Making History

GW alumni everywhere got to sit back and savor a little slice of victory in March. For the first time, the GW men’s basketball team won the Atlantic 10 tournament. And perhaps more important to many alumni, who attended this fine school in the middle of basketball-loving Washington, D.C., the best part about the season was something else.

It was the Colonials who were the lone representatives from the Washington area in the men’s NCAA tournament. No Georgetown. No Maryland. Just GW. And it was beautiful.

The front page of the March 14 Washington Post carried a supersized photo of the team. Local TV sports news coverage for the week was dominated by Colonials. It was a time for GW alumni to boast and brag. In a way, it didn’t matter if the team would go on to win one game in the tournament. The point was that they were going to the big dance—and no one else from around here was doing the same.

GW loves its basketball. The women’s team has consistently performed well over the years under the steady coaching of Joe McKeown, and this year was no exception. The team finished the season with a 23-9 overall record after becoming co-champions of the A-10 West Division and making its 12th NCAA Tournament appearance (losing only to top-ranked UNC Chapel Hill).

But something had been missing for the men’s team in recent years. And perhaps now it is back—brought back by Coach Karl Hobbs, who joined the team as head coach four seasons ago. This year’s class was Hobbs’ first senior class, so to speak, and his selection of players and his coaching of them since his arrival at GW shone through in the victories this year.

We hope to see more of this excitement next year. And we hope to see more alumni back at the games and at regional game-viewing receptions across the country.

Heather O. Milke, MBA ’02, Editor

For complete coverage of the men’s and women’s basketball seasons, see GW News