March madness begins this week with conference tournaments and the #Atlantic10 comes to @[email protected]

Here is the schedule

As a leading Jesuit institution, it is safe to assume that many of Saint Louis University’s alumni are familiar with the Old Testament narrative of the Israelites wandering 40 years in the desert before reaching the Promised Land. After spending the past 20 days waiting for Josh Schertz’s season with Indiana State to finish, it’s equally safe to assume that Billikens fans feel a kinship with the Israelites of the Exodus, having endured a seemingly endless wait for their Promised Coach.

The wait has ended. Josh Schertz is the newest coach of Saint Louis University. The news was first reported by Stu Durando of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Schertz comes from Indiana State, where his fast-paced, ball-movement heavy style of play captured the hearts and minds of basketball fans across the country as the Sycamores won 32 games, the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title, and went all the way to the NIT final after unfortunately being one of the most notable NCAA Tournament snubs in recent memory.

In a press release from SLU, Athletic Director Chris May said, “I am thrilled to welcome Josh, his wife Natalia, and sons Jordan and Jaden to the Billiken family. Coach Schertz has had considerable success throughout his career in the areas connected to our strategic objectives and values. He Educates, Competes and Builds Community at championship levels.”

In the same release Schertz said: “I could not be more excited to be named the head coach at Saint Louis University. From the top-down leadership of President Dr. Fred Pestello, Chairman Joe Conran, Trustee Dr. Richard Chaifetz and Athletics Director Chris May – to the elite facilities, infrastructure, academics and resources – this a place where you can build a sustainable championship-level program.”

“On top of that, the opportunity to work, recruit and live in the great sports city of St. Louis was incredibly appealing,” Schertz said. “I can’t wait to get to work building and developing a program everyone involved with can be proud of.”

Schertz spent 3 years at Indiana State, compiling a record of 66-40 in Terre Haute. Prior to ISU, he was one of the best Division II coaches in the country at Lincoln Memorial University, where he compiled a record of 337-69, good for an .880 winning percentage. His tenure there was marked by consistent improvement, going from 11-20—while receiving criticism from fans who did not like ISU’s decision to hire a Division II coach—in his first year, before improving to 23-13 in his second season. His 32-7 season this year marked the culmination of the program he built in Terre Haute, culminating in the electric run to the NIT final and Schertz receiving the Hugh Durham Coach of the Year Award, which is presented annual to the best mid-major coach in college basketball. Schertz’s success is all the more impressive considering that from a resource standpoint, Indiana State was universally considered one of worst jobs in the Missouri Valley Conference when he took the job.

Schertz’s calling card is his offense. All five of Schertz’s starters—Robbie Avila, Jayson Kent, Julian Larry, Isaiah Swope and Ryan Conwell—were named to an All-MVC team and all of them averaged double digits in scoring. ISU led the NCAA in effective field goal percent and led the MVC in scoring offense, assists, and 3-point field goals made per game.

SLU is flexing its financial muscles in hiring Schertz. Multiple media outlets have reported that Schertz’s deal with SLU is in the range of $2 million per year over 6 years, which is a huge jump over the $350,000 he was making at Indiana State. Terre Haute Sports 10 reporter Rick Semmler reported that SLU’s NIL commitments were also big in wooing Schertz, tweeting that SLU is expected to have nearly $1 million more in NIL than ISU would be able to offer.

Sources tell Sports 10 a key factor in head coach Josh Schertz leaving ISU for St. Louis was NIL. At St. Louis he is expected to have nearly $1 million more dollars in NIL money than he would have had to work with at ISU.

— Rick Semmler (@Rick_Sports10) April 6, 2024

The majority of those NIL resources will likely go to attempting to bring Schertz’s starters at ISU to SLU, should they go into the portal. All five starters have eligibility remaining, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see anywhere from three to five starters follow Schertz. However, it is also likely that many of those starters will be offered enormous sums of cash by various other schools, and it’s never smart to try to predict the actions of 18-22 year olds. However, should any of the starters want to follow Schertz, there certainly will be room for them. SLU graduated two players who are out of eligibility, one player left the program midseason, and four Billikens are in the transfer portal, with more potentially to enter.

Of the players remaining on the Billikens roster, Kellen Thames and Larry Hughes Jr. might be the most intriguing to imagine in Schertz’s system. The 6’5 Thames has a lot of similarties to Jayson Kent, with his elite size and athleticism allowing him to guard multiple positions, and his ability to dribble, pass and shoot fitting in well with Schertz’s system. The 6’4 Hughes has similarly uncommon length for a guard in the Atlantic 10 and has shown the ability to hit three pointers and play both guard spots. Djordje Curcic and Bradley Ezewiro also remain on the roster. Ezewiro established himself as a starter-caliber player at SLU, but I’m unsure of his fit on these Billikens, especially with Robbie Avila likely to follow Schertz. There’s a lot of teams Ezewiro could start on and I’d be surprised if he wants to spend his final season of college basketball as a bench piece. Curcic showed elite shooting ability in his limited playing time at SLU, and could also be an interesting piece for Schertz to work with.

Of the players in the transfer portal, Gibson Jimerson and Cian Medley would thrive in Schertz’s system as well. Jimerson is being courted by pretty much every power conference team in the nation, but if he chose to come back for a 6th year at SLU, his elite shooting would fit like a glove with Schertz’s free-flowing system. Medley, meanwhile, proved himself to be one of the more promising freshmen point guards in the A10 and had a particularly interesting late surge. He’s a great passer and a very good shooter despite being undersized, and can really orchestrate an offense.

Schertz’s arrival at SLU immediately electrifies a program that had fallen into a bit of stagnation under Travis Ford before the bottom completely fell out this season, resulting in a 13-20 record. Ford did a lot of good for SLU in his 8 years, but after no at-large bids, struggles against Dayton and VCU and no victories over top-25 teams, it was time for a change.

In making that change, SLU reminded the national why it is often considered one of the very best mid-major jobs in the country. Schertz was one of the hottest coaching commodities this coaching carousel and many had him tabbed for a power conference job. Instead, SLU identified Schertz early on and locked him down, before having to wait weeks to make it official due to Indiana State’s NIT run. Over the course of the waiting, Schertz turned down job offers from Louisville and his alma mater FAU to come to SLU.

The hiring of Josh Schertz is a testament to the great job that Chris May and SLU’s donors, particularly Dr. Richard Chaifetz and his son Ross, did while conducting this search. May has received his fair share of criticism from me and others in the past, but he did an impeccable job this coaching search and it resulted in SLU getting one of the best coaches in this cycle.

