George Washington Aiming for an Atlantic-10 Title
Chris Caputo has assembled his strongest roster yet at George Washington. Can they return to the NCAA Tournament in 2026 for the first time in over a decade?
After taking a step forward last season, the George Washington Revolutionaries have something brewing in Washington D.C. Head coach Chris Caputo helped lead George Washington to their first 20+ win season since 2017. Now, he has assembled the best roster yet in his four seasons at the helm.
Just a shade over a decade ago, they reached the NCAA Tournament after finishing 24-9 overall, 11-5 in the Atlantic 10, which placed them with a nine-seed in the big dance. Two seasons later, George Washington won 28 games and reached 20th overall in the AP Poll for the first time since the outstanding 2005-2006 squad that went 27-3 and a perfect 16-0 in the A-10. It was a rough stretch between 2017 and 2024 where they finished .500 overall just once.
After three head coaching changes since 2016, it seems like they finally have found the right leader in Chris Caputo. The Revolutionaries have returned one of the best centers in college basketball, key guards, and one of the best incoming transfer classes outside of the power conference ranks. Let’s dive into their roster.
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Roster Turnover
Gerald Drumgoole Jr. (Ineligible)
11 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists
Sean Hansen (Ineligible)
5.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.1 steals
Laziz Talipov (Ineligible)
1 game
Keegan Harvey (Senior) - Bryant
6 games (1.8 minutes)
Darren Buchannan Jr. (Junior) - Rutgers
10.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists
Jacoi Hutchinson (Junior) - Longwood
6.5 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.7 steals
Zamoku Weluche-Ume (Junior) - TBD
1 game
Dayan Nessah (Sophomore) - Cleveland State
2.7 points, 1.5 rebounds
Overall, the Revolutionaries did a good job of limiting the roster turnover damage. They knew that they were going to lose both Gerald Drumgoole and Sean Hanson. Drumgoole finished a six-year career that started at Pitt back in 2019 and saw him stop at Albany, Delaware, and lastly George Washington. Hansen spent three seasons with Cornell before finishing off with the Revolutionaries last year.
The largest hit in the transfer portal came from Darren Buchannan Jr. who is now headed to Rutgers. The 6’7 forward had a tremendous sophomore campaign, but his metrics dropped significantly from his freshman season. As a freshman, he averaged 15.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.3 steals while shooting 54.6% overall and 32.3% from three-point. Last year, that dropped to 10.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and just 45.5% shooting and 17.5% from three-point. It’s worth noting that this was a significantly better team than the year prior, full of additional talent that cut into his offensive production.
Jacoi Hutchinson is another notable loss as he averaged 6.5 points, 2.4 assists, and 2.2 rebounds last season while shooting 33.7% overall and 25.3% from beyond the arc. He’ll be headed to Longwood where he’ll surely take on a starting role as a 6’3 combo-guard.
While Dayan Nessah didn’t have eye-popping numbers, I believe that he’ll be a long-term talent in college basketball. I’ve covered Nessah’s performance in the FIBA U20 tournament where he dominated and averaged 17.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 3.4 assists for Switzerland. The Cleveland State transfer is going to be ready to bust onto the scene this coming year.
Returning Players
Rafael Castro (Senior)
14 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.4 blocks
Trey Moss (Senior)
4.7 points, 1.9 rebounds
Mohamed Binzagr (Senior)
5 games (1.2 minutes)
Garrett Johnson (Junior)
DNP (ACL Injury)
Amir Arrington (Junior)
1.2 points (5 games/1.2 minutes)
Trey Autry (Junior)
10.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Christian Jones (Sophomore)
8.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.7 steals
Ty Bevins (Sophomore)
2.4 points, 1 rebound
Guards
Trey Autry (6’4)
Autry followed up a strong freshman campaign where he averaged 5.4 points and three rebounds with an even better sophomore season. He averaged 10.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, one assist, and one steal across 34 games. He shot 45.6% from the floor and 38.6% from beyond the arc on 4.9 attempts per game. He finished with a 122.6 offensive rating which was 149th in the country, and a 58.8% effective field goal percentage and 62.6% true shooting percentage. He had some monster games, including a 23 point performance against VCU and a ten point, ten rebound game against Rhode Island. Autry will be a huge piece for the Revolutionaries this season and I’m certain he’ll be in the starting lineup to start off the year.
