(Photo courtesy of Jason Aigner)
FOGGY BOTTOM – On March 18, Darren Buchanan Jr. announced on social media that he would return to GW for his redshirt sophomore season.
Get Back Year 😈 #RaiseHigh💙 pic.twitter.com/NhDIJxQd3j
— JunBoogiee (@dbuchananjr2) March 18, 2024
The 6-8 forward had a stellar first year for the Revolutionaries where he earned a spot on the All-Rookie team and averaged 15.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.3 steals while shooting 32.3% from three and 54.6% from the field in 30.9 minutes per game.
Darren Buchanan Jr had an extremely underrated Freshman season for George Washington. He finished the year averaging
16 PPG
7 RPG
2 APG
55% FGDarren also went off for some big games this season. Including a 38 Point game against Fordham and a 24 and 12 game against La Salle pic.twitter.com/HK6aMqczA9
— KJ (@KJ__Hoops) March 19, 2024
After starting the season on the bench, Buchanan showed that he deserved a bigger role. GW head coach Chris Caputo quickly rewarded him with a larger role in the offense and a spot in the starting lineup. His best performance of the season came on Jan. 3 in a triple-overtime loss to Fordham, where Buchanan scored 38 points, grabbed six rebounds and recorded four steals while shooting 15-30 from the field.
In this day and age, it is never a guarantee that a student-athlete will choose to play more than one season at a school. In Buchanan’s case, after his excellent season along with his three years of eligibility, he likely could have found a new home at any number of high-major schools and earned significantly more NIL than what is available at GW.
“I think it was the right thing to do to come back for my sophomore season,” Buchanan said. “And with the guys that we have staying and bringing in, I think we have a chance to do something really nice here.”
Being able to grow and develop with GW’s returning core was one of the main reasons why Buchanan chose to remain in Foggy Bottom. Rising redshirt sophomore forward Garrett Johnson and rising sophomore guards Jacoi Hutchinson and Trey Autry are all expected to return to GW and have three more seasons of eligibility.
“Us four had a lot of sit downs with one another,” Buchanan said. “If we really lock in with one another and put the respective work in, I don’t think there’s anyone else in the A-10 who can compete with us.”
There were only four pairs of teammates in the A-10 last season that had played together for at least four years: Braden Norris and Tom Welch at Loyola Chicago, Ronald Polite III and Malik Henry at George Mason, Jhamir Brickus and Anwar Gil at La Salle and Gibson Jimerson and Terrance Hargrove Jr. at Saint Louis.
A group as talented as the Buchanan, Johnson, Hutchinson and Autry foursome staying together, improving their game and developing their chemistry for four seasons on a mid-major like GW is unprecedented in the transfer portal/NIL era.
In Buchanan’s case, he isn’t worrying about the NIL situation at GW. It didn’t even cross his mind when he chose to come back and he didn’t bring it up in his end-of-season meeting with the coaching staff, instead focusing the discussion on what their vision was for next season.
Buchanan also spoke about the negative experience he previously had in the transfer portal. Last offseason, after redshirting his freshman year at Virginia Tech, he entered the portal before finding his way to GW.
“I hated being in the transfer portal the first time,” Buchanan said. “I never wanted to do that again. And I told that to Coach Caputo. There was never any doubt about me leaving.”
“It wasn’t much of a re-recruitment,” Caputo said. “He loves being here, he’s from D.C., wanted to come back home, he had a great year. He knows that he was used in a way that was really beneficial for him as a unique player. It wasn’t like the LeBron decision or anything like that.”
Negative experiences in the transfer portal has been a common theme in the Atlantic 10 this offseason. Gibson Jimerson, who recently made the decision to return to Saint Louis and new head coach Josh Schertz (and former GW assistant Zak Boisvert) after briefly entering the portal, shared a similar story with Stu Durando of the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
“It was like speed dating,” Jimerson said. “It was super overwhelming. I did not enjoy it at all. It’s ridiculous.”
Another factor in Buchanan’s decision was being close to home. The Washington, D.C. native and 2022 D.C. Gatorade Player of the Year at Jackson Reed understands how important it is to represent his hometown.
“Growing up here, It wasn’t common for people to grow up in DC and go to school in D.C. Everyone goes to get away,” Buchanan said. “I feel like when I left to go to Virginia Tech I left a huge part of myself behind.”
“Coming home and just being able to show kids that you can do it from your city, it was one of my biggest things. I think this year was the stepping stone to what it can be like for the next group of kids coming out.”
Staying at GW not only allows Buchanan to be able to play in front of his friends and family, but he can make a real impact in his community. In March, he launched the “Darren Buchanan Jr. Initiative” to help boys and girls in D.C. facing adversity and has been volunteering at the nearby Two Rivers Public Charter School. Buchanan is also preparing to host his first youth basketball camp for local children ages 6-14, and is especially excited to work with the younger campers.
Now that Buchanan has established that he is staying at GW, he’s been focusing on getting back in the gym and improving his game.
“This is one of the biggest offseasons of my life,” Buchanan said. “I had a good season this year, but I know it wasn’t what I wanted it to be with my team aspirations that I have.”
Buchanan said that he is hoping to work on his shooting fundamentals and to become a more consistent three point shooter. Last season, Buchanan shot 32.3% from three on 1.1 attempts per game. If he is able to become a bigger threat from the perimeter, it would force defenders to tightly defend him outside the paint and give him much more space under the basket to drive and make him even more effective going downhill with the ball in his hands.
Another part of Buchanan’s game he is hoping to improve is his conditioning. Even though he was second on the team in minutes played last season with 30.9 per game, he wants to be able to play 40 night in and night out. Buchanan has been going on runs every morning with Autry and rising sophomore guard Amir Arrington and is already feeling better about his stamina.
Buchanan has also been busy in the film room. So far, he said that he has been focusing on watching tape from the NBA. Some players whose games he’s been studying are Knicks forward Julius Randle and Heat center Bam Adebayo, which makes sense given their similar size and roles in their respective offenses. Buchanan also said he’s been watching Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, who he described as his favorite player because of his “confidence, swagger and mindset to kill.” In what may come as a surprise, one of the players who he’s been trying to learn the most from is 6-2 Knicks guard Jalen Brunson. Buchanan said Caputo is trying to have him emulate Brunson’s mid-range post ups.
“Whatever the team needs me to do to win, I’m willing to do it,” Buchanan said. “Anything.”