While much work remains to be done with the portal and putting together a coaching staff and schedule, today is an incredibly exciting day for SLU basketball!

Image from SLU’s X account

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The NCAA has uncovered severe violations from the Atlantic 10 that have hurt the conference’s 2025 men’s basketball season, which have led the NCAA to strip the A10 of it’s automatic-bid to the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

According to the NCAA offices in Indianapolis, “The Atlantic 10 conference has been found guilty of multiple violations according to the NCAA bylaws. We are unfortunately forced to hand down a harsh punishment of stripping the conference of its 2025 automatic bid toward the 2025 NCAA Tournament.”

The Atlantic 10 office was shocked to hear of the punishment from the NCAA.

“We are deeply disappointed in the NCAA for this harsh punishment,” said A10 public affairs coordinator George Ham. “We as a conference pride ourselves on our integrity on how we handle our highly competitive men’s basketball season.”

The violations uncovered by the NCAA involve tampering with the 2024 conference tournament multiple times.

The NCAA took this drastic action in response to attempts by the A10 to influence the results of games. These attempts range from prematurely shooting their load of confetti in an attempt to bring bad vibes upon Duquesne, to paying an evil witch to cast an evil curse on Dayton ensuring they will never win an Atlantic 10 Tournament, and to what the suspension explanation simply referred to as “Siegel Center Refs.”

“Frankly, this level of playing favorites and trying to influence who wins games is only acceptable at the power conference level, where our TV and betting partners genuinely want brand names like Duke, Kansas, and NC State to have easy paths to victory so ratings are better,” said NCAA President Charlie Baker.

Baker continued: “What makes the Atlantic 10’s acts so abhorrent is that no one really cares whether Duquesne or VCU represents the conference in the Atlantic 10 outside of insane VCU fans and Duquesne fans who had never known happiness until this year. Because of this, we felt we had to come down extra hard on the conference and strip it of its automatic bid. This will ensure that a deserving 18-15 Big 10 team will make the tournament next year, as an added bonus.”

The most conspiratorial twitter account in the A10, @Flyerfan010621, tweeted “I knew it!” in response to the news.

Around the country, multiple power conference commissioners weighed in on the news, including SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. “We applaud the NCAA on holding the Atlantic 10 accountable for their actions. We look forward to replacing an A10 conference tournament champ with a really good 13-17 Vanderbilt team next season.”

Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti wasted no time commenting on the situation via a zoom call with A10 Talk. “We have been waiting for Commissioner Baker to do something about that damn league for a long time,” Petitti said while popping off a bottle of champagne. “It’s about time the NCAA started to bully the bullies like the A10 and reward the little guys like the Big Ten, ACC, SEC, and the Big 12.” Sankey was also seen on this zoom call with a glass of champagne in the background as well.

When asked if they were going to appeal the sanctions from the NCAA, the A10 responded with, “Whatever power you think the NCAA has….we have less.”

As a result, the A10 is mulling different solutions for its conference tournament champion for 2025. We have been told by the league office that solutions include the champion being given an auto bid into the NIT, CBI or CIT (with programs still having to pay their own way into those tournaments), or each player and coach on the winning team’s roster be given a $25 gift card to Ruby Tuesday.

A10 Associate to the Commissioner Bernie McBoyd spoke to the possible solutions, saying “We are talking to other tournaments to see if our tournament champion can join them if they don’t get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, so for right now, the front runner is definitely the Ruby Tuesday gift cards. We have a long standing relationship with Ruby Tuesday, where we conduct the conference schedules and count the paper ballots mailed in for the post season awards. Their establishments are well equipped to handle any team in the A10.”

Several A10 programs have responded differently to the news.

The A10 office has told us that, “Because of this news, UMass is actively working with the MAC to join in Winter 2024, ahead of their July 1st agreement. Dayton and VCU have both been contacted by the Big East, as the conference has expressed their sympathies and has reengaged in expansion talks with both A10 programs out of respect.”

Even some of the A10 coaches are handling the news differently. According to sources, after hearing this news Frank Martin flew directly to the NCAA offices in Indianapolis and waited in the parking lot preparing to bare knuckle box Charlie Baker.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we update you more with this story as we gain more information.

Photo credit:  Hunter Hensel, A10 Talk

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This is a revolving post throughout the 2024 offseason for players going in and out of the Dayton Flyers basketball program, transfer portal updates, and transfer portal targets. Continue to check back here to see updates to the roster and transfer portal pertaining to the Dayton Flyers:

Players Leaving the Program:

Zimi Nwokeji (R-Sr)

Zimi was suspended from the team and entered the transfer portal before the Flyers traveled to Salt Lake City for the NCAA Tournament. He has one year of eligibility remaining. This opens up one scholarship for Dayton.

Players Entering the Program:

TBD

Players Being Targeted From The Transfer Portal:

Sam Alexis (Chattanooga)

Alexis has heard from a variety of schools, including Dayton. He is a 6-9 Forward who averaged 10.9 points and 9 rebounds. He has scheduled visits at a few other schools, with Dayton not being on that list as of now. With a possible opening at F/C depending on the decision of DaRon Holmes II, Alexis could be the player to plug in there along with current center, Isaac Jack.

Jonathan Pierre (Memphis)

Pierre is a 6-9 Forward who has heard from a few A10 schools including Dayton and VCU. This will be the third school that Pierre will transfer to in three years (DII NOVA Southeastern and Memphis). He averaged 6 minutes per game for the Tigers in a very limited scoring role. Interesting to note that he was a 40% three-point shooter at NOVA Southeastern. He could be a guy that could thrive in the right system. Dayton notably is shooting more threes and Anthony Grant likes his tall three point shooters.

Ra’Heim Moss (Toledo)

Moss is a 6-4 Guard who is an Ohio native and has heard from a few schools, including Dayton, Ohio State, Cincinnati, and Loyola Chicago. He averaged 15.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game for the Rockets last season. He was First-Team, All-MAC as well. Dayton could use another high scoring guard that can be a slasher to the basket. Moss could be that guy for the Flyers.

High School Recruiting (Class of 2024):

Kameren Wright (Gainesville, FL) – Offered

Wright is a 6’4″ shooting guard from Olympia High School in Gainesville, Florida. He also holds an offer from VCU. Wright is graded as a 3 star recruit. He is ranked #217 in the class of 2024.

https://www.a10talk.com/2024/03/dayton-flyers-offseason-roster-and-portal-updates/

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Dayton finished their season on Saturday with a loss to Arizona in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. For the standards of the Dayton basketball program, making the round of 32 was an accomplishment and brought back the momentum that was lost from the 2020 season incompletion and missing the NCAA tournament from 2021-2023.

While the program now has made its way back into the national spotlight during the 2024 season, Dayton has some questions as it heads into the offseason.

Let’s take a look:

1. What is the future of DaRon Holmes II?

There’s no doubt that DaRon Holmes II was one of the best players in the country this season. He made a name for himself throughout the season and again in the NCAA Tournament, scoring 18 points and 9 rebounds in the win over Nevada, and following it up with an impressive 23 points and 11 rebounds in the loss to Arizona.

Holmes still has one year left of eligibility, but anyone who follows college basketball closely knows that players like Holmes usually will go to the NBA Draft as soon as possible. However, Holmes could have declared for the draft after the 2023 season, but he chose to come back to college and improve his game and his draft stock. He could have transferred to a bigger program and taken a giant pay increase from a big school NIL collective (rumors of Duke throwing him a giant deal to come play for the Blue Devils surfaced), but Holmes chose to stay at Dayton.

What we do know is that while Holmes can live his dream as being drafted to a team in the NBA, we have no idea where that draft pick would be. Is he a top 15 pick or a late first rounder? Is he an early second rounder? Or does he follow former teammate Toumani Camara and be taken late in the second round, betting on himself to make an NBA roster anyway. Camara is already a starter for the Portland Trail Blazers, even as a second round pick last summer. Betting on yourself is not a bad plan either.

Now, what are the reasons for DaRon to stay at Dayton? Well, if he feels that where he is drafted does not matter and the compensation from endorsements and the Dayton NIL collective is good enough, the same, or better than the rookie compensation where he would be possibly drafted, then he could elect to stay for his final year at Dayton. Another reason he could stay is that he and his family’s relationship with Anthony Grant is very strong by all accounts. His family has stated that loyalty is very important to them, and the relationship between Holmes and Grant could be something that trumps any NBA compensation or NBA dreams at the moment. Holmes could really value finishing his college degree from Dayton and living out his final year as a Flyer. Every player is different, and you just don’t know what is going on with that certain player. Most believe that he will declare for the NBA draft, but you just never know.

We should know in the coming days what Holmes’ final decision will be.

2. What about the futures of anyone else?

Koby Brea made a huge name for himself along with DaRon Holmes. Brea was the top three-point shooter in the country this season, shooting 100-201 from three on the season. That is wildly impressive from the junior. He was also the ultimate team player, being that good and also accepting his role as the 6th man on this team. Dayton doesn’t get as far as it does without Brea’s role and efforts this season.

What happens with him? Well, he has already stated in an interview that there is a “high possibility” that he returns for his senior season. Good news for Flyer fans. The bad news is that his skill set as a sniper three point shooter in the age of analytics is one of the top skills that teams and scouts look for. There have already been rumblings of teams wanting to throw a big NIL deal to him to come play for them. That could very well happen, but a few things fans need to keep in mind: (1) Brea has to be in the transfer portal before teams can make offers, (2) Dayton can offer big money from their NIL and endorsements from businesses in the area as well (more on that in a moment), and (3) He has a role on this team and a great relationship with Anthony Grant, who recruited him out of high school. People often downplay the importance of coach/player relationships, which is important to some players and what makes Anthony Grant a good coach. We should see soon what Brea elects to do.

As for other players, we already know that Kobe Elvis elected to go through with senior night, but he still has a year of eligibility left. Does he elect to turn pro and go overseas, enter the transfer portal, or come back for one more season?

We know that one player has already entered the transfer portal, and that is Zimi Nwokeji. According to Anthony Grant, Zimi was suspended from team activities near the end of the season and later left the team to enter the transfer portal before the NCAA Tournament. This results in one scholarship being open right now.

What about the two redshirt freshmen? Jaiun Simon and Marvel Allen were highly touted freshman signings last offseason, but they both redshirted this season. We have seen Grant do this in the past, notably with Obi Toppin (look how that turned out), but that was before the NIL era and the boom of the transfer portal era. Many Flyer fans were confused and concerned that Simon and Allen would transfer due to being redshirted, but both are still with the team and stayed on the team throughout the entire season. It feels like if they did not buy into that plan, they would have left already, but they did not. Hopefully we can look forward to Simon and Allen playing in a Flyer uniform next season.

Finally, not mentioning any other player would not be accurate. Any one of these players this season could have plans to leave for a better opportunity, whether it be for more playing time, more NIL compensation, or just a change of scenery. Anything could happen and it should not be surprising to anyone if multiple players decide to leave. It is the age of the player’s preference, and fans should expect the unexpected.

3. What is the situation with the Dayton NIL collective?

It was reported this season that Dayton’s roster has a $1 million compensation total among the roster, with DaRon Holmes understandably getting the most at around $650,000, but that does leave other players with a good chunk of change as well. Being the only big name team in the city of Dayton has its dividends too, with many players getting advertisement and endorsement deals from car dealerships, restaurants, and other businesses. There is no real competition from the Dayton Dragons (the Cincinnati Reds single-A baseball team) or even from Wright State basketball. Dayton is the only hot ticket in town, and players have really taken advantage of gaining compensation from businesses in Dayton and the surrounding area.

While other programs can offer big money, Dayton can as well. Dayton operates as a bigger program than most outsiders would think, being a team in the Atlantic 10. The NIL collective is getting stronger, especially with the team being in the AP Top 25 for the majority of the season and earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, and even more-so now with the win in the first round over Nevada. When the team performs well, the wallets open up. Don’t be shocked if the Dayton collective can match an offer from some of these Power 6 schools.

With the landscape of NIL in college athletics changing all the time, the rules for how programs and collectives can operate together have changed. Programs can now talk directly with players on potential compensation amounts. This was not the case before. Players are starting to have “NIL agents” and are pinning programs against each other. This will be the first offseason where we will see the effects of this new rule. It will be interesting to see how Dayton is affected.

4. What does the non-conference schedule look like for next season?

A tough, quality non-conference schedule and winning enough quality games in said schedule is one of the biggest reasons Dayton got an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. However, Dayton will have many holes to fill this offseason in the schedule.

We already know that Dayton will be one of the eight teams in the Maui Invitational, which is the marquee event for in-season tournaments on ESPN. Dayton will get three really good opponents at that event. Maybe a free trip to Maui is enticing to keep Holmes for one final year? (joking).

The good non-conference games we know for certain is that Northwestern will be making a return trip to UD Arena next season, and hopefully the UNLV game that was canceled this season will most likely be made up next season at UD Arena.

