per twitter. 

Holy shit! Someone who's initials are also DB actually has real information on something!  I'm impressed.

Guess we will have to wait a year to see how he turns out.

Meanwhile, good catch DB and welcoe Isaiah.

Good transfer for ML and staff. I think he will do just fine here and may help us land some other guys.

Question: Will this transfer open the door to other Montrose kids? Let's hope so.

Not sure we even have to wait til next year.  I suspect he will be practicing this year and being the captain on a top 25 ish team should provide some invaluable experience to the guys in practice.  We should also hear the tidbits during practice about who is doing what so we should hear if he is the best post player on the team.  But I suspect he should be a good presence to keep players honest in their workouts and probably can provide some little tips from his experience in the Big East.

Have to bump this to the top. This is big for GW you will all see.

I can't tell you how happy this move makes me as a GW fan. I truly believe Isaiah Armwood will have a very strong impact on this program, and yet I think the best part about this entire situation is it gives us a true pipeline now into Montrose Christian.

One of the things that really irked me about the KH regime was that all 3 of our assistants had very little connectivity with the AAU circuit. We rarely were mentioned in the running for guys being recruited nationally and we certainly made very little noise in this area losing out more recently on local products like Raphiael Putney, Javon Farrell (from UMass) and Cedrick Lindsay (Richmond) who all chose other A10 schools over the one in their backyard.

Those are simply a few of the local guys we lost out on, and the best part of signing Armwood is that we are seriously recruiting a very strong prospect from MC named Kevin Larsen as many on this board already know. It is tantamount to understand how big it is to now have an established connection at a school that produces major talent every year and has graduated the likes of Kevin Durant, Grievis Vazquez, Linas Kleiza and many more.

Can't wait for these guys to put it together as this is yet another sign the program is on the rise.

Besides an experienced body at practice this year, this will obviously make the transition to next season easier.  I guess TT & Ware's sholarships will end up going to a replacement PG and SG.

We do seem a bit overcrowded with tweener inside players though with Armwood, Kopriva, Davis, Warren and Pellom.  Wonder wich one will end up as the true big in the Lonergan system.  Don't lknow if he's ever than this many kids 6'8" and over on his roster.

Even if he can't step up the scoring, sounds like we will really benefit from the leadership. 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but he was ranked even better than Copes coming out of HS, right? 

I believe ML has three scholarships left for next year (2012-13) assuming no transfers. He has Mikic, Kromah, Davis, Kopriva, Warren, Pellom, Bynes, Smith, Armwood, and Guest. My guess is PG, SG and C if he can get them.

FQ - yes

On WaPo

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/recruiting-insider/post/montrose-christians-isaiah-armwood-transfers-from-villanova-to-george-washington/2011/08/24/gIQAP9dZcJ_blog.html

Montrose Christian’s Isaiah Armwood transfers from Villanova to George Washington

This is a great load off of my mind, as I was concerned about how we were going to replace Jabari's 2.5 points per game.

Isaiah Armwood Transfers to GW

Thanks seneca.  Forgot Jabari's spot.  That'd be the Larsen/NNoko/others offers.

 And the Hatchet gets in on it as well:

http://blogs.gwhatchet.com/courtside/2011/08/24/villanova-forward-isaiah-armwood-to-join-colonials-on-court/

 Some 'nova fans sound-off:

http://vuhoops.com/2011/08/18/isaiah-armwood-tranferring/

VU folks seem to think he's a good guy, wish him well, but aren't exactly fretting his departure. It's always good to see amicable transfers but the jury still has to be deliberating as to its ultimate impact on GW.

Welcome, Zeke!  Time to shine.

Here's are some highlight reels from his freshman and sophomore seasons at 'Nova.

This seems like an excellent first get at GW - too bad he can't play this year.  Let's hope it portends more recruits from Montrose Christian.

the way we measure him is:  (1) is he a nice guy who tries hard and is a team guy; (2) does he go to class and intend to graduate; and (3) in the fall of 2012, winter of 2013 is he better than Copes.  I have not seen him play.  I have seen Copes play.  I was not blown away by Copes.  He liekly does not have very far to climb to exceed my expectations.  I see it as a positive.

