Nov. 6, 2001

Casting a New Framework

Hobbs Prepares Team For New Season

By Greg Licamele

Karl Hobbs sits at his desk in the men’s basketball townhouse on G Street, meticulously trimming family photos, shaping the picture to fit the frame. Similarly, the new head coach is crafting a picture of the Colonials with his squad of men. He’s examining their strengths and strengthening their weaknesses in an effort to present his team in a new frame to the GW community and the college basketball world.

“People around here want a good basketball team in the worst way,” Hobbs says. “I’m not saying wins and losses. They truly want a team they can be proud of on the court and proud of what they do off the court and that’s important to me.”

The 40-year-old coach, husband, and father arrived in Foggy Bottom six months ago. He spent eight years as an assistant coach at Connecticut, where he was part of an NCAA championship team in 1998–99 that posted a 34–2 record. During these six months at GW, he has experienced a sense of community he describes as incredible. His wife, JoAnn, has been welcomed warmly by people in the community such as Francine Trachtenberg. His 12-year-old daughter, RaShauna, dreams of playing hoops and Hobbs predicts the women’s basketball players are going to think she’s a member of Joe McKeown’s team because she’ll be around so often. Another example of this warm welcome is when Hobbs and his staff bring potential student-athletes to campus. The coaches plan all of the details except one — touring the residence halls. He and his staff choose three residence halls for recruits to visit, but they choose a trio of students at random to show these high-school students what a college dorm room looks like.

“It’s amazing how the students sell this place to recruits for us,” says Hobbs, rating recruiting as the biggest challenge in college basketball. “They’re enthusiastic and they’re so excited, they can’t wait to show a complete stranger, who’s a potential student here, their place.”

Right now, Hobbs is still somewhat of a stranger to his players since official practices began just three weeks ago. As the weeks, practices, and games accumulate, Hobbs believes the Colonials, who posted a 14–18 record last season, will gel as a team, though not without their challenges.

“It’s going to take some time, but the biggest thing is for them to get to know my personality,” Hobbs says. “I think the other part of it is them understanding the commitment that must be made. That commitment is the level of intensity and that level of hard work.”

With a team that lost 59 percent of its scoring from last year, Hobbs knows his team needs to outwork opponents. Next to outworking everyone, Hobbs and his coaching staff of Kevin Broadus, Darrell Brooks, and Steve Pikiell, are building a team rooted in defense, rebounding, and completing the fast break.

“Those are what I want our goals to be,” Hobbs declares. “The most important thing we have to do at this early stage of the season is establish a work ethic and a commitment to hard work. Once we establish that, then our goal, when we play UConn or Yale, is to simply try and outwork them.”
Junior Chris Monroe will be one of the primary players on the new look, new picture Colonials. Named to the A-10 Conference Third Team last season, Monroe averaged nearly 19 points and six rebounds a game. Senior Jaason Smith will anchor the inside game, building on his team honor of Most Improved Player last season. Albert Roma will see playing time as he brings experience to the floor. Hobbs needs these three players, the only upperclassmen on the Colonials, to demonstrate experience to help frame a good team.

“The biggest challenge we have this year is trying to overcome our lack of experience,” says Hobbs, whose team begins play Nov. 15 against Marshall in Lexington, KY. “When you look at this team and who’s returning, you get scared because there’s only one guy returning that has played regularly.”

Fresh, young faces are as much of a factor in the A-10 conference as they are at GW. Of the 12 teams in the conference, eight new coaches will patrol the sidelines this season.

“Because of the uncertainty, I think that’s an opportunity for us to make a jump,” Hobbs says. “I think it will make the league a little more exciting because when you bring in a new coach, there’s a little bit more excitement, a little more urgency to win.”

Hobbs has the urgency to win. Yet, he knows hard work and discipline on and off the court will create a new picture of GW men’s basketball, as the corners of the past are trimmed away, ready to fit a new frame and a new era.

“If I had to describe our team today, we’re not where we should be. We’re not what we ought to be. And thank God, we’re not what we used to be.”

 

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu

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