The bad news is the SMU series ended with the game this year in Dallas and the neutral site game against Cincinnati was a one-time deal. There are no good true road games scheduled so far for next season.

Dayton is going to really have to dig deep to schedule some more quality non-conference opponents in order to get back to the tournament next season. The worry is that as a mid-major, Dayton will not get any quality teams to play outside of Maui due to Power 6 conferences not wanting to give Dayton an advantage over their conference’s teams in receiving an at-large bid to the dance. Hopefully that is not the case.

Here are some small questions to put in the back of your mind as well:

1. What about the future of Anthony Grant?

Last offseason, it was reported in circles that Anthony Grant was mulling retirement. Later on, those rumors were put to rest when it was reported that Grant wants to come back to Dayton to try and get his alma mater back to the NCAA Tournament. It was clearly the overall goal of the team this year to get to the NCAA Tournament and win. Mission accomplished. Now that has happened, does Grant ride off into the sunset? 

My instinct is no, but with retirement rumors last offseason, you just never know, especially with how close to the chest Grant keeps his personal life. My thought is because of the season he just had and with the players he potentially has coming back to Dayton, he would want to come back too. He has a great job, he is safe, and he got many of the fans back on his side for the job he did this season.

2. What about conference realignment?

I mentioned earlier how Dayton operates like a bigger program than most outside fans would think, especially for being a school in the Atlantic 10. Dayton is longing for a spot in another conference, and their top choice is the Big East. Dayton has the profile of a Big East basketball program being a private, catholic, and basketball-centric school. Dayton also has the facilities and budget of a Big East program. Dayton has also shown success against Big East teams with a record of 3-1 against their teams since the new Big East began in 2014 with wins over Providence, Butler, and St. John’s, putting the hypothetical to rest that Dayton would not compete well in the Big East. Their success this season could also be enough good exposure to convince the Big East that Dayton would be a good addition.

However, Dayton’s location of not being in a major populated city as well as being close to the Xavier media market in Cincinnati is not an attractive proposition for the Big East. Along with that, this season and the 2020 season being the only recent successful seasons for Dayton makes them a questionable addition to the third best conference in the country. Finally, the Big East has stated that they like having 11 teams for their balanced, round robin schedule, and they feel that there are no other teams that they would want right now other than Gonzaga.

The reason I bring this up is because the Big East and FOX have been in negotiations for a new media deal since this past winter. The current media deal with FOX ends in 2025, which is why the two parties are having conversations one year out from the expiration date. The landscape of college athletics has drastically changed over the last 12 months. Mega conferences are forming in the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, and Big 12, guided by college football, but those conferences have dominated in terms of getting multiple teams into the NCAA Tournament. The Big East was notably left with a disappointing three teams in this year’s NCAA Tournament, although they were all top three seeds, including the number one overall seed in Connecticut. For a conference like the Big East, that is not good enough. Could the Big East see this as a clue to start adding more teams in order to get more bids, opening the door for a team like Dayton to enter the conference? Could FOX see how conferences like the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, and Big 12 are adding teams and the Big East needs to follow suit? Media and exposure are the factors that matter the most, and these networks will do whatever it takes to maximize profits.

Things change quickly in college athletics. This summer could see a big shift yet again in conference realignment. Dayton is obviously looking to get out of the Atlantic 10 as soon as possible. Could the new media deal and the lack of bids for the Big East finally be Dayton’s ticket in?

This will be yet another interesting offseason for the Dayton Flyers. With college basketball drastically changing, fans should once again expect the unexpected. Anything could happen.

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So, what a topsy-turvy Atlantic 10 tournament we have.

For the first time since 2006, all four of the teams that earned a double-bye were eliminated in the A-10 quarterfinals, leaving four single-bye teams left to claim the conference’s automatic bid in next week’s NCAA tournament.

The fun begins again on Saturday, when No. 5 VCU takes on No. 9 Saint Joseph’s from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The game is at 1 p.m. and will air nationally on CBS Sports Network.

Here’s what VCU fans need to know, by the numbers:

5

As the No. 5 seed in the Atlantic 10 tournament, VCU is now the best remaining seed in the tournament. As such, many bracketologists are projecting VCU as claiming the A-10’s automatic bid, which would give the conference two bids in the NCAA tournament.

Dayton, by virtue of its metrics and stellar non-conference record, is seen as a virtual lock for an at-large bid in the tournament despite losing to Duquesne in the A-10 quarterfinals.

2

Two is the number of A-10 All Conference First Team selections remaining in the tournament once the dust cleared following Thursday’s chaos.

Both are appearing in the day’s first game.

VCU guard Max Shulga continued a streak of four consecutive years that VCU has claimed a first team selection. The senior guard led the team in many stat categories, including points and rebounds per game at 15 and 4.6 respectively. The Ukrainian shot 44.3% from the floor in the regular season.

Shulga also ranks third in the A-10 in free throw percentage and sixth in 3-point percentage.

Joining Shulga on the all-conference first team is St. Joe’s guard Erik Reynolds II, who also ranks top five in the conference in free throw percentage. The junior guard has been lighting it up, to the tune of a 30-point offensive explosion in upsetting top-seeded Richmond in the A-10 quarterfinals.

The Maryland native is averaging 17 points per game on 41.3% shooting from the floor and 38.4% shooting from deep. He is also shooting an impressive 87% from the free throw line – roughly on par with Shulga’s output from the charity stripe.

Both guards have also battled injuries in this tournament. Reynolds suffered a hard fall in St. Joe’s opening A-10 tournament game against George Mason and was late to pregame warmups in the quarterfinals, while Shulga appears to still have lingering back issues after missing the regular season home finale against Duquesne with back spasms.

Regardless, both guards are appointment television, and this will be the matchup to watch Saturday afternoon.

7

In 10 prior contested A-10 tournaments, VCU has made it to the A-10 semifinals.

The Rams are 7-0 in such contests.

VCU has always made it to the A-10 quarterfinals, now boasting an 11-year streak including this year. Three times, VCU has been eliminated in the quarterfinals, including twice as a double-bye team.

But if the Rams advance, they always make it to Sunday.

The streak will be on the line Saturday afternoon, as VCU will be looking for its eighth appearance in the A-10 title game since joining the conference in 2012-13.

13.5

So far in the A-10 tournament, VCU senior guard Zeb Jackson has averaged 13.5 points per game, courtesy of first-half scoring blitzes by the Michigan transfer.

The captain of the team and the longest tenured Ram, Jackson had an impressive game from the free throw line on Thursday, going 10-of-11 while scoring 17 points en route to a VCU win that at times seemed to never be in doubt.

