Karl Hobbs (George Washington)

[Guest BasketBull.]

March 14, 2007

By Gregg Doyel

CBS SportsLine.com National Columnist

Tell Gregg your opinion!

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Elsewhere on the coaching carousel, multiple sources are telling CBS SportsLine.com the following:

• Don't discount Steve Alford going to New Mexico. Why would Alford leave Iowa for New Mexico? It's called "staying one step ahead of the posse." And after Alford failed to get Iowa into the NCAA or NIT this season, the posse is forming in Iowa City.

• Colorado plans to throw a ton of money at Air Force's Jeff Bzdelik.

[highlight]• George Washington's Karl Hobbs is interested in South Florida. [/highlight]

• To be secure in his job, Michigan's Tommy Amaker had better win the NIT or come awfully close.

• Where would Tubby Smith go, if he were to leave Kentucky? Well, South Carolina came after him once. If that job opens, and the Gamecocks come after him again, watch it happen. ... And then watch Kentucky go hard for Texas A&M's Billy Gillispie.

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[highlight]• 2006 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year • [/highlight]

Karl Hobbs is in his sixth year as head men's basketball coach at The George Washington University. [highlight]In 2005-06, he guided the Colonials to their most successful year in the 92-season history of the program. GW posted a school-record 27 victories en route to a 27-3 overall record, including a perfect 16-0 mark in the Atlantic 10 Conference, also a school record for league wins. As a result, GW captured its second straight A-10 regular-season title and Hobbs was named the 2006 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year for his efforts marking the first time a GW coach had received that honor in the 30-year history of the league. Hobbs also was one of four finalists for the national Naismith Award for Men's College Coach of the Year. [/highlight]

Other milestones from last year's historic season included a national ranking in every week of the Associated Press Top 25 Poll beginning with [highlight]a preseason ranking of No. 21 to the final ranking of No. 14. GW rose as high as No. 6 in the AP Poll twice last season, its highest national ranking in 50 years.[/highlight] The Colonials put together an incredible 18-game winning streak, not only a school record but also was the longest in the nation at the time. The Colonials received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed, its highest ever. The wild ride came to an end in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against the overall No. 1 seed, Duke, at Greensboro, NC.

In 2004-05, Hobbs' team `turned the corner' with a 22-8 record along with the Atlantic 10 Conference West Division championship and the A-10 Tournament title, the last of which resulted in GW's second-ever automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The 22 victories were the most since the 1997-98 season and the second-most in 50 years.

The GW basketball program has made tremendous strides under the guidance of Hobbs who has placed an emphasis on developing players in his system. None of the current Colonials were heavily recruited before they arrived on the GW campus for Hobbs' first season in 2001-02. Attendance at GW's Charles E. Smith Athletic Center has increased steadily during the past four seasons. GW played to sold-out crowds several times during the past two seasons and attendance for home games has increased 40 percent over the past four seasons as has season-ticket sales.

The Colonials also played on national television seven times in `04-05, up from just one national TV appearance in 2001-02. Regarding television coverage, DC's local cable outlet, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, began a weekly special--The Karl Hobbs Report--every Friday to update fans about the Colonials. The Washington Post, with a circulation of more than 800,000, assigned a beat writer to cover the Colonials as it became clear that GW was on its way to having a banner year.

The Hobbs era is in full swing in Washington, DC.

Hobbs was selected to serve as a court coach for the 2005 USA Men's World University Games Team Trials held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO, in July, 2005. In Colorado, Hobbs was responsible for conducting drills, coaching scrimmages and working with players who will be vying for spots on the 2005 USA World University Games Team.

In his third season at GW, Hobbs led the Colonials to an 18-12 record in 2003-04, a postseason appearance in the NIT and was named the District 4 Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). GW's 18 victories and second-place finish in the A-10 West Division were both highwater marks spanning the previous five years.

Hobbs, 45, was hired on May 7, 2001, after eight seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Connecticut, where he earned a reputation as a top recruiter. He is credited with the recruitment and development of current Detroit Piston Richard Hamilton, as well as Khalid El-Amin and Kevin Freeman - all starters on the 1999 national champions Huskies.

