GW women’s basketball assistant coach and team alum Tajama Ngongba, BA ’97, is buff and blue from head to toe – well, at least to her finger tips. She had a manicurist paint her nails blue with yellow tips to show GW pride. And it doesn’t stop there.
Ngongba’s license plate says “GW for Life.” Her children’s rooms are decorated with GW pillows. Her daughter wears a GW jacket to school every day that Head Coach Joe McKeown gave her. In fact, people joked that Ngongba and her husband, former GW basketball player Patrick Ngongba, were going to name their son “George” when he was born (they chose Patrick instead). There is no doubt about it; Ngongba is enthusiastic about GW.
She certainly has reason to be. Ngongba is coaching on the court where almost one decade ago she set two GW scoring records (most points in a season and most points in a four-year career) and was part of the only GW women’s team in history to go to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
Now, she’s hoping this year’s squad will do better than she and her team did.
“I try to bribe them and tell them I’ll take them to Jamaica when they graduate if they beat my NCAA record,” said Ngongba, who is in her fourth season as an assistant coach. “I’d rather have a national championship ring any day than a GW record.”
She definitely sees the potential in this year’s team – a squad she is happy to be a part of again.
“I came back here because it’s a family atmosphere,” she said. “The housekeeping and grounds crew – they were watching me when I was playing.”
When Greg Collucci, BBA ’04, came to GW in 2000, little did he know that eight years later he would be spending afternoons in the Charles E. Smith Athletic Center, basketball in hand. Collucci, a member of the men’s basketball team from 2000 to 2004, is now in his second season as an assistant coach under Karl Hobbs.
The son of a basketball coach, Collucci grew up around the game. After his senior season, he approached Head Coach Karl Hobbs about entering the coaching profession. As luck would have it, Hobbs had a vacancy on his staff and hired Collucci as a graduate assistant for 2004-2005. Collucci went on to serve as director of basketball operations for one year before being promoted to assistant coach. Collucci is involved with recruiting, strategic game preparations, film breakdown, and organizing player schedules.
“[Coach Hobbs] has allowed me opportunities that some coaches may not,” Collucci said. “He put me right out on the road recruiting, he put right into the actual on-court coaching, and gave me a lot of responsibility. I can’t say enough about what he did for me and the loyalty he showed in giving me the position.”
As a high school recruit, Collucci narrowed down his options to three schools, Miami, Providence, and GW. “When I came on my visit I really enjoyed everything about the city and the environment and I thought it would be a place for me to flourish, as a player and a student,” he said. “And it worked out well for me.”
Collucci scored 623 career points (5.5 points/game), including 160 three-pointers, as a player at GW. After disappointing losing seasons in his freshman, sophomore, and junior years, Collucci helped lead the Colonials to an 18-12 record and the National Invitation Tournament in his senior campaign.
Collucci has seen big changes in his eight years with GW men’s basketball. “Going to the NCAA Tournament three years in a row, for the first time in the history of the school, I think that shows the steps that the program has taken,” he said. “And we’ve done it with kids who are graduating, we’ve done it with kids who are doing things the right way, which I think is a reflection of Coach Hobbs.”