Jackson also has shown his prowess on the defensive end that generated all-defensive team buzz earlier this season. In two games, Jackson is averaging 4.5 steals per game in the tournament, picking UMass’s pocket five times in Thursday’s quarterfinal victory.

The offense runs through the steady hand of Jackson, who will be key to matching up against the talented St. Joe’s backcourt of Reynolds and Lynn Greer III.

40.7

40.7% is the season-long 3-point percentage of senior guard Joe Bamisile, who has shown the ability to pop off the bench and light up opposing teams.

Bamisile had one of his hot games on Thursday, connecting four times from deep and leading VCU in scoring with 18 while powering VCU to advance.

Throughout the season, Bamisile has often had hot and cold games, often back-to-back. The A-10 tournament has proven to be that way for the senior, who scored eight points in the second-round win against Fordham while struggling at the free throw line.

VCU’s hopes of advancing to a second consecutive title game may lie in Bamisile lighting up the second unit from the bench.

Bamisile confirmed late in the regular season that he will be using his fifth year of eligibility and will return to VCU in 2024-25.

67.1

Sophomore forward Tobi Lawal is the Atlantic 10 leader in field goal percentage, making 61.7% of his attempts.

The Londoner has proven to be one of VCU’s main draws, with a bouncy athleticism and 49.5-inch vertical that leads to dazzling above-the-rim play.

Already in the conference tournament, Lawal has had a series of highlight-reel dunks that would likely make an all-conference “One Shining Moment” compilation video.

Lawal has been coming off the bench for much of the season, and looks to continue to do so as he spells fellow sophomore Christian Fermin. In the last game, Lawal recorded seven points and six rebounds in 17 minutes of action.

19

In each of VCU’s tournament games, the Rams have recorded 19 team fouls.

While both games have been with tight whistles on both sides, the ensuing foul trouble has created potential lineup issues for the Rams.

Notably, all three of VCU’s primary big men faced foul trouble in the quarterfinals against UMass. Roosevelt Wheeler picked up four fouls in five minutes of first half action while spelling Fermin and Lawal.

Fermin ended the game with four fouls, while Lawal tacked on three of his own.

Beyond that trio, VCU does not have many reliable threats in the paint, so keeping them clean on the personal foul ledger is paramount for head coach Ryan Odom.

The task for the trio on Saturday? Sophomore forward Rasheer Fleming. The 6-9 sophomore is averaging 11 points per game for the Hawks, and ended the regular season with a 23-point game against Davidson.

In the quarterfinals against Richmond, Fleming notched 12 rebounds to up his season average to 7.3 boards per game.

73-69

The Rams and the Hawks have faced once this year, in a 73-69 win at the Siegel Center on Feb. 25.

VCU trailed by six at halftime, but powered past the Hawks on the strength of a 52-point second half, the highest scoring half VCU has had this season.

Lawal and Bamisile led the charge with 16 points each, while Bamisile connected on four 3-pointers. Shulga recorded a “triple-nickel,” with 12 points, six rebounds and five assists in the win. Lawal recorded 12 rebounds in a double-double effort.

Two Hawks scored 21 points in the loss. Reynolds had a slow first half, but traded buckets with Bamisile late and connected on six 3-pointers.

Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year Xzayvier Brown recorded 21 points and knocked home six 3-pointers of his own, continuing a remarkable freshman campaign. The Philadelphia native averages 13 points per game on 46.6% shooting and 41.9% from deep.

71

As of March 16, VCU’s NET ranking is 71st, good for second in the A-10 and one spot behind VCU’s season-high NET ranking, set in mid-February.

While trending upward, the metrics are not one of a team worthy of an at-large bid. The lowest ranked NET team to make the NCAA tournament was Rutgers in 2022, which was ranked 77th.

Rutgers’s inclusion itself was controversial, and frankly no team outside of the Power 5 conferences with a sub-70 NET ranking has even a puncher’s chance at an at-large bid.

What does that mean for VCU? They have to win two games this weekend to lock up a second-consecutive NCAA tournament appearance and A-10 title.

1

The most important part of tournament season? Taking it one game at a time.

With none of the four remaining teams holding a resume capable of an at-large bid, the NCAA tournament essentially begins now for the A-10’s remaining teams.

Survive and advance, and NCAA tournament glory awaits.

The Hawks and the Rams will continue their March journey at 1 p.m. today.

Featured image: Hunter Hensel/A10Talk

https://www.a10talk.com/2024/03/by-the-numbers-vcu-to-play-st-joes-in-a-10-semifinals/

#A10 #Atlantic10 #Atlantic10Tournament #featured #VCU #VCUBasketball #VCUHoops #VCURams

(Photo courtesy of Hunter Hensel)

BROOKLYN, NY – No. 9 seed Saint Joseph’s was able to pull off the upset of the tournament so far, erasing a 10-point second half deficit and beating No. 1 Richmond 66-61.

The Hawks are the lowest seed to advance to the semifinals since 2017, when No. 9 Davidson lost to eventual conference champion No. 4 Rhode Island. They’ll play No. 5 VCU in the semifinals at 1:00 pm on Saturday, where they’ll look to become the lowest seed to advance to the finals since No. 9 Dayton lost the championship to No. 3 Richmond in 2011 and could become the lowest seed to win the conference tournament since No. 10 Xavier in 2006.

Earlier in the season, Saint Joseph’s showed that when things are clicking, they’re not only able to play with the best in the A-10, but the best in the country.

They arguably had the best single-game performance of any A-10 team this season when the took then-No. 17 Kentucky to overtime at Rupp Arena. Later in non-conference play, Saint Joseph’s won the Big 5 Classic, beating then-No. 18 Villanova 78-65 on the road to begin the tournament and then taking down Temple 74-65 at the Wells Fargo Center in the title game. The Hawks also beat likely-Ivy League champ Princeton 74-70 at home.

Despite these impressive non-conference wins, there were also some very low moments. They lost 57-54 at home to Texas A&M Commerce, who is currently ranked 333 in the NET and lost in the second round of the Southland Tournament. During A-10 play, they lost to first-round participants Saint Louis and Rhode Island.

It’s clear that through their first two games of the A-10 Tournament, Saint Joseph’s is looking like the team that took Kentucky to the wire and beat Villanova.

Junior guard Erik Reynolds II is one of the biggest reasons why Saint Joseph’s was able to take down top seeded and co-regular season champion Richmond.

Reynolds had an excellent regular season, averaging 16.6 points per

Despite Reynolds dealing with a right elbow injury after hitting the court hard at the end of their second-round matchup against George Mason and his availability being “uncertain” until game time, he had one of the best games of his career.