In his first season as a head coach, Hobbs also proved to observers that he is much more than a talented recruiter. His frenetic, super-charged coaching style of foot-stomping and piercing whistles on the sidelines did not go unnoticed by media and fans alike. His players couldn't help but put forth the same energy and effort that Hobbs exudes on the bench and from the coaching box. At times he seemed to "will" his team to victory.

It took only one game--his first as GW's head coach--to see Hobbs' energy manifest itself in his team as the Colonials pulled out a stunning come-from-behind victory over Marshall in the NABC Classic at Kentucky's famed Rupp Arena. Trailing by 19 points early in the second half, the Colonials staged a herculean comeback aided by a defensive effort that held Marshall to just 2-for-28 (7 percent) shooting in the second half as the Colonials not only won the game but also won over the largely non-partisan crowd.

When Hobbs arrived at GW, he inherited a team with just one veteran player who had logged more than twice as many minutes as any other Colonials returnee from last season. He also inherited a schedule that, by pure coincidence, had the Colonials facing both of his former employers in back-to-back non-conference games...Boston University at Smith Center in late November followed by powerful Connecticut just four days later. Hobbs knew what he was getting into and he relished the challenge.

His first starting lineup consisted of the proven veteran in junior Chris Monroe, senior Jaason Smith who had been a role player but who would come into his own as a team leader; a sophomore shooting guard, Greg Collucci, who played just eight minutes a game as a freshman; and a pair of raw freshmen, forward Tamal Forchion and point guard T.J. Thompson, neither of whom had played in a college game.

This group came together quickly and got off to a surprising 10-5 start marked by dramatic come-from-behind victories over Marshall and Yale (in overtime), and Old Dominion and Providence on the road. But perhaps Hobbs' best coaching performance of the year came in the consolation game of the BB&T Classic at Washington's MCI Center. Following a disheartening loss to UConn and his mentor, Jim Calhoun, Hobbs' team was set to face the always very disciplined Princeton squad that had led eventual national champion Maryland for 39 minutes the night before. The Colonials took the floor against the Tigers with an air of confidence that betrayed their inexperience and repeatedly refused to allow Princeton to execute its trademark back-door cuts to the basket. The Colonials prevailed convincingly in a game that most had given them little or no chance to win.

Last season, the Colonials' eight freshmen combined to play a total of 2,954 minutes or half of the team's minutes per game. Those first-year players scored a total of 873 points (30.1 ppg) and accounted for 42 percent of the team total. Leading the way was A-10 All-Rookie selection Mike Hall whose 8.2 rebounds-per-game average tied for second-most in the league. In so doing, Hall became the first Colonials freshman to lead the team in rebounding in eight years. Likewise, classmate Pops Mensah-Bonsu's .585 (103-176) field goal percentage led the team...the first time a freshman had accomplished that feat since the 1994-95 season. The young Colonials scored an average of 71.4 points a game ranking fourth in the A-10 in scoring offense. Also, GW's +3.0 rebounding margin was third-highest in the league.

GW played a total of 14 games against opponents that advanced to the postseason, including an upset over Saint Joseph's that Hobbs points to as the biggest victory in his brief career as a head coach. The Colonials also stretched Final Four participant Texas and logged strong showings against perennial NCAA Tournament entries Connecticut and Maryland. The Colonials also went down to the wire at Xavier before a lengthy television replay was needed to decide the outcome.

The `03 season also was highlighted by GW's advance past the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the first time in two years. The Colonials defeated fourth-seeded Massachusetts on the road in the first round to advance to the quarterfinal round.

All this provides further evidence that Hobbs' squad has closed the competitive gap in the Atlantic 10 and is positioning itself as a contender in 2003-04 and beyond.

[highlight]CBS analyst Billy Packer referred to Hobbs as "one of the finest young coaches in America." UConn's Calhoun has called Hobbs "one of the best perimeter coaches in the country." [/highlight]

NBA All-Star Ray Allen of the Seattle Supersonics lauded Hobbs, saying that he had a "terrific guard coach" who helped fine tune his fundamentals.

"Coach Hobbs makes you feel very comfortable and without Coach Hobbs, I would not have gone to Connecticut," Hamilton said, reflecting on his recruiting experience with Hobbs. "He's an excellent coach. When things weren't going as well as I wanted them to go and I was struggling, he would watch a lot of tape with me and bring me into the gym for extra shooting. Even when things were going well for me, he was the type of coach who really stayed on me and never wanted me to settle for anything less than greatness, and I owe a lot to him," Hamilton added.

