In his final season playing collegiate basketball, graduate student guard Brendan Adams became a true pillar of the Colonials’ offense, finishing second on the team in scoring and assists.
Adams joined the team as a senior in the 2021-22 season following three years at the University of Connecticut, where he averaged 4.9 points in just under 18 minutes per game. In his first and senior year with the Colonials, he teamed up with the talented backcourt duo of James Bishop and Joe Bamisile, and he stepped up in his graduate season to become a consistent starter and number two scorer on the team.
Starting 14 out of 29 games for the Colonials, Adams averaged 8.2 points per game on a measly .380 shooting clip in the winter of 2021-22. The team finished with a disappointing 12-18 record and officials fired coach Jamion Christian after the season, turning to former Miami Associate Coach Chris Caputo to lead the program.
Bamisile, too, left the team, joining the Oklahoma Sooners and leaving a hole in the Colonials’ backcourt.
With the departure of Bamisile, Adams stepped up to a full-time starter role as a shooting guard, exploding onto the Atlantic 10 scene with a dominant and career-high 17.4 points per game. He shot .470 from the field and earned the A-10’s Most Improved Player award.
“I don’t think it was just one summer, one offseason,” Adams said. “I think it’s an accumulation of all the work I’ve put in every summer for my whole life. I don’t see growth as an overnight process. You never know when it’s going to come.”
Entering the season with a new coaching staff, Adams found Caputo’s free-flowing, isolation-heavy system easy to adopt and player-friendly. He credits the freedom and trust from Caputo with boosting his confidence to new levels.
“I hadn’t really scored at a high level, and Coach Caputo came in and he trusted me,” Adams said. “He saw something in me from my previous years, and it kind of allowed me to play with the freedom that allowed me to feel comfortable.”
Adams’ success came hand in hand with his backcourt partner Bishop, who had a career year of his own, leading the A-10 with 21.6 points per game. The Baltimore natives’ existing friendship and rapport from playing against one another in youth games transferred to the collegiate court in the form of communication and cohesion.
“We’ve known each other pretty much our whole lives,” Adams said. “We’ve been playing basketball with and against each other since we were seven or eight years old.”
Adams was a nearly nonstop presence on the court, playing 37.6 minutes per game. His longest game included a 48-minute double-overtime performance against Richmond in February where he scored a career-high 35 points and broke GW’s single-game 3-point with nine shots from deep in a 107-105 win.
In his fifth year, Adams took pride in his veteran presence, staying level-headed through difficult stretches like the midseason, conference-play slide and understanding that even the hottest teams can cool down. He said Caputo instilled a forward-looking mentality, no matter the score of the previous game – Adams’ career-high, game-winning performance against Richmond followed a three-game losing streak.
Outside of his success on the court, Adams earned A-10 All-Academic honors while majoring in business administration at the School of Business. He credits his success to his ability to stick to a routine, carving out time to study in his room or at tables outside South Hall, where he lives on campus.
“The routine wasn’t exact, obviously practice changes, things change on different days, but I just knew I had to get my homework done here,” Adams said. “I had to study here. I had to do class, and it was a routine. And I didn’t let myself play video games until I was done with my homework.”
Adams said he also loves spending his time off the court visiting his family in Maryland. When he’s on campus, he likes playing and enjoying the outdoors with his dog.
With his NCAA career in the rearview mirror, Adams says he wants to play basketball for as long as he can.
“Right now I’m kind of going through all the processes and seeing what’s available,” Adams said. “I just signed with an agent, so I’m just looking forward to seeing what’s next for me as far as a professional career.”
Adams played in the 3X3U National Championship in Houston earlier this month, a showcase of elite college seniors representing their respective programs with their college threads in a pick-up basketball setting. Adams stood out from the competition with highlight-reel scoring and scorching hot 3-point shooting that helped his squad, Team Hoopers, win the tournament title.
He said the tournament gave him the chance to don the Buff and Blue one last time after his collegiate career, which ended in a disappointing playoff loss to Saint Joseph’s in the second round of the A-10 tournament.
“When I got the call and the opportunity to just play in the GW jersey one more time, to show up for GW, it was a no-brainer for me,” Adams said. “I just wanted to go play and do that.”