Atlantic 10 Basketball: Early 2020 offseason storylines and observations

LSU-transfer James Bishop could help GW get over the hump

GW fans should be excited about the direction in which Jamion Christian is taking the program. An 11th place finish in conference with some solid wins along the way (Davidson, at Duquesne, at UMass) was a solid way for him to begin his tenure at the helm, and his freshman class proved themselves as one of the most promising young cores in the league. The talent that will be available off of the bench remains a question mark heading into next season, but Jameer Nelson Jr., Jamison Battle, and Maceo Jack form a more-than-adequate “Big 3” in terms of breaking out of the bottom 4 of the conference.

One player who should help Christian immensely in resolving the team’s depth issues is James Bishop, a transfer from LSU and a former 4-star recruit. The 3.1 points that he averaged in Will Wade’s system obviously don’t jump off the page, but he was only on the floor for eight minutes per contest. With Armel Potter no longer factoring into the equation, someone will need to step up and help Nelson Jr. in the backcourt, and I think Bishop has the pure talent to be that guy. If he can come through in even a somewhat-major way, a starting five made up of those two, Battle, Jack and Chase Paar would be nothing for opposing fan bases to sniff their noses at.

If the deeper rotational players like Sloan Seymour, Matthew Moyer, and Ahmir Harris can at least be solid and reliable bench options, and if the team overall can figure out a way to become a little more stout defensively (easier said than done, I know), the Colonials could be the team that most of us aren’t talking about enough. To be sure, that’s a lot of “if”s, but none of them are outlandish, and I think Christian could be a good enough coach to get the job done.