Trey Moss (6’3)
After a dominating season at William & Mary as a junior where Moss averaged 13.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.2 assists, he entered the transfer portal and landed at George Washington. He took a step back in his role as he dropped from averaged 31.3 minutes per game to just 15.9 last year. He managed to still average 4.7 points and 1.9 rebounds per game while shooting 37.6% from the floor and 24% from three-point. He struggled dramatically from beyond the arc. Last year in the CAA, he shot just 26% on 73 attempts and it carried over as he shot just 21.7% in the A-10. As a result, his playing time diminished in conference to just 8.2 minutes per game. He’ll have an opportunity this season to earn more playing time.
Christian Jones (6’2)
Jones dominated during his freshman season as he averaged 8.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 43.9% overall and 35.1% from beyond the arc. As the season went on, he solidified himself in the rotation as he even played a season-high 41 minutes against George Mason. His best game of the season came against Dayton as he finished with 23 points, three rebounds, and three assists on 7-14 shooting and 5-8 from 3pt. He showed strong strides with his playmaking, and if he’s able to cut down a bit on the turnovers he could take a huge leap forward. Jones should be a lock in the starting lineup this season.
Ty Bevins (6’5)
Ty Bevins had a solid freshman season where he averaged 2.4 points and one rebound across 27 games while shooting 39.7% overall and 38.5% from beyond the arc. He would end up playing in 10-17 minutes per game throughout the back half of conference play, however, he never really busted out in a game. He finished with zero points in the six of his last eleven games while averaging 14 minutes per game. His best game came against Saint Joes where he finished with nine points, two rebounds, one assist, and one steal on 3-5 shooting from three-point. He most likely won’t crack the starting lineup this season, but he should see an increase in playing time which will let us and the coaching staff see what he can do in an expanded role.
Forwards
Garrett Johnson (6’8)
The world doesn’t know about Garrett Johnson yet, but they certainly will if he can return to what he showed as a redshirt freshman two years ago. He’s had a bit of an unfortunate start to his collegiate career. He started off at Princeton where he redshirt during the 2021-2022 season. Johnson then had to take a year off due to a benign tumor in his left hip. Following his off year, he transferred to George Washington where he took off in 23 games. Before missing the last eight games of the season with issues around his hip again, he was averaging 13.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and one assist while shooting 42.8% overall and 40.3% from three-point. Issues struck again as he suffered a torn ACL and was forced to miss last season. A career that started in 2021 has now seen him miss a total of three seasons worth of basketball. If Johnson is able to return to even a fraction of what he did as a freshman, he’ll be a crucial player for the Revolutionaries. If anything, Johnson absolutely deserves this. After battling through rehabbing a torn ACL and undergoing more chemotherapy on his tumor, it’s going to be hard to not get chills when he returns to the court.
Centers
Rafael Castro (6’11)
Rafael Castro is easily one of the best returning players to their prior team in the entire scope of college basketball. Last season, he averaged 14 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 66% from the floor. He isn’t a three-point shooter as he plays more of a traditional center role. Last year, he finished with a ridiculous 125.8 offensive rating which was 82nd in the country. His 65.8% effective field goal percentage was 13th in the nation, and his 66.1% true shooting percentage was 22nd. On the glass, he finished with a 12.7% offensive rebounding percentage and a 21.6% defensive rebounding percentage. On defensive, he featured a 5.1% blocking percentage and a 2.5% steal percentage. Wow, okay that was a lot of stats all to say…Rafael Castro is incredible. Castro is an NBA sleeper that could put his name on the professional radar this season if he follows up with another strong campaign.
Walk-ons
Mohamed Binzagr and Amir Arrington are both walk-ons, so you should imagine they’ll see a similar production level this season.
