The University of Richmond's closest Atlantic 10 Conference rival, George Washington, made it a homecoming celebration when it hired a basketball coach in May.
Mike Lonergan, who came to GW after six years as Vermont's coach, was born and raised in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., played at Washington's Catholic University, coached at Division III Catholic from 1993-2004, and is a former Maryland assistant.
"In my eyes, the best basketball in the country is in this area," said Lonergan, whose Colonials (6-11, 2-1) face the University of Richmond (11-7, 2-1) tonight at the Smith Center, located in the section of D.C. known as Foggy Bottom.
The GW roster Lonergan inherited included just one player from the Washington metropolitan region.
"I was shocked by that," said Lonergan, 45.
Among the priorities Lonergan set soon after he was named coach by the Colonials was a program reconnection with Virginia-Washington-Maryland prospects. Lonergan's staff reflects the goal. He hired Hajj Turner, a former Charlottesville High star who played at Louisville; Pete Strickland, a Washington-area native who played at famed DeMatha High and was an assistant at Old Dominion; and Kevin Sutton, who grew up in Northern Virginia and played at James Madison. Sutton previously worked as an assistant at JMU and ODU.
A refocused recruiting effort in the region surrounding GW's downtown Washington campus could affect UR's quest for prospects. The Spiders have featured a number of Washington-area players since the 1973 opening of the Robins Center, including sophomore Cedrick Lindsay, and former starters Kevin Steenberge, Tony Dobbins, Eric Poole, Rodney Rice, Kelvin Johnson, Mike Morton and John Campbell.
A-10 members Charlotte, Massachusetts, St. Bonaventure and Saint Louis each have at least one player from the D.C.-metro area.
In addition to mining local talent, Lonergan will extend GW's past practice of recruiting internationally and nationally. The Colonials, through the years, have greatly benefited by doing so.
UR and GW, as league neighbors, annually play twice, according to the A-10's current scheduling formula. This season's Colonials continue to seek an identity.
"I've never been involved with teams in January and we're still starting different lineups, trying to figure out (players)," said Lonergan, who took over a program that didn't win a conference tournament game the last four years under former coach Karl Hobbs.
The Spiders, meanwhile, are likely to compete tonight without Lindsay (knee bruise), who has started every game this season at point guard. Kendall Anthony is the probable replacement, and the 5-foot-8 freshman has been a surprising scorer (13.6 ppg.). But he has 31 assists and 31 turnovers.
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