From our friends at GW Athletics...
Men's Basketball Tips Off Season vs. Mercyhurst
GW men's basketball opens up the 2024-25 campaign by hosting Mercyhurst on Monday. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. with coverage on ESPN+. Season-opening festivities including a halftime performance from Simon Sez!
THE 2024-25 REVOLUTIONARIES:
GW embarks on year three of the Chris Caputo era in 2024-25 with a young core intact, augmented by the addition of four transfers and two scholarship freshmen. The Revolutionaries will rely heavily upon their five scholarship sophomores, who represent the team's top five returning scorers.
Darren Buchanan Jr., a four-time Rookie of the Week and Atlantic 10 All-Rookie selection, is the team's top returner after posting 15.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg and 2.4 apg a year ago. After ranking 13th in the A-10 in KenPom's D-I experience metric a year ago, GW added a combined 13 years of experience in transfers Rafael Castro (Providence), Gerald Drumgoole Jr. (Delaware), Sean Hansen (Cornell) and Trey Moss (William & Mary).
Coach Caputo also transformed his coaching staff in the offseason, elevating Matt Colpoys (3rd season at GW) and Aaron Thompson (2nd season) to full-time assistant coach roles. Eric Sebastian has joined the program as Director of Basketball Operations and Sam Ebersold is GW's new Director of Player Development.
HISTORY VS. MERCYHURST:
GW and Mercyhurst are meeting for the first time on Monday.
HISTORY VS THE NEC:
GW is 13-10 all-time against current members of the NEC, with 11 of the 23 meetings coming against LIU. The Buff & Blue are opening the season with an NEC opponent for the second-straight year after facing Stonehill a year ago.
A LOOK AT THE LAKERS:
Mercyhurst enters its first year at the Division I level in 2024-25 following a 15-16 (11-11 PSAC) season in Division II last year. Head Coach Gary Manchel is the school's all-time wins leader with 373 in 22 seasons, and he has taken the Lakers to seven NCAA tournaments with eight tournament wins. Manchel led Mercyhurst to the program's first conference championship in 2015-16 and has accrued seven 20-win seasons and three Coach of the Year awards.
This year's team was projected to finish seventh in the Northeast Conference, ahead of Saint Francis and Stonehill. Jeff Planutis is the team's top returner and a preseason All-NEC selection. Planutis was a PSAC All-Conference honoree last year after posting 17.4 ppg in 31 games and shooting 43.5%.
GW fans can get in the game by directly supporting student-athletes through donations to the Buff & Blue Fund. For more information on GW Athletics, fans are encouraged to visit GWsports.com, or follow the Revolutionaries on social media through X (@GWsports) and Instagram (@gwsports).
In addition, single-game and season tickets for the 2024-25 GW men's and women's basketball campaigns are currently on sale through the GW Athletics Ticket Office (202-99-GWTIX or tickets@gwu.edu).