“I took a pretty hard fall yesterday, but the resources we have, I’m extremely thankful and blessed,” said Reynolds. “They got me ready for the game, so pretty thankful for that.”

He had 30 points, three rebounds and two steals while shooting 11-19 from the field, 3-8 from three and a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line. For long stretches during the game, the Hawks’ offense ran almost entirely through Reynolds.

“It felt great, all my confidence that I have making those kinds of plays comes from my teammates,” said Reynolds. “They believe in me and they believe in every shot that I take.”

Perhaps most impressively from Reynolds, he was able to play 38 minutes of elite-level basketball despite injuring his right elbow yesterday and picking up multiple other knocks during the game. At different points, he appeared to roll his ankle, get hit in the head and re-aggravate his elbow injury, yet he continued to fearlessly draw contact at the rim and play aggressively.

On the defensive end, head coach Billy Lange’s approach to defending graduate center Neal Quinn was the driving force behind them limiting Richmond to just 61 points, their lowest since they beat Loyola Chicago 58-56 on Jan. 9 and second-lowest all season.

Quinn, who made All-Conference second team, averaged 12.4 points per game, 5.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists as the lynchpin of Richmond’s signature Princeton offense. Quinn often operates outside the paint as Richmond’s primary facilitator, whipping passes down low and hitting his teammates on backdoor cuts near the basket.

Even though Quinn isn’t often asked to put the ball in the basket and be the main source of scoring, that doesn’t mean he isn’t a capable shot-maker. Lange decided that he was comfortable giving Quinn more of an opportunity to score, instead focusing his defense on eliminating his passing lanes.

Quinn ended up scoring 21 points, two shy of his season high and three shy of his career high. He was also hyper-efficient from the field, converting 10-13 shots from the field and making a rare three pointer, only his fifth of the season. But, Richmond’s offense was noticeably off.

After the game, Lange was asked about his defensive strategy against Quinn.

“That dude is ridiculous. Let me tell you something, he’s like the A-10 version of [Nikola] Jokic,” said Lange. “You’re picking your poison.”

Lange continued, “They put so much pressure on you with their cutting. They’re an elite three-point shooting team that is very selective. They don’t take a lot of bad ones. And so you have to be willing to get on a bus and go home and know why you won and why you lost. So we were trying to do both best, but the main thing was the pass.”

Richmond excels at holding on to the ball and preventing turnovers. The Spiders only average 8.7 turnovers per game, and are second in the country (behind Princeton, funnily enough) in turnover percentage at 12.8%. This game was no exception, as they only gave the ball up eight times, just under their season average.

Even though Saint Joseph’s wasn’t able to force turnovers at a high rate, they were able to dominate the glass, out-rebounding Richmond 40-29 only surrendering up five offensive rebounds and five second-chance points.

Perhaps the most important way the Hawks have been able to succeed not just against Richmond, but also against George Mason in their second round matchup, has been their ability to execute in the final minutes with the game on the line.

Saint Joseph’s was within one possession of their opponent in the final 10 seconds in both of their A-10 Tournament games.

They’ve been able to convert in-bound plays, advance the ball and make free throws when they matter most.

“We’ve played in a lot of close games, and when you walk that fine line, you live and die sometimes with the decision,” said Lange. “And Erik [Reynolds] has been in a lot of close games, and Cam [Brown], since they’ve been here. A few years ago, Erik’s freshman year, we won 11 games. I think the month of February, maybe four or five of them in a row that we lost came down to the end. So they’re experienced in that setting.”

Lange continued, “Justin Scott, our associate head coach, his preparation in these special teams situation areas–we have a saying, it doesn’t matter until it matters. So it better matter before it matters. His film studies witht he guys, the way he’s just focused at the end of practice, the stuff that he does to get them prepared, he really deserves a lot of the credit, in addition to the guys.”

The high-level execution was exemplified in the final moments against Richmond. Up just three points with 12 seconds left, Lange ran a play made famous by Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang last March. Called “Mahomes” by Tang after Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, while inbounding from the baseline, the inbounder acts as the “quarterback” and the four other players line up on the baseline as if it’s the line of scrimmage. When the whistle blows, they act as if they are wide receivers running routes to get open.

It worked, and with Richmond defenders swarming the ball, Lange and the Hawks on the floor elected to concede the jump ball instead of using his final timeout in that situation knowing that the possession arrow favored them.

Moments like that are what win you games.

Saint Joseph’s narrowly lost 69-73 on the road on Feb. 25 to their semifinal opponent, VCU. If they continue to play the way they did against Richmond, there’s no reason why the Hawks can’t pull off another upset and advance to the finals on Sunday.

https://www.a10talk.com/2024/03/how-no-9-seed-saint-josephs-was-able-to-stun-no-1-richmond/

#A10 #A10 #A10Basketball #A10Talk #A10Tournament #Atlantic10 #Atlantic10Basketball #BillyLange #ErikReynolds #featured #hawks #NealQuinn #Richmond #RichmondSpiders #saintJosephS #saintJosephSHawks #Spiders #tournament

(Photo courtesy of Hunter Hensel)

BROOKLYN, NY – The first round of the Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Tournament, infamously (and affectionately) known as the “pillow fight,” featured three thrilling games between the bottom-six teams in the A-A-10, perfectly setting up what is expected to be an evenly-matched high-stakes week at the Barclays Center.

Game No. 1: No. 12 Fordham Rams vs. No. 13 Davidson Wildcats

The first game of the day was between No. 12 seed Fordham and No. 13 seed Davidson.

This game was a grind at the start. By the second media timeout, Davidson was winning by a score of just 7-5. The Wildcats had committed six turnovers at this point (ended the first half with 13, game with 20) and Fordham was shooting 2-15 from the field and 0-4 from three.

While the offenses picked up a little bit more to end the half, it was still a low scoring affair through 20 minutes, with Davidson leading Fordham 27-19 heading into the break, with freshman Bobby Durkin beating the halftime buzzer with a three to put an exclamation mark on Davidson’s start.

Connor's deflection, Hunter's grab, Bobby's bucket 🤩

Wildcats with a triple at the buzzer to pull ahead by nine going into the break!!! pic.twitter.com/g3UHTb3CCS

— Davidson Basketball (@DavidsonMBB) March 12, 2024

The second half was all Fordham. The Rams began to mount a furious comeback as regulation wound down, erasing a 13 point deficit with about three-and-a-half minutes left, tying the game on a basket by sophomore forward Joshua Rivera.