While at Storrs, Hobbs helped coach the Huskies to NCAA Tournament appearances in six seasons, including a 75-63 second-round victory over GW in the 1994 NCAA tournament at Nassau Coliseum.

A native of Roxbury, MA, Hobbs attended Connecticut where he was a four-year starting point guard under former coach Dom Perno. Perno is now Assistant Athletic Director for Development at GW.

Hobbs played point guard for the Huskies from 1981-84 and was captain of the team as a senior in 1983-84. He never missed a game in four seasons and started 104 of 113 games. He led the team in assists for four consecutive seasons totaling 534 assists. He currently ranks fourth on the UConn career assists list. He scored 900 points (8.0 ppg) and averaged 30 minutes per game during his college career.

Hobbs, who played with Patrick Ewing and for former GW coach Mike Jarvis at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School in the late '70s, helped lead his team to the Massachusetts State High School title. He was named Massachusetts Schoolboy Player of the Year in 1979-80.

Prior to joining Calhoun's staff at UConn, Hobbs served as an assistant coach at Boston University for six years (1988-93). Three of those seasons (1988-90) he was on Jarvis's staff before Jarvis left BU to come to GW. Boston University won the North Atlantic Conference title twice and advanced to the NCAA Tournament first round in two of Hobbs' four seasons in Boston. Hobbs worked with the BU guards and was heavily involved in the team's recruiting efforts.

Hobbs and his wife, JoAnn, have two daughters: RaShauna, 18, and Kaliah, 8.

Hobbs' Year-By-Year Record

(as a Head Coach) Year School W-L PCT Season

2001-02  GW  12-16  .429  

2002-03  GW  12-17  .414  

[highlight]2003-04  GW  18-12  .600  NIT

2004-05  GW  22-8  .733  NCAA (A-10 Champs)

2005-06  GW  27-3  .900  NCAA 2nd Rd.(A-10 Reg.-Season Champs)

2006-07  GW  23-8   [#11 NCAA] (A-10 Champs) [/highlight]

Hobbs' Year-By-Year Record

(as an Assistant Coach) Year School W-L PCT Season

1987-88  Boston Univ.  18-12  .600  

1988-89  Boston Univ.  23-8  .742  NCAA (NAC Champs)

1989-90  Boston Univ.  21-9  .700  

1990-91  Boston Univ.  18-12  .600  NCAA (NAC Champs)

1991-92  Boston Univ.  11-18  .379  

1992-93  Boston Univ.  10-18  .357  

1993-94  Connecticut  29-5  .853  NCAA (16)

1994-95  Connecticut  28-5  .849  NCAA (8)

1995-96  Connecticut  30-2  .938  NCAA (16)**

1996-97  Connecticut  18-15  .546  NIT (third place)

1997-98  Connecticut  32-5  .865  NCAA (8)

1998-99  Connecticut  34-2  .944  NCAA champions

1999-00  Connecticut  25-10  .714  NCAA (32)

2000-01  Connecticut  20-12  .625  NIT (2nd rd.)

Hobbs' School-By-School Record

(as both Head Coach and an Assistant Coach)

1988-93  Boston Univ.  101-77  .567  6 seasons

1994-2001  Connecticut  216-56  .794  8 seasons

2002-2006  GW  91-56 .619  5 seasons

TOTALS 19 Seasons 408-189 .683  10 NCAAs, 3 NITs

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Current salary: $351, 455 Link

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My only problem with him is his weak recruiting. Look on Scouts.com, he's got nothing going on...

I'm scared...

[Held_AccountaBull]

I hope George Washington loses its first round game so we can interview him

[Jihme]

i have george washington losing in the second round, so we can wait a few extra days  ;D

[JoeBulls]

I shall take FULL credit for bringing him up as a candidate..

There are links on this message board to prove this.

shalom

[Bull Matrix]

I like this guy. I remember when he had GW in the tourny with that Pops player. He was hampered by injuries near the end of the season which really cost them in both the A-10 and NCAA tourny if I recall. I love his BIG EAST conections, and I really loved his energy during the game. He or a Travis Ford would be a nice get for USF.