I think he will do well at GW, but like most transfers, there is some baggage.

Concerning redshirting his freshman year"...alleged pressure from Armwood’s family nixed that."

Heard that family believes he has NBA talent being wasted at Nova.  Let's hope so.

Villanova recently signed a few high profile kids including 6-10 Daniel Ochefu (Westtown Academy). Ironically, Ochefu played as a youth for a GW alum and former (maybe still current) board member's  AAU team until moving back to Nigeria for a couple of years. Not sure whether that had any influence on things.

On paper, wouldn;t this be our most talented transfer at least in the last 20 years?

 Regis was a Parade All-American.

I seem to recall that Cheyene Moore was rated pretty high, but I do not know where he compares.  Still, the comparison with Regis seems to jump out at you in that you have a very highly rated recruit out of high school have very limited (read that disappointing) success at a BCS conference and then drops down to GW.  Please do not interpret this as a complaint, as Regis was a very helpful addition to the team.  Further, judging from the other schools that showed interest in Armwood and the other local doors this may open, this will be a very good signing for GW.  Still, we need to accept the fact that like Regis, if Armwood was everything as advertised coming out of HS, he would not be transferring to GW.

Don't mean to stray too far off topic, but did Witherspoon's baby brother ever do anything at Memphis (I think that is where he went)?  Don't think this warranted a new thread

Moore was far more accomplished during his one season at Clemson than Armwood was during his two seasons at Villanova, at least statistically speaking.  Nevertheless, this is a "need" pickup.  Isaiah has demonstrated a strong ability to rebound even if he lacks the bulk of an Erik Copes.  As Notta pointed out, Copes was unimpressive this summer but a lot can change between then and the start of a season.  Plus, the points about leadership can not be overstated.  There is a genuine need for this particularly during a time when a coaching change is made.  As for Little Spoon, I believe he was one of the top 1-2 scorers on a disappointing Memphis team last season.

Played and competed at Big East level. Nice midrange J. Can board and set screens. HUGE

As a point of interest, Armwood averaged 3.1 pts & 4 rebs in 19 minutes during the Big East games as a soph last season.  Impressive that he got 19 minutes a game on a good BE team, but actual production still seems light.  I'm guessing the intangibles (and/or lack of other options up front) led Wright to give him those minutes.

Villanova frontcourt players don't usually put up big numbers under Jay Wright. Guards are where it is at at Villanova.

From the Baltimore Sun:

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/recruiting/2011/08/isaiah_armwood_talks_george_washington_pledge.html

L'il Spoon is no superstar, but he's a very solid player for Memphis.  HIs sophmore year he averaged 12.5 ppg.  Last year, that dipped to 9 ppg.  Assume he'll stay right around double figures as a senior this year.   He also shoots a good percentage, makes free throws, is decent on the boards, gets a few assists and steals.  Not an all-star but a very nice all around player.

As for Armwood/Villanova, it's true that Nova emphasizes the guards, but they did get nearly 10 a game from Antonio Pena and 8.5/game from Yarou.    Regardless, if we can get the scoring we need elsewhere, Armwood looks to be a good shot blocker and an ok rebounder and there's probably no reason he can't increase his scoring to at least serviceable levels at GW.

I'm surprised Regis was a Parade All-American based on his play at GW.  He wasn't horrible.  He helped, but not like you'd expect from someone that highly touted.  I guess that's why I assumed this was a better pickup.  Time will tell, I guess.

 Not to totally hi-jack this thread, but Regis played on an awesome high school team and he played a lot of point and SG which, as you can imagine with his height and speed, was devestating in high school. He was heavily recruited by all the big boy teams including Duke, UNC and Kansas, but ended up at LSU because he simply didn't have the fundamentals.

