Instead of shelling out more than $1,000 to charter a bus for the 1.8 mile trip from campus to the Verizon Center, first-year George Washington coach Mike Lonergan has chosen a more cost-effective way for his team to travel to its game against VCU on Dec. 4.
The Colonials will use public transportation.
George Washington will board the Washington D.C. Metrorail and take either the blue line or the orange line to and from the arena, a move that will both save money and provide the team a unique opportunity to connect with its fans. The school intends to invite students and alumni attending the BB&T Classic double-header to ride there and back with George Washington players and coaches.
The idea to take Metro to the game is one Lonergan borrowed from his college coach at Catholic University, the late Jack Bruen. When Bruen was the head coach at Colgate from 1989 to 1997, he'd have his team take the subway from its hotel to Madison Square Garden for games in the old ECAC Holiday Festival.
"I figured we're not that far from the Verizon Center and going by bus is a waste of money, so why not just take the subway?" Lonergan said. "It lets everyone know we're regular people. I think the people in D.C. will appreciate us getting on the metro. And hopefully it will bring some more publicity to the tournament. I think it's a pretty good field. Hopefully it will help increase attendance."
George Washington's matchup with VCU may be the undercard to Notre Dame-Maryland in the second half of the double-header, but it's still a showcase for a Colonials program hoping to regain its former stature in the D.C. area. Since winning 27 games and going undefeated in Atlantic 10 play six years ago, George Washington had not made an NCAA tournament or been much of a factor in its conference, leading to the ousting of coach Karl Hobbs this past spring.
The roster Lonergan inherits from Hobbs is short on quality depth, but it has enough talent that finishing in the upper half of the Atlantic 10 standings is not an unreasonable goal. All-conference guard Tony Taylor averaged 15.0 points and 4.6 assists last season, while Lasan Kromah is back after missing all of last season due to injury and forward Dwayne Smith could be primed for a breakout season.
"We have four starters back from a 17-win team, but we don't have a lot of depth or size and a lot of our victories last season weren't against the strongest schedule," Lonergan said. "Our schedule is very much improved this year, which is a little scary at times, but the good thing is we have several good players back and our backcourt should be pretty strong."
Whether that strong perimeter nucleus is enough to beat a VCU team that returns several key players from last year's Final Four run will determine whether George Washington's metro ride home is pleasant or not.
If the Colonials win, the players, coaches and fans will be in a celebratory mood. If not, it will be a quick but somber train ride back to campus.
"When I told my assistants my plan, they said, 'We better win,'" Lonergan said. "I told them it's not that far. If we lose, we can always walk back."