Junior Mike King and Maryland’s Terence Morris grace the cover of the D.C. edition of Athlon’s College Basketball Preview, which declares the Colonials’ No. 5 the “King of D.C.”

In the one-page preview of the men’s team, Athlon says: “If there’s one certainty about a Tom Penders-coached team it’s that the veteran coach will win. Count on it.”

The team is picked second in the Atlantic 10 West behind Xavier, while Mike King is picked for the A-10 First Team. Freshman Val Brown is predicted to be the A-10 “Newcomer of the Year,” while Chris Monroe is ranked No. 71 on the list of Top 100 College Freshmen. GW is predicted to go to the NCAAs, but lose – while Michigan State University is predicted to knock off Temple in the national championship game.

For fun, Athlon lists King on the “All-Royalty Team” and sophomore Albert Roma on the “All-Rand-McNally Team.”

Athlon also ranks the recruiting class for the GW women at 24th.

In “Minor leagues, major decisions” (USA Today, Sports, p. 3, Thursday, Sept. 16), Erik Brady writes that if GW alumnus Shawnta Rogers doesn’t make the NBA as he hopes to do, he will have a tough choice between the 53-year-old Continental Basketball Association and the brand-new International Basketball League. Rogers was drafted by the IBL’s Baltimore BayRunners, so, in that league, he would play close to home. Brady writes, though that the advantage in terms of opportunity and the rules (international or NBA) being used seem to favor the CBA.”…I’ll have two choices,” Rogers told USA Today. “I’m not sure which I’d do.”

-David Holt