by Scott Greaney
After an intriguing and exciting lineup heading into the 2025–26 season, the George Washington Revolutionaries have had more of a mixed bag during conference play. The Revs finished ninth in the A-10 with a rather disappointing 8-10 record, setting up a rematch of last year’s A-10 tournament matchup with Fordham.
Regular Season Recap
The main curse during the conference slate for this GW team has been closing out games in crunch time. GW’s record in two-possession games this season was 2-9. Simply put, this GW team wins in blowout fashion and finds ways to lose close games. Despite their struggles overall, the Revolutionaries have had a few positive stories develop throughout the year.
With All-Atlantic 10 First Team Preseason selection and Atlantic-10 Player of the Year candidate Rafael Castro out for six games with a foot injury, Northwestern transfer forward Luke Hunger came alive in his new starting role, so much so that he and Castro now start together. In the four games without Castro, Hunger scored in double figures in all four and recorded three double doubles, including a career-high 31 points and 10 rebounds against local rival George Mason.
Jean Aranguren has also developed into the much-needed true point guard for the Revolutionaries as the season progressed. After transferring from Hofstra, Aranguren grew from a backup point guard into a stabilizing starter for the GW offense. He averaged 11.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game over the final nine games of the A-10 slate, including the second triple double in GW history against Duquesne.
Tournament Path
When it comes to the Atlantic-10 Tournament, the Revolutionaries have largely struggled, holding a 30-45 historical record. Just last year, coach Chris Caputo earned his first A-10 tournament win with GW in an exciting 88-81 victory against Fordham that went down to the wire. Largely thanks to Trey Autry’s late-game heroics, Caputo was able to celebrate a 9-9 conference record, his first conference tournament win and a berth in the inaugural College Basketball Crown tournament.
This year, however, the story has changed. With four key starters returning and significant investments in the transfer portal, playing in the eight-nine matchup in March is unquestionably a disappointment for a team that had realistic expectations of earning a double bye.
I was in the Smith Center on January 31 when the Rams marched in and completely dominated the game from start to finish. In the Revolutionaries’ first game without Rafael Castro, Fordham controlled the glass, outrebounding GW 46-28. Coming off that heartbreaking road loss to Saint Louis, GW looked shell-shocked and had no answer for Fordham’s zone defense.
I would expect Fordham to deploy that same zone again, given how effective it was the first time. GW has struggled against similar zone defenses and presses in conference play. Just look at the Revs’ 20 turnovers against a Dayton defense that constantly applied a zone press.
Ultimately, I think the return of Castro pushes GW through in this one, but there is not strong confidence behind that pick. If the Revs find themselves trailing with five minutes left, the numbers are not favorable. They have yet to complete a late comeback this season, going 0-13 when trailing with five minutes left in the second half.
If the Revs were to win, it would set up a matchup with top-seeded Saint Louis. GW led for 83 percent of the previous meeting and was seconds away from forcing overtime on the road before Robbie Avila’s game-winning three. As appealing as a second chance may sound on paper, this Revolutionaries team has not shown the consistency or late-game composure to give me confidence in picking them to upset the Billikens in a potential quarterfinal.