[Guest BasketBull.]

Search for new coach shows depth of Colonials' troubles

The Washington Times

[highlight]May 8, 2001[/highlight]

Author: Dan Daly; THE WASHINGTON TIMES

George Washington couldn't even get its women's basketball coach to take the men's job. What does that tell you about the state of the program?

Just two years removed from back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, the Colonials seem to have lost their way. Tom Penders has been forced out because of diminishing returns, several players have been caught making unauthorized long-distance calls at university expense and another player still faces multiple charges stemming from an alleged ****.

Kinda makes you long for the good old days of Richie Parker, doesn't it?

And now we have Joe McKeown, coach of the highly successful women's team, opting not to take the school up on its offer to coach the men's team. It was a decision that spoke volumes - about the men's game, the women's game and McKeown himself.

Simply put, coaching women's college basketball these days ain't half-bad. The pay is good, the pressure to win isn't nearly as great and the off-court problems are much more manageable. Why would McKeown, a family man, give all that up to try to straighten out Penders' mess? It's not the percentage move, and Joe didn't get to be where he is by being a dummy.

That said, I would have loved to see him take a shot at it. The lack of recognition in women's hoops drives him crazy at times - never more so than in 1997, when he led GW to the Elite Eight. How many people can name even one player on that team? (Here's five off the top of my head: Tajama Abraham, Noelia Gomez, Lisa Cermignano, Colleen McCrea and Marlo Egleston.) If he coached the men, he would have columnists like me hanging on his every word.

Well, maybe every other word.

Seriously, how much farther can McKeown real istically expect to take the women's program? Perhaps he looks at Southwest Missouri State in the Final Four and thinks: We can do that. But I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for him to do it.

With McKeown unwilling to make the switch, GW has turned to Karl Hobbs, who has been keeping Jim Calhoun company on the Connecticut bench for the past eight seasons. It's hard not to notice the parallels between Hobbs and dearly departed Mike Jarvis. Both are undersized battlers. (Hobbs was a four-year starter at point guard for the Huskies in the early '80s.) Jarvis even coached Hobbs in high school at Cambridge (Mass.) Rindge & Latin, and both of them apprenticed at Boston University.

Since UConn won the NCAA title in '99, Hobbs has been a perpetual coaching candidate. Fordham, Manhattan, Tulane, New Orleans, Baylor, Washington State, Oregon State - all had varying degrees of interest in him. Hartford even offered him a job, but he turned it down.

He was in the running for the opening at American a year ago, but the school chose Jeff Jones. He was a finalist at Siena around the same time, but Louis Orr was hired. He was up for the post at Drexel earlier this year, but it went to Bruiser Flint.

Yup, George Washington's new basketball coach is a guy AU, Siena and Drexel all passed on. Hmmm.

Here's something else to consider: GW's last three coaches - Penders, Jarvis and John Kuester - all had been head coaches before. (And Penders and Jarvis had taken teams to the NCAAs.) Hobbs has never headed a college program. In fact, he was only the No. 2 assistant at Connecticut, behind Dave Leiteo. Double hmmm.

I'd feel a lot better about this hire if Hobbs was from somewhere other than New England - you know, just for a change of pace. GW likes to think of itself as a worldly place, but you wouldn't know that from its basketball program. VP Bob Chernak, who oversees athletics, came from Hartford (with school president Stephen Joel Trachtenberg). Athletic director Jack Kvancz played at Boston College. Assistant AD Dom Perno played and coached at UConn. Penders played at UConn and coached at Rhode Island. Jarvis was a Bostonian through and through. And now GW has returned to the Happy Hunting Ground for Hobbs.

It's all very chummy. A regular New England mafia. (And let's not forget: Penders and Kvancz were boyhood buddies, and Hobbs captained one of Perno's UConn teams.)

I don't envy Hobbs, though. Penders didn't leave much in the cupboard other than Chris Monroe. The new coach is said to be a fine recruiter - he once recruited a kid for UConn who had a State of Minnesota tattoo on his shoulder (Khalid El-Amin) - and he'll need to be to get the Colonials back to where they were in the '90s. Still, things will probably get worse for GW basketball before they get better. Even if Hobbs really is the second coming of Mike Jarvis.