Roster Additions
The Revolutionaries are brining in the following players:
Tre Dinkins III (Senior) - Duquesne
12.9 points, 2.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists
Tyrone Marshall, Jr. (Senior) - Western Kentucky
10.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.2 steals
Bubu Benjamin (Junior) - Tarleton State
13.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.5 steals
Jean Aranguren (Junior) - Hofstra
14.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.1 steals
Luke Hunger (Junior) - Northwestern
2.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists
Jalen Rougier-Roane (Freshman)
Vinny Chaudhri (Freshman)
Guards
Tre Dinkins III (6’2)
One of the highlights of the incoming transfer portal class for the Revolutionaries is Tre Dinkins out of Duquesne. Dinkins started his career out at Canisius where as a sophomore he averaged 15.4 points, 3.6 assists, 2.7 rebounds, and one steal per game. Last year at Duquesne, he barely missed a beat. Dinkins averaged 12.9 points, 3.1 assists, 2.3 rebounds, and 0.9 steals per game. He shot 40.9% overall and 37.9% from beyond the arc on 6.3 attempts per game. He did the opposite of what many players do and that’s start off cold in non-conference, but heat up in conference play. Over the last eleven games of the season, he averaged 15.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. He was an elite point guard for the Dukes as he finished with a 22.5% assist rate which was 312th in the country, compared to a 16.2% turnover rate. He’ll be a key piece for George Washington this season.
Jean Aranguren (6’3)
Araguren followed up a solid freshman season at Iona with an even better sophomore year at Hofstra last season. As a freshman at Iona, he averaged 8.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.1 steals. Last year, he finished averaging 14.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.1 steals while shooting 41% overall and 34.2% from beyond the arc. He had six double-digit assist games, including a ridiculous 16 point, 14 assist, five rebound, three block, and one steal performance against Temple. Aranguren was 71st in the country with a 29.9% assist rate, compared to just a 16.5% turnover rate. He took a lot of shots last year as he averaged nearly twelve attempts per game, so you can imagine that these numbers will drop a bit now that he has a number of offensive weapons around him. However, he’ll be a focal piece on this roster for the Revolutionaries this season.
Jalen Rougier-Roane (6’5)
Per 247 Sports, Jalen Rougier-Roane was a three-star recruit and the 264th best recruit out of his year’s freshman class. The kid can flat out score. He has a great shot from outside, he can knock them down in the mid-range, and he can slash to the paint. It’s hard for freshman to break through the rotation, especially on rosters where there is depth everywhere. However, I think that Rougier-Roane could surprise some people this season and take on a eight to twelve minute a game role for George Washington. If he stays and develops, he’ll be a solid long-term prospect for the Revolutionaries.
Rougier-Roane held offers from Vanderbilt, Seton Hall, Temple, Rhode Island, Xavier, Penn State, Marquette, and many more programs.
Forwards
Tyrone Marshall, Jr. (6’8)
After spending the last three seasons with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, Tyrone Marshall Jr. entered the portal for his last season of eligibility. He developed into a starter for WKU, and he’s coming off his best season yet where he averaged 10.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.2 steals while shooting 42.1% overall and 31.5% from beyond the arc. His numbers are down a bit from his junior year where he shot 49.2% overall and 37.2% from three-point, with a notable difference from where he attempted just 2.3 3pt shots vs 4.5 per game last year. Marshall is super athletic and he is a prolific inside threat where he shot 51% overall and 54.3% in the Conference USA. His 19.9% defensive rebounding percentage was 236th in the country, while he also finished with a 2.8% blocking percentage and a two percent steal rate. This is an all-around solid player coming in for George Washington where he’ll play a huge role this season.
Bubu Benjamin (6’7)
Tarleton State had a rough season, but Bubu Benjamin busted onto the scene as just a sophomore. The 6’7 forward out of Alberta averaged 13.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 44.1% overall and 38% from beyond the arc. He had some solid games against stronger teams including 11 points against Florida State, 21 against SMU, 15 against Michigan, and 13 against UCF. In conference, he took a step forward defensively as he finished with a 2.7% blocking percentage and a 2.9% steal percentage. He’s a strong free throw shooter as he shot 80.8% from the line. I would actually love to see him draw even more fouls to take advantage. A lot of people haven’t heard of Bubu Benjamin, but he’s going to be a special player at George Washington.
Luke Hunger (6’10)
Hunger spent the last three seasons with Northwestern where he technically received a redshirt after appearing in just six games his freshman season. During his true freshman year, he appeared in 31 games for the Wildcats and started in ten. He averaged 3.8 points and 2.1 rebounds. Last year, he appeared in 25 games while starting none. He averaged 2.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game while shooting 38.1% overall and just 11.1 % for beyond the arc. He isn’t a three-point threat at all as he is shooting just 18% throughout his career. He featured a 12.3% defensive rebounding percentage and a 10.3% offensive rebounding percentage. He had some solid playmaking metrics in his limited playing time as he finished with a 17.1% assist rate and a 14.2% turnover rate. With his height, he’ll be able to provide some depth while finally breaking through with a bit of a larger role.