"Coach Lonergan, he doesn’t want to limit his players"

I suspect this is the reason he left 'Nova.  Nova is a guard offense and while big men can sometimes thrive like Dante Cunningham did, it is usually a result of all the attention paid to their guards and they aren't exactly featured in the offense.  Armwood is 6'8 205 while Pena is 6'8 235 and Yarou was 6'10 250.  So I would suspect that Armwood was a face up-stretch type 4 and Wright doesn't seem to want bigs playing away from the basket and who knows how he defended some of the bigger guys in the BE. Luckily, you can get away with some smaller players in the A10, so that should bode well for him. 

I'm not too familar with Lonergan's offense but I suspect he uses what he has so if Armwood is half as good as he thinks offensively, I figure he will get the ball.  He does have decent rebounding rates from Kenpom, but I wonder if he will buy into playing underneath the basket if he is our C.  Any transfer does raise some questions, some of those are answered by the fact he was a captain but the fact he thinks he has NBA offense could cause issues in him buying in to the system.  

All in all, I still think they'd need a true C and PG to emerge either from within or as a recruit.  A line up consisting of Bynes, Kromah, Smith, Armwood and a 6'10 235 C who can pretty much be Jabari in the last 3-4 games (which isn't even asking for that much) would definitely be another top 4 contender.  I guess we are getting ahead of ourselves b/c our team this year should be pretty good assuming Jabari stays healthy.  But the PN and ML era is looking brighter today.

As a general proposition, these days you want to be careful about accepting transfers.  The majority of the times, there is a discipline/attitude problem.  Clearly that would not be the case for a guy that Jay Wright made a team captain.  Armwood would seem to simply be a case of not being good enough to contribute significantly in the Big East.  Is he sufficiently good enough to be an impact player in the A-10 when he wasn't in the BE?  We'll have to see.  Obviously he sets up as being better than anyone that we have at present for 2012 because that's just Daymon Warren.  I would guess he'll do well here because he'll also have three years of college practice and play before he steps on the floor for the first time for GW. 

Embarassed to admit it some days, but I have been watching GW for 45 plus years. We've been pretty lucky, with some pretty damn good big men, but rarely have we ever had any depth up front, and never have we had a true center accompanied by a talented and forceful power forward.

I doubt we have two really big, talented  front line players on this or next year's team either. But Armwood at least assures we will see some real depth up front, and whether he's a starter or not, he'll help toughen and polish the guys who practice against him for the next 3 years.

And frankly, it sounds like he's the sort of guy who would have been better off playing his entire career at the Smith Center. Maybe, if he's successful at GW, he'll inspire other high level recruits to take a chance on the Colonials. 

MV, you are 100% correct, as ususal.   

MV, you are 100% correct, as ususal.   

 Perhaps Yegor and Koul was close ziik?

As soon as I posted, I thought somebody would bring up the Big Belo's, and was preparing an acidic response. (They were big, but not real bangers...)  Too bad it's you, herve.

They're the only pair I can think of, but neither was truly a gold toof guy in the classic sense. Bill Walton/Maurice Lucas; (Gag me) Patrick Ewing/what's his name at Georgetown are the ones who come quickest to my aged mind. Well, I guessGW never will have bangers of that sort of notoriety.

Before your time, Zagardo/Glenn were wonderful players for GW, and both were hard nosed bangers. Four years running, I was hoping GW would come up with someone to take the heat off Mike Brown, but it never happened.

But, for GW, you are 100% correct, herve.

Oscar-- you spell usual like I usually do. Did you have Miss Mannerly for 5th grade English, too?

 Patrick Ewing and....Michael Graham (that dude could have made Moses Scurry cry!). Yinka and Brigham is another option as you can't get more blue-collar than Brigham.

I don't see how I could fail to recall Michael Graham by name. I think he really had gold teef.  I liked Brigham, and his numbers may qualify him as a banging power forward, but I think he only started one year at GW, and he was sort of a power forward lite, in my opinion. N o gold teef, I'd say. 

It will be nice, in any event, if there are enough big men so the coaches can select them according to needs and skills, and not just throw them on the court because they are all we have.

