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Friday, June 7, 2013 12:57 p.m.

Indiana guard with big potential to transfer to GW

by Nick Ong

Then-freshmen Maurice Creek went up for a layout against North Carolina Central in 2009. Injuries have slowed down the guard’s career, but he is looking to revive it at GW. Photo courtesy of the Indiana Daily Student

Updated at 1:26 p.m. on June 7, 2013.

The Colonials got a big boost to their roster Friday when Indiana guard Maurice Creek announced he would transfer to GW.

Creek, who is trying to rebound from his latest injury-prone years, posted a photo Friday morning of himself decked out in GW gear, announcing that he would be playing as a Colonial next season.

In a phone interview Friday, Creek said he was excited to become a veteran presence on the Colonials’ roster, adding that he had already gelled with some GW players during the offseason.

“I’ve been playing with the guys for a while, and basically they started treating me like family before I was even going to GW,” Creek said. “I’m just glad they found me.”

Maurice Creek announced Friday that he would head to GW. Photo via Twitter

Because of a ruptured achilles in 2011, Creek missed the entire 2011-12 campaign for the Hoosiers and chose to redshirt his junior year. He now has one season of eligibility left to play at GW and will be apart of the Class of 2014.

Despite his history of injuries, Creek brings a high level of experience to the still young Colonials’ backcourt that will include sophomore starters Joe McDonald and Kethan Savage, as well as recruits Miguel Cartagena and Nick Griffin.

“They got bigs that can play and they got guards that can play and they just needed a little bit of help,” Creek said. “They can help me just as I can help them.”

The announcement comes as great news to head coach Mike Lonergan and his staff, after their somewhat low-key recruiting class was overshadowed by the transfers of seniors Lasan Kromah, David Pellom and sophomore Jonathan Davis. This, in addition to the de-commitment of the team’s top offseason recruit Nigel Johnson, and the move on Wednesday of assistant head coach Kevin Sutton to Georgetown.

“[Lonergan's] been watching me since my freshman year and he was recruiting me throughout my years in high school, and I decided on Indiana, but he knew what I could do,” Creek said. “And he just said this is what we need on our team to be successful, and they only needed one more piece, and having me could be that piece.”

Creek, a 6-foot-5 guard was once a top-50 recruit coming out of high school and a Prep-School All-American after his senior year at the Hargrave Military Academy. He put up large numbers in limited time for the Hoosiers during his freshman campaign,  averaging 16.4 points per game and shooting 44.8 percent from three-point range before his season was cut short after 12 games due to a season-ending fractured knee cap.

Returning as a sophomore, Creek put up a respectable 8.3 points per game, but again saw injuries limit his playing time to only 18 games. After the achilles injury in 2011, Creek served as breakout-star Victor Oladipo’s backup, averaging only 1.8 points and 7.8 minutes per game.

Fans will likely have to wait until the beginning of the season to see if Lonergan chooses to continue the youth movement in Foggy Bottom and use Creek as a sixth man off the bench, or if he will trust Creek’s leadership to start over one of his sophomore guards.

He said he would be “just doing what’s required of you. And basically when you get recommended as a high level player you have to play at the highest level at all times, and that’s what I learned at Indiana which is gonna be good when I go to George Washington,” Creek said.

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Monday, May 13, 2013 2:59 p.m.

Men’s basketball reportedly nabs wing shooter for 2014-2015

by Nick Ong

Updated: May 17, 2013, 9:45 a.m.

Head coach Mike Lonergan has reportedly snagged his newest recruit of the offseason, as Virginia Episcopal School’s Anthony Swan has committed to GW, a source told CBS Sports.

Those reports were confirmed by ABC-13 WSET-TV on Thursday, stating that Swan, who is the cousin of head associate coach Hajj Turner, has committed to GW. Swan had narrowed down his choices to GW, Miami and Cincinnati, but ultimately decided that becoming a Colonial would be the best fit for him.

Mike Longergan

Men’s basketball head coach Mike Lonergan has now had his first recruit join for 2014-15, CBS Sports reported. | Hatchet File Photo

Swan, a 6-foot-7 small forward, is a high school junior, so he will not arrive to play on campus until 2014-15, making him the first recruit to declare for that season.

