Buchanan Jr. Attends NCAA Elite Student Athlete Symposium for Men’s Basketball

George Washington University men's basketball sophomore Darren Buchanan Jr. was recently selected as one of 14 NCAA Division I student-athletes to take part in the organization's Elite Symposium for Men's Basketball.

The annual select event hosted at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis is aimed at educating student-athletes on their upcoming transition from college to professional careers. NCAA leadership development and enforcement staff members led the attendees through sessions focused on making that leap.

"It meant a lot to be selected," Buchanan said. "This showed me that my hard work is getting noticed a little bit, but it also motivated me to get back in the gym with our guys and keep going harder so we can have the year we need to have."

Buchanan took part in panels focusing on basketball topics such as how the NBA pre-draft process works and questions to ask when finding an agent, but also topics outside of basketball including financial literacy, taxes and money management.

Notably to Buchanan, a transfer from Virginia Tech who redshirted before coming to Foggy Bottom, were the stories told by Kent Bazemore, a redshirt himself his first year at Old Dominion University before he became a two-time All-Coastal Athletic Association player for the Monarchs from 2008-2012 and ultimately carved out a 10-year career in the NBA.

Buchanan was also privy to conversations with Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Charlie Ward, who was a first-round NBA Draft Pick in 1994 and played 13 years in the league, and NBA executive Scott Perry, who worked in the front office for the 2004 NBA Champion Detroit Pistons and most recently served as the General Manager of the New York Knicks from 2017-23.

"I learned a lot about team characteristics you need to win a championship," Buchanan said. "(Perry) told me his best teams approached every day the same. They all came in ready to work, ready to listen and all liked being around each other. So I definitely want to bring those lessons back to our team."

With the season just over 50 days from tip-off, Buchanan aims to take all he gathered and quickly apply it as best he can to help lead the 2024-25 Revolutionaries in the next step to becoming a championship program.

"Overall, it was a great experience," Buchanan said. "I learned a lot and I'm bringing it back to share with my teammates so we can hopefully utilize it and use it as motivation for this year."

GW fans can get in the game by supporting NIL opportunities for Buff & Blue student-athletes through contributions to the Friends of George Collective. Fans can also directly support through donations to the Buff & Blue Fund.

For more information on GW Athletics, fans are encouraged to visit GWsports.com, or follow the Revolutionaries on social media through X (@GWsports) and Instagram (@gwsports).

In addition, season ticket deposits for the 2024-25 GW men's and women's basketball campaigns are currently being accepted through the GW Athletics Ticket Office (202-99-GWTIX or [email protected]).