For another thread: I really like this schedule. It includes schools that 1) we've all heard of and 2) in some instances, we've heard of because they play decent basketball. I like GW's OOC schedule better than UMd's, for sure.

was told yesterday that yegor's younger brother's former high school coach is now coaching at a certain high profile school in rockville merrrrland. in fact yegor himself has been seen working out at this certain hoops factory on a regular basis and has a close relationship to the coach. that can only help the new pipeline! the future of lonials basketball is very brrrrrrright fellas!

InDa,

Not sure if you're wearing shades or rose colored glasses.

Yuck - my eyes are bleeding... please remove the SI cover and the GU pic!

Well, this might also be a good point to remind folks of the Burwell and Harper pairing. Harper was a 3.5, but back in the day, he could take care of 4 on D. Sad about Clyde the Glide.... for those that don't know, that team made the early season top 10.

I recall Harper and Burwell, very well, DM. They were enormously productive for GWU. Still, together they did not top 300 pounds, and were not exactly big bangers. I bet they left comparable bruises on their opponents, but that would have been mostly on account of elbows and knees.

The biggest banger at GW may have been Bill Knorr. He was almost a cartoon of a big guy, and one game, it seemed he took on Georgetown pretty much by himself.  If a guy like him was paired with Mike Brown, GW would have been on the cover of some SI's.

DM...what is the sadness about Clyde Burwell that you are referring to.  Talk about nostalgia...the battles at Fort Washington between Clyde and Kermit Washington of American University.  Also, the top 10 ranking which you are referring to was the freshman team rankings.

I believe that we have lost Clyde. Can't remember where I heard, but I hope that I am wrong.

No, we made it to 6, I believe. By week 4, we dropped out.

Clyde and Haviland and Shanta and those guys were nice clean rebounders. Not as many bangers ans just very proficient.

I'm not keen on the cheapshot artists, DM. I'm just talking about the guys who are meaty enough to block out and establish position consistently, and who earn reputations for their work.

I recall Clyde, even after having been blocked out by one opponent, being agile and skilled enough to reach out over the opposition and either tap the ball to a teammate, or make a clean grab of it. He wasn't just long and tall. He was smart and well-taught, even before he arrived at GW.

I never could understand why GW could not have built a real program on the foundation of that class. I know there were injuries and tragedies, but still ....

Ziik, Clyde and Haviland were both in my upper level math classes. They were both very bright. My other friends in there ended up launching rockets. I believe Clyde ended up working on Satellite communications. Those two were not only smart, but great gentlemen--I saw Haviland at an alumni game a couple of years ago and he was his usual charming self. I think that he was sitting with Bob and Pat. I would add that for those who didn't have the good luck to see Haviland play, but did get to see his daughter play at MD, I would say that the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

Don't really remember Bob Shanta as a "clean" rebounder...more the bull in the china shop. But those 3 guys plus Tallent and Morris helped school Tom Roy and his vaunted Maryland freshmen. That freshman season frenzy may be rivaled only by the 27-3 season for excitement.

Tallent and Morris are my favorite GW backcourt. Knorr was a big banger and bouncer at the Rathskellar.

DM- I had read that Clyde was highly successful in a technical field, and that was no surprise. I met Haviland's father at an away game, and he was a polite, dignified man. Solid families in both cases, it seems, and smart and dedicated to the tasks at hand. Those qualities are hard to find, hard to beat. GW was very lucky to have them, along with the others mentioned here.  Each was admirable in his own way. Then, there was that synergy...

Ziik, newtman, poog, dm and lsf - when you guys went to the games back in those old as heck days, were they played in black and white?

DM...Are you possibly confusing Clyde with Kevin Hall?  Clyde appears to be alive and well and living in Texas.

http://www.facebook.com/clyde.burwell

Clyde even lists Haviland Harper as one of his Facebook Friends

Notta: Not really...but there was a bit of a sweet, smoky haze to and from Ft. Myer

From Armwood in the Baltimore Sun article: “I wasn’t told that [I would start], but I plan on doing that next year,” Armwood said. “[I’m] just [looking forward to] getting there, getting to know my teammates and getting on the court with my teammates.”

