GW 'Very Much Disappointed' by Seed

Colonials Feel Record Warranted Higher Placement

The party started at 5:52, when the George Washington band launched into the school's fight song and a crowd of several hundred students and fans at the on-campus Marvin Center clapped and sang. The party ended several minutes after 6, when the Colonials received a harsher NCAA tournament fate than virtually any pundit had predicted.

The team that ended the regular season with the nation's best record and longest winning streak, that spent the entire season in the top 25 and the entire month of February in the top 10, received the eighth seed in the Atlanta region, with a first-round game Thursday against UNC Wilmington in Greensboro, N.C. Should the 26-2 Colonials win, they would almost certainly play top-seeded Duke at a site about an hour from the Blue Devils' campus.

When George Washington's draw was announced, Coach Karl Hobbs nodded several times, forward Mike Hall remained expressionless and guards Danilo Pinnock and Carl Elliott shook their heads in disbelief.

"Very, very much disappointed," said Athletic Director Jack Kvancz, a former member of the NCAA tournament selection committee who had predicted the Colonials would receive a No. 6 or 7 seed shortly before the selection show began. "We'll play; we're happy to be in the tournament. However, we have the best record in college basketball, and they put us in North Carolina against two North Carolina teams, including the number one seed overall? That's who we deserve to play?"

Although the Colonials' low seeding was far out of proportion to their national ranking, there was a precedent. In 1999, for example, the College of Charleston had a 28-2 record, a better ranking in the Rating Percentage Index than George Washington this year and a nearly identical strength of schedule. The Cougars also received a No. 8 seed.

It was the second straight year the selection committee dealt harshly with the Colonials, who were a No. 12 seed a year ago after winning the Atlantic 10 championship. In response to that perceived slight, Kvancz and Hobbs crafted a less demanding nonconference schedule, which they said would allow students to watch the team more frequently. Both men said last night that they had no regrets about the schedule.

"I'm not that concerned about [seeding], I'm truly not," Hobbs said, repeating a message he delivered repeatedly during the regular season and at the Atlantic 10 tournament. "I've said it before and I'll continue to say it now, because I mean it: We're in the tournament, we've got to play our best basketball to stay in the tournament, and that's kind of what it is."

The Colonials were hurt by other factors besides their schedule, which included just two games against NCAA tournament teams. The Atlantic 10 was weaker than expected; league tournament champion Xavier received a No. 14 seed, the lowest in conference history. Pops Mensah-Bonsu, George Washington's second-leading scorer and rebounder, missed the team's final four games because of a left knee injury. Without him, the Colonials lost to Temple in the Atlantic 10 tournament quarterfinals.

Mensah-Bonsu's knee injury was a factor in George Washington's seeding, said Craig Littlepage, the University of Virginia athletic director and chairman of the NCAA men's basketball committee. But Littlepage also said the eye injury suffered by Villanova guard Allan Ray during the Big East tournament this past weekend didn't prevent the Wildcats from being considered a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

"I think that [Mensah-Bonsu's] situation seemed to be a little bit more nebulous, based on the information we received," Littlepage said. "But I think also, if you look at the full body of work, we felt as though from a nonconference standpoint, it could have been a little bit more challenging, a little bit more rigorous. But on the basis of their work and the conference, as well as the nonconference, the seed they received was a solid seed in our opinion."

Hobbs said he is "very optimistic" that Mensah-Bonsu will be ready for the NCAA tournament, and Kvancz said he called the committee yesterday morning with the same prognosis. Mensah-Bonsu, who had arthroscopic surgery Feb. 28, would not guarantee that he would play Thursday but said his rehabilitation has been progressing on pace and that "it's looking positive." Like most of his teammates, he said he was surprised and disappointed at the team's draw.

"It still hasn't really hit me that we're an eight seed," he said. "It's kind of tough, looking at our record and what we've accomplished over the season that we're an eight seed, but hey, like I said, it's March, anything can happen and we're going to be ready to play on Thursday."

Said Pinnock: "Twenty-six and two, had the longest winning streak in the country for a while and we're an eight seed? That's great, we'll take that and we'll go along. Nobody's given us anything to this point, and we don't need nobody to give us nothing. We're going to go take everything we want. That's how it is, and that's the attitude we've got to have."

The Colonials' only losses came in slow-paced games against stifling defenses. They are 26-0 when shooting better than 33 percent, and 0-2 when failing to reach that threshold. UNC Wilmington entered the week with the eighth-best field goal percentage defense in the country, holding opponents to 38.6 percent shooting.

Staff writer Mark Schlabach contributed to this report.

After compiling an impressive record and spending much of the season in the top 10, the Colonials are a bit stunned and peeved at receiving a No. 8 seed in the NCAA tournament.