He joins the list of 2013 offseason recruits that includes Skyler White and Miguel Cartegena.

“He’s just a very reserved person, always very positive even through negative times – bad losses and things like that,” Curtis Staples, Swan’s head coach at Virginia Episcopal, said. “He’s always the guy that tells everybody it’s gonna get better, so he’s definitely one of those guys that you want to have in your locker room.”

Last season, Swan averaged 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks for his varsity VES team that went 21-4,5-1 in the extremely competitive Virginia Independent Conference.

Swan’s wing shooting skills will help fill the hole left by recent transfer Lasan Kromah, and could form to a strong combination with White, known for his three-point shot.

“Anthony’s biggest strength is his shooting. He’s a great shooter, so he’s able to stretch defenses and create a lot of problems for a lot of opposing teams because he’s so athletic,” Staples said.

This has been an up-and-down off season for Lonergan, with Kromah, Jonathan Davis and David Pellom leaving the program, and former recruit Nigel Johnson de-commiting from GW.

It is not known at the time whether Swan will receive one of the available scholarship slots upon his graduation next year.
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Friday, Jan. 25, 2013 9:57 a.m.

Friday reading: Washington Post feature on Nick Griffin

by Elizabeth Traynor

The Washington Post has a feature piece on 2013-14 recruit Nick Griffin today, one that describes how his pure shooting skills were the catalyst behind his offer from head coach Mike Lonergan to join the Colonials.

The piece, written by Eric Detweiler, includes the moment assistant coach Pete Strickland decided to offer Griffin his scholarship – after the high school senior knocked down 10 straight treys at an October 2011 shooting practice. The article focuses on how Griffin refined his shot, going from a freshman who scored zero three-pointers to a senior that “might be the area’s top high school three-point marksman.”

“Along the way, Griffin would — and still does — count each made basket, usually attempting to reach 500 before the end of a session, which can take up to two hours,” Detweiler wrote.

The piece also quotes Lonergan, who says that the incoming recruit needs to improve his defensive play, as well as his ball handling skills, but that he was sold on Griffin’s, who is Magruder’s all-time leading scorer, commitment to improving.

“He’s a gym rat,” Lonergan told the Post, “and we thought if he had that work ethic and commitment he would keep getting better as he gets older.”

The Post’s feature includes a video on Griffin, which you can watch below:

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Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013 2:45 p.m.

Basketball notebook: men’s recruit named All-American nominee, women’s legend honored

by Elizabeth Traynor
Mike Longergan

Head coach Mike Lonergan, seen here at his introductory press conference. Hatchet File Photo

Between last night’s men’s basketball game against Temple and tonight’s women’s basketball game versus Saint Joseph’s, the two programs are busy this week.

But the news doesn’t stop there: women’s basketball alumna Jennifer Shasky Calvery is among the first Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Legends, and men’s basketball recruit Nick Griffin is a McDonald All-American nominee.

 

Women’s basketball

Calvery joins Red Auerbach as the two GW representatives in the inaugural A-10 legends class. Featuring 16 student-athletes who have made significant contributions to the league’s women’s basketball programs, the 2013 legends will be honored March 16 at the Barclays Center.

Calvery, a three-time Atlantic 10 All-Conference selection, lead the Colonials to their first A-10 championship in 1992, earning tournament MVP honors after the  62-57 victory over Rutgers. She was a member of GW’s 1991 and 1992 NCAA tournament teams, Calvery was also honored as the 1993 NCAA Woman of the Year.

She still holds the school record for three-point percentage in a game, 1.000 – 7-for-7, and ranks fifth all-time at GW with 195 career triples. Calvery also averaged 14.0 points per game in her career, the fifth-best scoring average in program history.

 

Men’s basketball

Incoming recruit Nick Griffin is among the 2013 nominees for the McDonald All-American game, announced today.

Over 800 players from 39 states and the District of Columbia were nominated for the 2013 McDonald’s All American Games. Griffin is one of 22 nominees from Maryland.

Griffin, who signed his letter of intent in November, is a 6-foot-2 guard for Magruder High School in Rockville, Md. Last season, he averaged 17 points per game for Magruder last season, en route to a 26-1 record and the Class 4A state championship.