Nice that the coaching staff isn't making any promices on playing time. I remember player after player under Hobbs comming in with the stated contention that they're going to get significant minutes from the start.  From some it made sense but when it came from the Albrittons, Fitzgerald, Guess' of GW basketball, it just didn't add up and sense it came from so many different players it's hard to believe they were all just making it up or misinterpreting something the coaching staff communicated to them. 

Bobo, so nice to see that the Hobbs-bashing isn't quite done yet.  But just so you understand the distinction, only 5 guys get to start (unless you'd like to frequently change starting lineups which I've yet to see any coach want to do) but as many get to play as the coach would like.  Hobbs promised minutes to virtually all because: a) it helped land him players and b) it was his true intent to play everyone early on to determine who should eventually become part of a shorter rotation.  With the very rare exception if at all, I highly doubt that KH was promising starting jobs to high school recruits.  if it will make you feel better, I'm reasonably certain that Armwood was promised some playing time, either directly or implied, even if that didn't translate to the guarantee of a starting job.  But I'm guessing a smart guy like you probably knew that.

MV, good observation that only 5 can start. but hobbs liked to sneak a 6th player in the game after a time-out every once in awhile.

Even under Hobbs' disjointed rotation system, it's hard to give 13 guys the significant playing time these incomming freshman claim they were expecting to recieve as they stated as one of the chief reasons they chose GW over other suitors.  But it did help GW land Albritton, Fitzgerald and the others so it's all good. 

As many get to play as the coach would like? Really!!?!! Well, the magic number still is 5, and if the designated assistant can count to 5, he does not even need to be able to count to 6 or more to do his job. So Bobo's not really as much as a dope as The MV insinuates he is.

Clearly, nobody ever will be able to suggest anything critical of the old coaching regime, from now, until the end of time, without being subject to their supporters.

Clearly, nobody ever will be able to suggest anything critical of the old athletic administration, from now, until the end of time, without being subject to their supporters.

My guess is that these two truisms will continue to divide the 17 or so guys who have continued to post here in the little playground that Herve has so graciously cobbled together for us. Maybe it's genetic. I don't know.

I do recall, though, from the work of a guy I used to associate with, that this phenomenon is well recognized, and that there are ways to protect against it.

Invariably, when drafting stay away orders, or cease and desist orders, or non-compete clauses, he would seek to include, in addition to a set number of years or even the life of the parties as the amount of time in question, some language to the effect that "this agreement will remain in effect, in perpetuity, and from now until the end of time."

"From now until the end of time" also seemed like absurd  linguistic overkill.

But, as we see, who can say?

We can lighten up a little, or we can expect this back and forth.

From now, until...  

Would you like to help stop the back and forth Ziik?  Then look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, "did I really just argue the statement that a coach can play as many players as he would like by pointing out that the magic number is 5"?  Did my post convey to you that I am unaware that only five players can play AT ONE TIME?  Did you take my post to mean that a coach can play as many players as he would like at the same time?  Seriously Ziik, do you think that my knowledge of the game is such that I'm unsure how many players get to play at the same time?  Or maybe you just went out of your way to cause trouble.

Bobo, I would be interested in learning more about these "claims" our incoming freshmen made under KH about being guaranteed minutes.  Got any links with quotes so that we can help put the issue in perspective?

On a more pleasant note, good comeback Newtman.

Bobo's post bashed nobody, MF. Your response to him was calculated to suggest he's a dope, and that's how you conduct yourself here day in and day out.

Since you've asked, I think you're a mean spirited imbecile. I'll proffer your record in support of my argument.

I recall Albritton, Fitzgerald and others commenting that they expected emidiate playing time at GW and it was one of the reasons they chose GW.  I'm sure others also recall those early comments as well.  MV likes to take shots at lots of people but generally I just brush them off. 

Back to the quote bobo offered, I love the attitude. Isaiah knows he'll have to earn his minutes, but he's confident and determined to earn a spot in the starting 5. I can't wait to see him play and I hope, for his sake and all of ours, that his confidence is well-placed.

