Scott Transfers From GW +

Darrio Scott (right), a 6-6, 223 pound swingman from Lynchburg, VA, has transferred from George Washington to Middle Tennessee State according to a reports in Washington Post and the student newspaper, GW Hatchet.

In addition, Marquin Chandler (left), a 6-6, 210 forward from Oakland, CA, has returned to his home state with intentions of transferring to another school. He averaged 6.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 14.7 as a reserve in 17 games last season.

In the final roster move, Matija Debevec (right), a 6-11, 230 pound center from Ljubljana, Slovenia, has decided to return to his home country to pursue a professional career. In limited playing time (five minutes total) in six games during his freshman season, the big man pulled down two rebounds. He had averaged 25 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks per game for Ilirija Ljubljana in the Slovenian Junior League prior to joining the A10 program.

GW's second-year coach Karl Hobbs told Post reporter Kathy Orton, "It has eliminated guys who didn't want to be here. We've got some young guys. We've got to build with these guys." He also told Hatchet reporter Brian Costa, "I don't think either of them (Scott and Chandler) were unhappy, I just think that they wanted to pursue other things... Being able to make choices is what it's all about, and they made choices to go elsewhere and that's great."

While just five lettermen return for the Colonials, Hobbs has a top 2002 recruiting class with Carl Elliot, a 6-3 point guard from Brooklyn, NY; Mike Hall, a 6-5 shooting guard from the Chicago area; Omar Williams, a 6-9 small forward from Philadelphia; NaNa Mensah-Bonsu, a 6-8 power forward from London, England and St. Augustine's Prep in NJ; and, Alexander Kireev, a 6-11 center from Nikolaev, Ukraine and Evangel Christian Academy in Shreveport, LA. The NCAA Clearinghouse has okayed all these recruits except for Hall. Orton reports that a decision is expected within the next day or two.

Hobbs also told Costa, "It's been truly a rebuilding process, and thank God (senior 6-3 guard) Chris Monroe (right) was here or we'd literally be starting with no bricks, but I feel like this year is the start of us building a program. This is the first group of recruits that we are bringing in that we've actually seen them play and recruited them." Monroe, a second team All-Conference selection as a junior, led GW in scoring with 21.2 points and was the Colonials second-leading rebounder at 6.1 rebounds.

That's a lot of news for one school but there's another piece of information that could impact the Colonials play, at least early. On of those five returnees, sophomore power forward Tamal Forchion is in a cast.

The 6-6, 240 big man from Philadelphia's Roman Catholic High School who was named Player of the year as a senior by both the Inquirer and the Daily News, broke his ankle in a summer league game in mid-August when former Temple center Ron Rollerson inadvertently came crashing down on him.

Forchion (left), who averaged 7.7 points, and 4.1 rebounds last season and tied a school record with 10 offensive rebounds last January against Duquesne, also had a plate put into his ankle. He's scheduled to have his cast removed in approximately two weeks but is not likely to be ready for the start of the season.

Photos: George Washington University Sports Information Department