Ridiculous. And as a team, they shot 3-20 from three. Also ridiculous. Jack went 9-for-9 from the line, and hasn't missed in three games. He's 38-40 so far, and 9-18 from three. He's shooting 55-50-95 so far this year. That's not sustainable, but holy cow.


12.5.82: vs Delaware State (3-2)

The Hornets are coming off their best season in school history, by far. They went 23-8 and reached the NCAA Tournament a year ago, even though they finished second in the MEAC behind South Carolina State. The Hornets lost three starters from that team, including two three-year starters. This roster, though, has more potential than that team did.

Freshman Gary Mangrum (14.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and 7'3 senior center, Cecil Gee (13.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg) lead this team. They will be hampered by the loss of C/F Clement Bergeron (8.4 ppg, 8.0 rpg), who is out with an injury. G Warren Davis and F Franklin Bennett round out a worthy starting unit. The defense leaves some to be desired, though guard Justin Delgado has averaged eight points a game in 12.4 minutes a game off the bench. So, there's a bit of firepower.

If GW gets out in the passing lanes, they should dominate this game via turnovers. This group is putrid on defense and in rebounding outside of Gee.

Chapin beat Gee for the jump. Davis opens with a three off a Jack assist. Mangrum counters with a three, and Jack gets the and-one from Bennett. Gee dunks it, and it's 6-5 two minutes in. Woods follows two straight misses, and gets the hoop. Jack has an early foul and two early turnovers. He also has two assists, as Davis has five points. So does Mangrum, who gets a steal and a dunk the other way.

With 13:30 left, it's 10-7, GW. Hulett scores off a Jack pass; he has an early 3-4-2 line. Make that 3-5-3, as he finds Sandy off an offensive board. Delgado comes off the bench and hits a three right away. Jack answers, and it's 17-10 with ten minutes gone.

GW leads in rebounding, 11-5, but they have five turnovers...Jack two. This Mulvey/Maley post situation really doesn't work. It's happening now, and Gee is giggling with delight. Sandy drills a three, and it's 20-14 with 6:36 left. Gee hits two free throws, which is impressive for the 7'3 monster (BY GOD!). The Hornets tie it on two Warren Davis threes, but GW retakes the lead on Davis' shot off a Jack assist. The Hornets take the lead on Davis' three with four minutes left. Jack has 6-9-4 right now.

Chapin hits two freebies to retake the lead with 2:30 left. Jack is up to eleven rebounds, but he is not scoring. Bradley Bearden scores, but Sandy retakes the lead for GW. The half ends 30-29 for GW, though you have to think Jack won't be held down for much longer. He has 6-12-4 in his line. GW shot 40%, while the Hornets shot 42%. GW held the rebounds, 21-12...but they were careless with the ball, with eight turnovers. That has to change.

Delgado opens the second half with a three, and Dawkins responds. It's 32-32 early in the second. Gotta wonder how many are at this game. Probably a lot because of Jack, but...yeesh. Jack gets another block...GW has six right now, not sure how many Jack has. He realy isn't shooting. Woods gets his third foul. He then hits two free throws to give GW a 36-34 lead just under sixteen minutes left. Jack assists Davis on a hoop, and it's 38-34, GW.

Jack is missing quite a bit, but he coaxes a foul out of Mangrum, and gets a three-point play. He has 11-12-6, and it's 41-34. Jack then finds Sandy, who has 12 points. 43-34, twelve minutes left. Jack then hits four freebies, two off a technical, to give him a 15-12-7 line. It's 47-34, and Delaware State has unraveled. Sandy hits again...his 14 is a career high already. Mangrum gets it back to 49-40 with a three, then to 49-42. Bennett hasg another technical called against him, and he's chucked from the game. Jack hits those free throws, and it's 57-44. Hulett hits a three, and it's 57-44, with 7:30 left.

Gee has his shot blocked by Chapin, and Jack is back at the line. He hits two more free throws, and it's 59-49 as Delgado hits another three. He has 12 points. Chuck Marshall hits a three, and it's 59-52 as Jack comes back. Five minutes left, Jack has a 20-12-7 line. Sandy heads to the line and hits two free throws, and it's back to ten for GW. Jack drills a three, making it 65-54 with 3:55 left. Jack hits a layup, and as said before, he wouldn't be held down long. Davis hits a three, he now has 12, and GW is pulling away. With 2:45 left, it's 70-57. Jack sustains a possession with an offensive board, and finishes with the hoop. The final is 72-60, and Jack won that with his play in the second half...as did Sandy. The thirteen turnovers were atrocious, but only 12 fouls, to 21 for Delaware State...Jack missed one free throw, going 11-12 at the stripe. Delaware State had five offensive rebounds; Jack had six by himself, and Woods had another five. These guys are tough on the offensive boards...Woods for his size, Jack for his tenaciousness. Jack added four blocks...but had five turnovers. That's no good.