Elliott Has Been 'Linchpin' Of GW's Recent Success

Guard Leads Colonials' Bid for 3rd Straight NCAA Tourney

In an effort to quantify senior guard Carl Elliott's impact on George Washington's men's basketball program, Coach Karl Hobbs turned the clock back to 2005, when the Colonials were mired in a grueling Atlantic 10 race.

In the third-to-last regular season game, George Washington was locked in a 59-59 tie at Dayton, which had the ball with less than 20 seconds left. What followed changed the fate of the Colonials' season and the course of the program. Elliott anticipated a pass, stole the ball and, with the final seconds ticking away, launched a 30-foot prayer that found the net to deliver a 62-59 victory.

"That was the turning point of our program," Hobbs said last week. "It was a close race, and I thought that got us over that hump. Guys understood what it took to win, particularly in big games."

Using that kind of moxie, the Colonials went on to win the Atlantic 10 tournament, earning the first of back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances. Third-seeded George Washington hopes to take the first step toward making it three in a row tonight against Saint Joseph's in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament. The Hawks defeated Temple, 66-62.

"I think we can do the same as the previous team," Elliott said. "We have young guys who have filled in their roles as the season has gone along."

The Colonials (20-8) likely will have to capture the Atlantic 10's automatic berth to get back to the NCAA tournament. But it's an attainable goal partly because of the 6-foot-4 Elliott, who posted career highs in scoring (13.0), assists (5.2) and rebounds (5.0) a season after the team lost a star-studded group that led one of the most prolific eras in school history.

"If we didn't have him, I know we couldn't have had the kind of success that we had," Hobbs said.

Elliott's name dots the George Washington record book. He has played in a school-record 87 victories during his four-year tenure. He ranks second in school history in steals (271) and assists (531) and is one of 39 Colonials with at least 1,000 career points.

If George Washington makes the NCAA tournament, Elliott would become the only player in school history to play in the event three straight years.

"I don't know of another player whose team needs him as much as his needs him, and I told him that," Saint Joseph's Coach Phil Martelli said earlier this season. "I've always marveled. Even in their great teams of the past two years, I thought he was the linchpin."

Elliott's impact can be traced to his arrival in Foggy Bottom. Hobbs had recruited Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Mike Hall and Omar Williams. Danilo Pinnock was on the way, too. But Hobbs still needed a savvy point guard to tie it all together. Elliott, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native, triggered the team's turnaround.

Elliott occasionally took center stage. He hit clutch free throws in overtime to give the Colonials an NCAA tournament win over UNC Wilmington last season. Earlier, he scored as time expired to help George Washington beat Charlotte on Senior Day and preserve a 16-0 conference mark. But mostly, Elliott spent his first three seasons deferring to his higher-profile teammates, quietly manning the controls of the offense while evolving into one of the league's best back-court defenders.

"He never once complained," Hobbs said.

At the start of this season, Hobbs asked Elliott to take on a more prominent role. He responded by serving as a mentor to his heir apparent at point guard, Travis King, just as he did with Maureece Rice, who led the team in scoring.

"I came here not really knowing what to expect," said King, whose emergence pushed the Colonials toward the postseason. "He showed me the ropes."

And again, Elliott added to his legend. He recorded the only triple-double in George Washington's 93-year history and delivered a game-winning jumper in the final seconds to beat Charlotte.

"Honestly," Elliott said, "when I first got here, I never felt I'd do the things that I've done."

Carl Elliott's impact on the GW program has resulted in two straight NCAA appearances but the Colonials are in serious danger of missing a third.