March 2007

Women’s Basketball Coach, Team Net Exceptional Season

By Frank Broomell

By all accounts, it’s been a banner year for GW women’s basketball. The Colonials finished their regular season undefeated in the Atlantic 10 with 18 straight victories. With their Feb. 25, 2007,win over Temple University, GW’s women clinched their sixth straight Atlantic 10 regular season title and celebrated their best season in a decade. The team’s coach Joe McKeown also celebrated a feat of his own this season: 400 wins at GW, the most ever by a coach at the University. He was also named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year for a record fifth time.

“Joe McKeown certainly has done an excellent job of coaching and recruiting, and he’s done it over an extended period of time,” says Jack Kvancz, executive director of athletics and recreation. “The players he brings to our campus are quality people, both on the court and in the classroom. He’s managed to successfully blend athletic and academic excellence. What a great combination for this and every Colonials sport.”

McKeown gave much of the credit to his coaching staffs and the administration’s commitment to success. “In college basketball, if you’re going to have long-term success, good recruitment is very important,” McKeown says. “Without the support from the administration, it would not have been possible.”

McKeown arrived at GW in 1989 after three successful seasons at New Mexico State and immediately turned the struggling women’s basketball program around: from a 9-19 record the prior year to 14-14. The team hasn’t looked back since.

In 16 of the past 17 seasons, the women’s team has racked up 20 or more regular season victories, including back-to-back 26-win seasons in 1995-96. In 1997, the Colonials reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. McKeown has also led the Colonials to four A-10 tournament titles.

This season the team has been ranked as high as eight by the Associated Press—its strongest ranking since 1992, when the team reached sixth in the poll. The team finished the current regular season with a 25-2 record.

The team’s success this year is particularly impressive given its youth. While past teams’ rosters have been dominated by seniors, the current team has just one: Kenan Cole, who is a First Team Academic All-American. Despite its youth, the team has been tested. Many of the players were on last year’s team, which defeated Old Dominion and lost to Tennessee in the NCAA tournament, and the Colonials faced a tough early season schedule, which included away games against Maryland and Tennessee and victories over Georgia, Auburn, and Villanova.

While McKeown sees the publicity the team is receiving as good for the program, he is working to guard against the hype and stay focused on the tasks at hand, namely, the NCAA tournament. He looks to keep his young team focused by making practices competitive and talking only about their next opponent.
“Any time you make things hard early, and come out of it with confidence, it makes things better.”

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu