Position: Assistant Coach
Experience: 5th Season at GW
Alma Mater: Rhode Island '82

Coaching Highlight:

Roland Houston joined the Colonials' coaching staff prior to the 2004-05 season after having served as an associate head coach and assistant coach during his tenure at La Salle University (1999-04).

Houston's reputation as a respected big man coach is widely known throughout Philadelphia and the East Coast. One of the reasons Karl Hobbs hired Houston was to help develop and re-emphasize the improvement of GW's inside players. "Roland's been an incredible addition to our staff," Hobbs said. "Coach Houston and I have played against each other in college and have known each other for over twenty years. I refer to Roland as a true professional in the business and an outstanding recruiter and one of the best big man coaches in the country. He has done a great job in developing our post players and his work ethic has played a huge part in our success at GW over the past few years."

Houston played a critical role in the development of several successful student-athletes including Rasual Butler, currently of the New Orleans Hornets.

When asked about his college coach, Rasual stated, "Coach Houston understands what it takes for young guys to make it to the next level. He's a hard worker and a really genuine person. He definitely helped me with my big-man skills. I wasn't a very good rebounder until Coach Houston got there and, once he got there, my rebounding went up tremendously. He taught me some techniques and skills that I still use to this day."

Houston is a Philadelphia native who began his basketball career as an All-City Selection and Honorable Mention All-American at Martin Luther King High School. From Philadelphia, Houston went on to a prosperous career at the University of Rhode Island. At URI, Houston was a four-year letter winner and three-year starter for the Rams (1979-82). Houston captained the team as a senior.

"When Coach Houston came to GW, I knew that he would be a great asset to this program," former Colonial Pops Mensah-Bonsu said. "He taught me a lot of things that helped me improve not only my game, but also the way I go about my everyday life. When he joined the program I saw a vast improvement to the way I played basketball, which helped both the team and my confidence. Coach Houston is a great teacher of life and I just wish I could've played under his tutelage for a couple more years, he has been a great coach and an even better mentor."

In addition to his contributions on the court, Houston also took part in several extra-curricular activities throughout his time at URI. While at URI, Houston wrote for the school newspaper and had his own jazz radio show. Houston received his bachelor's degree in communications from URI in 1982. After college, Houston played professionally overseas for 14 seasons for teams in France, Spain, Israel and Argentina where he was a member of the national championship team. While playing in France, Houston studied French at the Universite' de Nice.

Coach Houston was recently selected to participate in the BCA's Achieving Coaching Excellence (ACE) program. This program is designed to assist an already talented group to become the next generation of collegiate head basketball coaches.