Then, in the final seconds of regulation, senior guard Kyle Rose, who was named to the All-Defensive team earlier in the day, got the ball, worked his way inside and fought through contact to tie the game at 61 and send the game to overtime.

KYLE ROSE‼️ TIE GAME 😱

HEADED TO OVERTIME IN BROOKLYN 🍿 pic.twitter.com/BRCuQsftCF

— Michael Bergman (@MLBergman_) March 12, 2024

Fordham dominated in overtime. The Rams outscored Davidson 10-2 in the extra period, led by five points from senior guard Antrell Charlton, win 71-63 and book a date with No. 5 VCU in the second round.

Sophomore guard Will Richardson took on a bulk of the scoring load off the bench for Fordham, scoring a team-high and season-high 20 points on 6-14 shooting from the field and 3-8 shooting from three.

“These guys know they’re capable of winning more games. Whoever we play, we’re going to give ourselves a chance if we continue to defend and rebound,” said Fordham head coach Keith Urgo. “When you get ini the tournament, it’s great to win one, But that’s not our goal… The mindset has changed from the top down, from the entire institution.”

Game No. 2: No. 10 La Salle Explorers vs. No. 15 George Washington Revolutionaries

Next up, No. 10 La Salle faced off against No. 15 George Washington.

After giving up the first two points of the game, GW led for the entire first half, going up by as much as nine. However, despite holding their lead, the Revolutionaries had a difficult time generating any real offense outside of the occasional free throw. In the first half, there was a 6:27 stretch where GW did not register a field goal, but was able to keep their lead due to a much-improved defensive effort.

GW went into halftime with a 30-23 lead of La Salle.

The second half was much more back and forth.

La Salle was able to tie the game with 11:35 left after back-to-back threes from senior guard Jhamir Brickus and sophomore center Rokas Jocius.

JIG IS ON A MISSION#Authenticity | #GoExplorers🔭 pic.twitter.com/Hy93LRnhFM

— La Salle Men’s Basketball (@LaSalle_MBB) March 12, 2024

TIE BALL GAME.#Authenticity | #GoExplorers🔭 pic.twitter.com/0CDmDwBWr5

— La Salle Men’s Basketball (@LaSalle_MBB) March 12, 2024

From that point on, GW and La Salle battled, keeping the score within two possessions the rest of the game.

Senior guard James Bishop put the GW offense on his back down the stretch, pulling up from deep and keeping the Revolutionaries in the game with his outside shooting.

JB with eight of our last 10. #RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/L67wcS4LL9

— GW Men's Basketball (@GW_MBB) March 12, 2024

As the game entered its final possessions with the clock ticking down and La Salle down 60-61, Brickus got the ball in his hands and went to work. He backed down freshman guard Jacoi Hutchinson, turned around, sank the midrange jumper and drew the foul to give the Explorers the lead with 20 seconds left in regulation.

HIM.#Authenticity | #GoExplorers🔭 pic.twitter.com/x0NIqPjPBc

— La Salle Men’s Basketball (@LaSalle_MBB) March 12, 2024

Brickus was exceptional all day for the Explorers. He ended the day with a game-high 21 points, hauled in eight rebounds, and shot 9-16 from the field and 3-5 from three.

After Brickus missed his free throw, and GW gave the ball to Bishop and let him work. He missed his first attempt, a fadeaway midrange jumper, but with time still on the clock redshirt freshman forward Darren Buchanan Jr. was able to crash the offensive glass and kick the ball back out to Bishop for one last shot. Bishop heaved from three, but was unable to convert, ending his storied GW career and sending La Salle onto the second round for a matchup against No. 7 St. Bonaventure.

Heartbreak.

GW: 60, La Salle: 61 pic.twitter.com/IMmzgM9ocV

— David Korn (@david_korn4) March 12, 2024

“I wasn’t ready to go home,” said Brickus. “In that moment, I was just trying to do anything that I could do for my team to win.”

“We’ve got do have our act together and do a good job tonight of debriefing from today briefly, and then we’ve got to move on to St. Bonaventure,” said La Salle head coach Fran Dunphy. “I know how good they can be… It will be an absolute war and battle out there, and we need to do our very best.”

Game No. 3: No. 11 Rhode Island Rams vs. No. 14 Saint Louis Billikens

The final game of the day was between No. 11 Rhode Island and No. 14 Saint Louis.

The Billikens controlled the first half, with redshirt junior guard Gibson Jimerson and senior forward Terrance Hargrove Jr. both scoring 12 in the opening frame to help Saint Louis jump out to a 41-32 halftime lead.

Jimerson set the tone early by hitting back-to-back threes to open the game and Hargrove Jr. hit back-to-back threes to end the half to give Saint Louis momentum heading into the final 20 minutes.

TJ taking us into the half!#SLUBillikens x #TeamBlue pic.twitter.com/Ob5hxoDI3v

— Saint Louis Men's Basketball (@SaintLouisMBB) March 12, 2024

Rhode Island fought back in the second half to make it a game, and ensure that all three first round games would go down to the wire. They came out of the break firing, going on a 16-2 run through the first seven minutes, taking a 49-45 with David Green leading the charge, scoring nine points in the Rams’ run.

5-0 run for @dloading21_ 🔥#GoRhody // #AttitudeIsEverything pic.twitter.com/gEOJEmH4kY

— Rhody MBB (@RhodyMBB) March 12, 2024

After continuing to go back-and-forth, Saint Louis was able to get a 74-71 lead after Jimerson hit one of two free throws, giving Rhode Island one last chance. Green missed a three with a few seconds to spare, junior guard Jaden House grabbed the rebound, retreated back to the three point line, hoisted a last second heave that was just off to give the Billikens a narrow victory and ensure a matchup with No. 6 Duquesne.

“That’s all you’re trying to win, one game. and we won one game today,” said Saint Louis head coach Travis Ford. “Now we’ve got to try and figure out how to win just one more.” Just one more is all we want. And put everything you have into one more, everything we’ve got. We don’t have many guys out there, but the ones that are out there have got a lot of fight in them.”

Second Round Schedule:

The second round of the A-10 Tournament begins Wednesday morning at 11:30 am when No. 8 George Mason faces No. 9 Saint Joseph’s. Up next at 2:00 pm, No. 5 VCU plays No. 12 Fordham. Then, No. 7 St. Bonaventure plays No. 10 La Salle at 5:00 pm. To end the day, No. 6 Duquesne plays No. 14 Saint Louis.

