Colonials 34, Universal All-Stars 27. Chris Monroe receives the ball just inside the 3-point line. He waits. He dribbles. An All-Stars defender takes position in case Monroe breaks. He doesn’t. Instead, he passes to an open Greg Collucci who hits a three-pointer. Colonials by 10.
Next offensive possession. Starting from just beyond the arc, Monroe passes up a tough jump shot and, as he drives to the basket, two defenders collapse, leaving Jaason Smith wide open for a shot from eight feet. Colonials by 12.
Expect a lot of this. Monroe drawing double-teams. Monroe dishing off to Smith or freshman Tamal Forchion or the three-point specialist Collucci. Standing 6-foot-3 and 228 pounds, Monroe’s ability to pass and shoot will make him a threat anywhere on the court.
With the departure of SirValiant Brown and the addition of four freshmen and four walk-ons, first-year coach Karl Hobbs will look to his veterans to carry the team.
“We’re asking him to rebound, to score, to assist and to guard the other team’s best player,” Hobbs said of the junior from Hyattsville, Md., who last season led GW in scoring season with 18.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists a game. “It’s so unfair, but we don’t have a choice, and I think he’s ready for the challenge.”
The challenges will come early for Monroe as the Colonials travel to the University of Kentucky for the NABC Classic. He will guard Marshall University’s Tamar Slay, a 6-foot-9 junior guard who averaged 17.3 points and 5.4 rebounds a game, in GW’s Nov. 15 opener. He will likely get Keith Bogans the next night. Bogans (17 points a game) is a deadly 6-foot-5 guard and double-digit scorer.
In the absence of sophomore point guard Darnell Miller, Monroe will be asked to run the offense when freshman point guard T.J. Thompson needs a breather, Hobbs said. Miller received a three-game penalty for illegal phone calls made last season that were charged to an assistant coach’s personal phone code.
As the season progresses, Monroe could find himself at other positions as well.
“We could get into a situation where he can be our 1 (point guard), our 2 (shooting guard), our 3 (small forward) and our 4 (power forward),” Hobbs said. “That can happen to us this year.”
“Chris is our backbone. As he goes, we go,” Smith said. “Chris is big, and it’s not just the scoring. Chris gets rebounds. Chris draws so much attention that he gets other players’ shots. He gets Greg Collucci shots because when Chris penetrates, you better believe everyone is keying in on Chris Monroe. Chris is very valuable to me, personally, because he helps me out.”
Several times Monroe drew extra attention in the team’s first exhibition game, allowing Smith open shots for a team-high 21 points.
Monroe has also helped the freshmen develop and has a strong bond with Thompson – the two grew up playing basketball together.
“(Chris) has been a tremendous help to T.J.,” Hobbs said. “I think the thing he has lent to T.J. is getting him in the gym and working on his game all the time and showing T.J. the kind of commitment he needs to be a good basketball player.”
While most attention shifts to Monroe’s productivity, the versatile junior said he is playing a team game.
“My goal is just to win, whatever it takes to win,” he said. “I won’t mind having 14 assists and 5 rebounds and no points, as long as we win. That’s the whole point.”