Vinny Chaudhri (6’7)
Vincent Chaudhri was listed as a three-star recruit according to ESPN and the 55th best small forward in his class. Per 247 Sports, he was unranked. It’s hard to believe that he wasn’t ranked higher considering that Chaudhri held offers from TCU, SMU, Saint Louis, St. John’s, Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, and more. He’s super athletic, quick to the basket and a skilled slasher already. I think it’ll be hard for him to crack the rotation given the depth that George Washington has, so look for him to redshirt and take the year to develop.
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Expectations
Heading into the new season, the analytics are high on George Washington. Per Torvik, they sit at 60th in the country and Evan Miya has them at 78th. Looking at the roster from a thousand foot view, and I’m going to agree mightily. This is a deep roster that is filled with an immense amount of talent up-and-down at all positions. Let’s look at what a potential starting lineup could look like:
Tre Dinkins III
Trey Autry / Christian Jones
Tyrone Marshall Jr. / Bubu Benjamin
Garrett Johnson
Rafael Castro
Tre Dinkins is a lock at the point guard position, while Rafael Castro will hold down the paint. As long as Garrett Johnson is feeling good throughout practice and exhibition games, you have to imagine that he’ll slide into the starting rotation. Trey Autry is a perfect person to slide into the complimentary guard role next to Dinkins with his offensive capabilities. However, you could move Christian Jones into the rotation. He was incredible as a freshman and he started in 21 games, while really turning it on throughout the back half of the season. Then it gets interesting with the last spot, in which I believe that Caputo has a couple of options. You could slide in Tyrone Marshall. Marshall has plenty of starting experience across 62 out of his 99 games at WKU. Just two seasons ago he shot 49% overall and 37.2% from 3pt, so at 6’7 he’d slide perfectly into more of a wing/traditional small forward role. Bubu Benjamin is also 6’7 and he’s coming off an outstanding sophomore campaign where he shot 44% overall and 38% from deep.
Looking at the bench, this team is loaded. You have an odd man out guard between Autry and Jones, and an odd man out forward between Benjamin and Marshall. Whichever two players are left out will be two of the first pieces off the bench. You also have Jean Aranguren who could absolutely slide into the starting rotation as well. Aranguren averaged over 14 points for Hofstra while shooting 41% and 34.2% from three-point. I like bringing Aranguren off the bench because he is a strong ball-handler, so he can take over running the offense when Dinkins is off the court. Just looking at those three players, they are all easily people that would be starting on many other teams throughout college basketball. Rounding out the bench, you’ll have players like Trey Moss, Luke Hunger, and Ty Bevins along with the freshman.
This is going to be an offensively dominate team, however, my largest concern is going to be the question marks on the defensive end down low. Castro, Hunger, and Marshall are the only three players that are 6’8 or taller, and Castro and Hunger are the only two that are at least 6’10. Castro is a strong defender, but Hunger didn’t show a lot at Northwestern throughout two seasons. Both Marshall and Bubu Benjamin averaged over one steal per game, however, neither averaged more than 0.6 blocks. The on-ball defense and disruption in the lanes is there, however, when going up against teams with stout big men, they could struggle when Castro isn’t on the court.
The Revolutionaries opted to go with a more team-friendly non-conference slate of games. The most important games are going to come against South Florida, Murray State, and Florida. The honorable mention games are McNeese State and Middle Tennessee. This isn’t an at-large bid schedule, but it’s one that will help George Washington win nine games or more throughout the non-conference. Plus, you have games against at least three teams that could potentially win their respective conferences. However, they are most likely going to have to dominate throughout the conference schedule to come close to bubble conversations if they want to make it without winning the Atlantic 10 conference tournament.
Overall, I think this is easily one of the best teams in the A-10 this season. It has the makings of being the best George Washington team that we have seen in over a decade. Rafael Castro is a star in the making, they have so many talented guards that they are going to have to bring starters off the bench. If you want a team to watch this season, I highly recommend keeping an eye on what Chris Caputo has built here in D.C.