Make sure to stay tuned for more coverage tomorrow and the rest of the week live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

https://www.a10talk.com/2024/03/thrilling-first-round-kicks-off-2024-a-10-tournament/

#A10 #A10 #A10Basketball #A10Talk #A10Tournament #Atlantic10 #Atlantic10Basketball #Blog #Davidson #featured #Fordham #GeorgeWashington #LaSalle #PillowFight #RhodeIsland #SaintLouis

(Photo courtesy of Hunter Hensel)

BROOKLYN NY – No. 15 seed George Washington lost in heartbreaking fashion to No. 10 La Salle in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. 

Down 60-61, senior guard James Bishop missed a fadeaway midrange jumper, then missed a deep contested three after redshirt freshman forward Darren Buchanan Jr. grabbed the offensive rebound off of Bishop’s first miss.

Heartbreak.

GW: 60, La Salle: 61 pic.twitter.com/IMmzgM9ocV

— David Korn (@david_korn4) March 12, 2024

“The first shot, I’m just trying to get space to get open to shoot. The second one, the ball kind of rolled to me,” said Bishop. “I saw the clock was up to 2.1 seconds, so I was trying to get a look off. Had a pretty clean one, just didn’t go in.”

Bishop scored a team-high 19 points on 4-8 shooting from three, but was much more inefficient inside the arc, going 1-10 on two-point field goals.

On the previous play, Senior guard Jhamir Brickus made what would end up being the game-winning basket on a turnaround midrange jumper just outside the paint. Brickus also drew a foul on the make, but was unable to convert the and-one. 

JHAMIR BRICKS AND 1 FOR THE LEAD 😱 pic.twitter.com/ObOslV8gIK

— Michael Bergman (@MLBergman_) March 12, 2024

“I wasn’t ready to go home,” said Brickus. “In that moment, I was just trying to do anything that I could do for my team to win.

Brickus was exceptional for the Explorers all game. He scored a game-high 21 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out three assists and shot an efficient 9-16 from the field and 3-5 from three.

After giving up the first two points of the game, GW led for the entire first half, going up by as much as nine. However, despite holding their lead, the Revolutionaries had a difficult time generating any real offense outside of the occasional free throw. In the first half, there was a 6:27 stretch where GW did not register a field goal, but was able to keep their lead due to a much-improved defensive effort.

The second half was much more back-and-forth after La Salle was able to make some key halftime adjustments.

“We double-teamed three different times and it cost us dearly,” said La Salle head coach Fran Dunphy. “We eliminated that in the second half… and we just walled up and tried to make [Babatunde Akingbola] shoot up and over the top of us.”

GW once again found themselves struggling to score, but was able to get it going with about nine minutes left in the game after La Salle had taken a five point lead when redshirt sophomore guard Maximus Edwards was able to score five straight points in his new role as sixth man.

Edwards ended the game with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Buchanan, who scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half also began to take on more of the scoring load in crunch-time. He was attacking the basket, getting to the free throw line and made a clutch corner three with just under two minutes to go to give GW a 60-59 lead, their final lead of the game.

One of the bright spots of GW’s season was Buchanan. as a redshirt freshman, he averaged 15.7 points per game, 6.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 blocks on 54.9% shooting. Buchanan also acted as GW’s primary ball-handler for large stretches of time, allowing Bishop to operate off-ball as a pure scorer.

Just hours before the game, Buchanan learned that he lost out on A-10 Rookie of the Year to Saint Joseph’s freshman guard Xzayvier Brown, who averaged 13.3 points per game, 3.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.9 steals and shot 43.2% from three.

“I don’t pay too much attention to that stuff, honestly. Hats off to the kid who won it. He had a good year,” said Buchanan. “I didn’t really care, honestly. I was more focused on the team and what we had at stake. That will always be my focus, the team. I couldn’t care less about my personal success.”

Buchanan’s three was the last basket GW would make all game.

“Disappointing ending to what’s been a very difficult year for us,” said GW head coach Chris Caputo.

Not only was this the final game of GW’s season, but it was the final game of Bishop’s collegiate career. Despite having one of most decorated in bodies of work in program history,  Bishop was never able to find any real postseason success, going 1-4 in the A-10 tournament in his four seasons at GW.

His only win came in 2021, when as the No. 11 seed, GW was able to beat No. 14 Fordham in the first round before losing to No. 6 George Mason. In 2022 as the No. 7 seed, GW lost to No. 10 UMass in the second round. In 2023 once again as the No. 7 seed, GW lost to No. 10 Saint Joseph’s.

“I don’t think it’s clicked in yet, but I mean, Im just happy I was able to play for GW and help the program and be around this special group of guys this year,” said Bishop. “It didn’t necessarily go our way, but I love how we fought. I wouldn’t change the decision to come back for anything.”

“[Bishop] is a pleasure, really, to be around every day. So low maintenance, he’s so even-keeled. For me, he was really crutch as you’re trying to build a program,” said Caputo. “To have a guy that you know you can kind of lean on a little bit in certain situations was certainly a blessing.”

GW season, highlighted by a 12-game losing streak in conference play and a last-place finish was an overwhelming disappointment. After beginning the year 14-3, everything seemed to go wrong.

Redshirt freshman forward Garrett Johnson, who was averaging 13.4 points and 5.6 rebounds, ended up missing the final eight games after experiencing soreness and mobility issues in his left hip that stemmed from his rare benign tumor that caused him to be away from basketball for two-and-a-half years and undergo four different surgeries and nine rounds of chemotherapy.

Buchanan also dealt with injury issues, missing three games and playing through significant pain in a game in which Caputo later admitted he should sat out with a lower-body injury.

During the postgame press conference, Buchanan confirmed that he would be returning to GW next season.

“Disappointing year. That it. It was disappointing,” said Buchanan. “I’m just eager to come back next year and be back in this position here and just make sure everything is different.”

Just as GW finally appeared to be turning a corner after beating St. Bonaventure at home and narrowly losing to Duquesne on the road in their final two games, their season, and Bishop’s career, is over.

La Salle will face No. 7 seed St. Bonaventure on Wednesday 5:00 pm. The Explorers beat St. Bonaventure on Feb. 21 72-59, and has now won five of their last seven.

https://www.a10talk.com/2024/03/gw-caps-off-disappointing-season-with-last-second-loss-in-a-10-tournament/

#A10 #A10 #A10Basketball #A10Talk #A10Tournament #Atlantic10 #Atlantic10Basketball #Blog #ChrisCaputo #DarrenBuchananJr_ #Explorers #featured #FranDunphy #GeorgeWashington #GeorgeWashingtonRevolutionaries #GW #JamesBishop #JhamirBrickus #LaSalle #LaSalleExplorers #Revolutionaries #tournament