George Washington offers Maurice Joseph full-time job as coach
George Washington has offered interim head coach Maurice Joseph a multiyear deal to make him the program's full-time head coach at a meeting Tuesday afternoon, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told Paste BN Sports.
The person spoke under the condition of anonymity because the offer was not announced publicly. Joseph's Tuesday afternoon meeting was with GW athletic director Patrick Nero, the person said.
Joseph, 31, took the reins of the GW program on the eve of the 2016-2017 season following the ouster of head coach Mike Lonergan, who was fired Sept. 16 in the wake of an investigation into explosive allegations by players of verbal abuse. (Lonergan has denied the allegations.) Joseph, along with two other assistant coaches, interviewed for the interim gig.
Despite the preseason turmoil and a roster filled with freshmen — three of whom have started — Joseph led GW to a 19-14 record and a sixth-place finish in the Atlantic 10.
Last month, Joseph said he wasn’t thinking too much about landing the permanent gig at GW; he understood the decision would be made above him and was largely out of his control in such a unique situation.
“My goal is to make sure that we get better on a day-to-day basis, and that we're competing in games at a level that we can hold our heads high and hang our hats on,” Joseph said last month. “I think we've done that.”