 

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Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013 9:59 a.m.

Skyler White commits to men’s basketball team

by Elizabeth Traynor

Six-foot-8 forward Skyler White committed to the men’s basketball team for the 2013-14 season late last night, becoming the third high school senior to verbally commit to the Colonials.

Head coach Mike Lonergan, clad in a Buff blazer for the occasion, calls to his team from the sidelines earlier this season. Hatchet File Photo by Samuel Klein | Contributing Photo Editor

White joins Nick Griffin, who signed his letter of intent to join GW in November, and Nigel Johnson, who has yet to sign a National Letter of Intent despite verbally committing in September.

The New England Basketball Recruiting Report wrote that White will join the Colonials as a recruited walk-on, meaning he will likely not take up a scholarship slot for GW. White currently plays for Northfield Mount Hermon High School in Gill, Mass., where NERR said he “has been playing some of his best basketball so far during his senior season.” He’s also competed on England’s U-18 junior national team.

White, who is best known as a three-point specialist, told NERR that the University’s overall academic and athletic profile was a key selling point.

“The academics were a big part of it,” White said, “and the basketball, the A10 is a great conference.  You don’t really find that mix of great academics and great basketball.  When I got on campus it just felt like the right place for me.”

He is unranked in his ESPN.com recruiting profile.

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Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012 7:01 p.m.

Nick Griffin signs letter of intent to join men’s basketball program

by Elizabeth Traynor

Nick Griffin signed his National Letter of Intent to join the men’s basketball program Wednesday, marking the first Colonial recruit to officially confirm his intention to be a member of the 2013-14 rookie class.

The news was announced by the basketball team’s official Twitter.

The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 17 points per game for Magruder High School last season, en route to a 26-1 record and the Class 4A state championship. He joins Nigel Johnson in head coach Mike Lonergan’s second recruiting class.

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Sunday, Sept. 30, 2012 10:32 p.m.

Lonergan nabs second 2013-14 recruit commitment

by Elizabeth Traynor
Mike Longergan

Head coach Mike Lonergan, seen here at his introductory press conference. Hatchet File Photo

Nigel Johnson, a 6-foot-1 point guard from Riverdale Baptist High School and a Washington Post second team All-Met player for 2011-12, committed to GW for the 2013-14 season this weekend.

Johnson is unranked by ESPN, which says he also received offers from American and Cornell. He transferred to Riverdale this year, after spending his junior season at Broad Run, averaging 29.5 points per game and helping his team to the Northwest Region playoffs. He also set a Virginia AAA single-season assist record, with 211.

Johnson also made a name for himself with the AAU team D.C. Assault, where his coach, former Washington Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan, told ESPN that Johnson is “just an assassin, and he reminds me of Gilbert Arenas.”

He’s the second recruit for head coach Mike Lonergan’s 2013-14 class, joining fellow local guard Nick Griffin.

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Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012 6:46 p.m.

Nick Griffin becomes first 2013-14 recruit to commit to men’s basketball team

by Elizabeth Traynor
Mike Longergan

Head coach Mike Lonergan, seen here at his introductory press conference, saw his first 2013-14 recruit join the program today. Hatchet File Photo

Shooting guard Nick Griffin, currently a senior at Magruder High School in Rockville, Md., is the first 2013-14 recruit to announce his intention to take the court for the Colonials.

Gazette.net reported that Griffin called head coach Mike Lonergan in Italy, where the men’s basketball program is currently beginning an overseas tour. The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 17 points per game for Magruder last season, en route to a 26-1 record and the Class 4A state championship.

In an online blog, Griffin said the other schools recruiting him included Holy Cross, Bucknell, Drexel and District-rival American. Major factors in his final decision, he added, were his relationship with a team’s coaching staff, proximity to home and a university’s academics.

“However, at the end of the day I had to follow my heart; and it was George Washington University that I felt most comfortable with. I felt GW met all the criteria that I was looking for in a school and basketball program,” Griffin wrote. “It’s a school with great academics, a top-notch athletic program, and is located in one of the most powerful cities in the world. I am excited and very humbled to have the opportunity to extend my basketball career at The George Washington University.”

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