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Colonials Take New Direction

Hobbs to Stress Discipline as GW Coach Washington Post

[highlight]May 8, 2001[/highlight]

Author: Mark Asher; Washington Post Staff Writer

George Washington University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg said yesterday the hiring of Karl Hobbs as men's basketball coach represents a move in his long-term goal "to reconcile outstanding athletic programs with outstanding academic programs."

Hobbs replaces Tom Penders, who resigned on April 20 citing burnout, amid concerns in the university community about the program's performance on and off the court. Terms of Hobbs's contract were not disclosed.

"George Washington University considers itself a serious university and there are serious universities who we aspire to be like in that regard," Trachtenberg said at a news conference introducing Hobbs. "If we could in the twinkling of an eye form our own programs, [Duke and Stanford] would be our role models. We're going to work at that one step at a time and we believe the hiring of Hobbs is a move in that direction."

Hobbs -- with his wife JoAnn, mother Evelyn, two daughters and other family members occupying the front two rows -- explained how the values his mother instilled in him would be the same ones that could earn an NCAA tournament bid next season for the Colonials, who were 14-18 overall and 6-10 in the Atlantic 10 Conference last year.

"I truly want to say to you, in front of her, how much I love her and how much I appreciate that," he said. "And those are some of the things I'm going to pass to my players," he said. "It's going to be a program that's going to have communication . . . trust . . . caring and . . . teamwork."

Hobbs was an assistant coach for the past eight seasons under Jim Calhoun at Hobbs's alma mater, Connecticut, and recruited three key players who helped lead the Huskies to the national championship in 1999.

Hobbs spent six seasons before that as an assistant at Boston University, four under then-coach Mike Jarvis, who coached Hobbs in high school. Jarvis coached at GW before Penders and is now at St. John's.

"One of the biggest things I learned from [Calhoun and Jarvis] was that you must have discipline in your program," Hobbs said.

"I feel very strongly that kids want to be disciplined. I think they complain when they get disciplined but I think they complain more when they don't have discipline."

Earlier, during a brief locker room meeting with four of his seven returning players, Hobbs said he asked them to match his intensity and energy in order to be successful.

"I said, 'Listen up, guys. We need everybody, every second, every minute, every game. We need you academically as well as basketball. Guys, look around. . . . This is all we have. Let's get ready.' "

Senior Mike King attended the news conference and said: "Coach Hobbs is going to be a good coach for George Washington University. They'll have the same style and everything. They'll still fast break but it will be more controlled basketball."

Hobbs said he wants to see significant improvement in the team's defensive field goal percentage and rebounding differential and a slight gain in three-point shooting percentage.

The Colonials averaged 77 points per game and Hobbs said if the Colonials can achieve their other goals and match the scoring output, "We'll be sitting around on Selection Sunday, saying, 'Boy, I hope I go the California. Boy, I hope we go to Atlanta or wherever the heck the regionals are.' . . . Oh, boy. We'll have some fun."

Hobbs said he expects early Colonials signees to fulfill their commitment to the school. Philadelphia player of the year Tamal Forchion, a 6-foot-7, 230-pound power forward, and point guard T.J. Thompson of Newport School in Kensington have been admitted to the university and have met eligibility requirements for next season.

[Guest BasketBull.]

I don't know, there's just something in me that says this guy isn't all that. I'll hold my judgment...

[Bull Matrix]

Basketbull,

He is a step up for the USF program. Not sure South Alabama's coach will be able to handle the BIG EAST right now. I actually think Travis Ford is way ahead of the USA coach right now.

[TyBull]

If you ever watched a GW hoops game and watched Karl Hobbs.... That guy is a MANIAC! He works and sweats as much as the players. I love his energy....

And he can recruit the DC area...

[Guest BasketBull.]

Did you see our last coach sweat at the end?  --That is if you are going by sweat as a measuring device.  

My concern is this: Why did it take this guy so long to get a head coaching position? He was almost an assistant for life [remember, our last ocach an assistant for a very long time also]. As for GW, they have one of the softest schedules.

But, yes, he is a step up.

To me, he's like a Juco transfer... not sure if it will translate over to the Big East play.