The George Washington Revolutionaries men's basketball team represents George Washington University in the United States' capital, Washington, D.C. It plays its home games in the Charles E. Smith Center, which is also shared with other George Washington Revolutionaries athletic programs. The school's team currently competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The head coach is Chris Caputo.
History
1990s
Mike Jarvis was hired as head coach in 1990. Led by future NBA player Yinka Dare, the Colonials received an at-large bid to the 1993 NCAA tournament, the Colonials first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1961. GW advanced to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to the Fab Five Michigan team (which later vacated its wins due to NCAA rule violations).
The Colonials would also make NCAA Tournament appearances in 1994, 1996, and 1998 under Jarvis. Jarvis would leave the school in 1998 to accept the head coaching position at St. John's.
The school then hired recently fired Texas head coach, Thomas Penders. Penders would spend three years at GW, before resigning amidst accusations of NCAA rules violations.
2000s
GW would then turn to Karl Hobbs on May 2, 2001 as head coach. Hobbs, who spent eight years an assistant at Connecticut, led GW to back to the national stage in 2004 after defeating No. 9 Michigan State and No. 12 Maryland in back-to-back games to win the 2004 BB&T Classic. That year, the men's basketball team went on to win the Atlantic 10 West title and the Atlantic 10 tournament, earning an automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA tournament. The team received a No. 12 seed, losing to No. 5 seed Georgia Tech in the First Round.
The team began the 2005–06 season ranked 21st in the Associated Press poll, reaching as high as sixth in the polls and closed out the year ranked 19th in the nation. With a 26–2 going into the 2006 NCAA tournament. They received an at-large bid to the Tournament as a No. 8 seed where they came back from an 18-point second-half deficit to defeat No. 9 seed UNC-Wilmington. However, in the Second Round, they lost to Duke, the top overall seed. J. R. Pinnock was drafted in the 2006 NBA draft and two other Colonials from that team played in the NBA. Pops Mensah-Bonsu played for the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, and Toronto Raptors and Mike Hall played for the Washington Wizards.
The 2006–07 basketball season was considered by many to be a rebuilding year for the Colonials after graduating their entire starting front court and losing Pinnock to the NBA. Coach Karl Hobbs and Senior guard Carl Elliott led the team to a 23–8 record, winning the 2007 Atlantic 10 tournament, once again earning an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Colonials were received a No. 11 seed and lost to No. 6-seed Vanderbilt.
The Colonials would struggle the next three years and after finishing the 2010–11 season with a record of 17–14, capped by a disappointing 71–59 overtime loss to Saint Joseph's in the conference tournament, Karl Hobbs was dismissed as head coach.
2010s
On May 11, 2011, Mike Lonergan, former head coach of Vermont, was hired to replace Hobbs.
The 2011–12 basketball season, Lonergan's first with the Colonials, resulted in a 10–21 record (5–11 in Atlantic 10). By the 2013–14 season, Lonergan had rebuilt the program and finished third in the Atlantic 10 with a 24–8 record (11–5 in Atlantic 10). The team received an at-large bid to the 2014 NCAA Tournament, its first NCAA Tournament since 2007. They received a No. 9 seed in the East Region and would lose to Memphis in the Second Round (formerly known as the First Round).
The Colonials regressed the following year, finishing 22–12. They did, however, receive a bid to the NIT where they defeated Pittsburgh before losing in the second round to Temple.
In 2016, the Colonials again missed the NCAA Tournament and again received a bid to the NIT. This time the Colonials would defeat Hofstra, Momouth, and Florida to reach the NIT final four at Madison Square Garden. In the NIT semifinal, they defeated San Diego State to advance to the championship game. In the championship game, they cruised to the NIT championship with a 76–60 win over Valparaiso.
However, the Colonials could not build on their NIT success as the school fired head coach Mike Lonergan on September 16, 2016 after an investigation found him guilty of verbally and emotionally abusing his players.