The Colonials could place blame on a number of reasons for their 9-17 record this past season.

First, it was point guard Travis King's knee injury in August. King was expected to do his best to fill the shoes of standout Carl Elliott, who graduated last year. Instead, King was ruled out for the entire season, leaving the Colonials without a true ball handler and a massive headache to deal with.

GW's leading scorer from a season ago, guard Maureece Rice was the likely answer to the crisis. But a series of off-the-court issues resulted in a lack of production, three separate suspensions and the eventual dismissal from the team. Rice was named the A-10 Championship's Most Outstanding Player last year, but he proved to be nothing more than an annoyance to the Colonials' miserable season.

Add to those tribulations a team filled with inexperience and a shortage of offensive prowess, and you've got a program in the midst of a serious rebuilding phase. But coach Karl Hobbs remains positive and focused in regard to the team's future.

"You're going to see a lot of changes within the program," Hobbs said. "Then we'll start back again building it back block by block. ... We have to meet as a staff and reevaluate everything from top to bottom. It starts with evaluating ourselves -- the staff -- and some of the things that we could have done better. It starts there, then will trickle right down."

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