I say again....."chick fight!!!  chick fight!!!"

I rest my case that MV and LFO are ALWAYS at the center of any controversy here. The lowest common denominator here with emphasis on the "lowest". They used to cry it was all Blue Seats. It wasn't Blue Seats as it turns out. The just need a foil - any old poster will do.

MV, it was Ziik who wrote on this site that Danilo Pinnock's children were mistakes.  What the hell kind of disgusting thing was that to write about a JR and his kids?  Don't pay attention to him; he's got extremely severe issues.  And, Diagio, I've got no problem with you dragging me into this, but you'd be better off making another post about what a great job Jack and Dom did for GW basketball.  While all you seem to do is stir the pot, the bottom line on you is that you and your alter-egos don't know what you're talking about.  I can't imagine anyone in their right mind continually defending the performance of the people that almost destroyed GW basketball.  You're either stupid, insane or both.  If you consider me the lowest common demoninator for objecting to and writing about all the horrible things our former AD and his trusty assistant did during their tenure here, then I have no problem with that.  Apparently, the new administration agrees with me and not you, because they're addressing all the problems I've been writing about for years.

And, by the way, MV, I agree with you 100%, as usual.

I'm not sure what's creepier...MV and LFO actually being the same person with a split personality or just 2 seperate guys with some sort of internet based man-crush for each other.  See a shrink or get a room.  I think we'll all be gratefull either way. 

 Armwood 

 Armwood 

Actually Ziik, Bobo's post did subtly bash Coach Hobbs and staff (which prompted my response).  Your confusion on the matter stems from the fact that Bobo didn't preface his post by typing "I AM NOW GOING TO BASH KARL HOBBS."  I fully understand how anything less subtle than this completely escapes you.  And to make matters worse, when I asked Bobo for some legitimate proof to back up what he's saying, all I get is an answer that's total hearsay.  And for the record, I do believe that KH and staff promised even Matt and Chris that they would receive minutes because that's how they recruited.  That's quite a bit different than suggesting that each (and all others) were promised significant playing time, which I'm reasonably certain they did not do yet is what Bobo is contending.

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/features/rumors/_/date/20110825#5036

UPDATE: Former Villanova power forward Isaiah Armwood told the Washington Post that the biggest factor that went into choosing George Washington was his relationship with the Colonials coaching staff. According Washington Post writer Kathy Orton, GW assistant Pete Strickland recruited Armwood out of high school while working under Sidney Lowe at North Carolina State.

"I just felt real comfortable with the coaching staff," said Armwood, who'll have to sit out the 2011-12 season per NCAA transfer rules. "It's a great school."

Isaiah Armwood decision to transfer from Villanova last week puts the Wildcats in an interesting place. While Armwood wasn't the offensive force some hoped for, he was the team captain, a relentless worker on both ends of the floor and a player who made his teammates better. Whether Nova ends up better in the end depends on if Jay Wright and his staff can bring in a big-time recruit whose value on the court is greater than the heart, hustle and grit Armwood provided.

"Zeek was a great energy defender and rebounder, but he was certainly not a consistent offensive threat," wrote Chris Lane of NovaBlog.com. "And there's definitely an argument against one-dimensional players. Isaiah was what he was; and that's a leave-it-all-on-the-floor player who was probably never was going to become the type of player we all hoped he could become. So if losing Armwood means bringing in a very elite-level talent in Amile Jefferson, I'm certainly okay with it."

Still, in the short term losing Armwood hurts. With a roster full of talented young players, Armwood's veteran presence and leadership was going to be especially important this season. Even if the Wildcats land an elite recruit to replace Armwood, he won't arrive until next season, making Armwood's abrupt departure a significant blow for 2011-12.

During Jarvis's last season, the starting frontline was often Koul, Iturbe, and Mescheriakov.  Iturbe wasn't athletic, but he was a big dude.  That's like the heart of an NFL offensive line compared with several of the Center/Forward trios we've had of late. 

The Koul/Yegor/Iturbe front weight as much as Pops/Hall/Omar + Dokun.

"weighed"