NEW GM: Georgetown, Cooley Reportedly Select Greg Collucci of GW, NBA Academy as General Manager

Your Georgetown Hoyas appear to have quietly announced the appointment of Gregory Collucci as the General Manager (GM) for Men’s Basketball, a role apparently within Georgetown Athletics’ Director’s Office. Collucci brings a wealth of experience in the DC area and globally, having been involved in basketball as a player, coach, and administrative leader for over two decades. Given the financial climate in college, the GM role likely needs to remain flexible, and Collucci seems to be well suited for helping Ed Cooley build this program roster by roster, and beyond.

Collucci’s Experience with NCAA Programs

Collucci’s journey in collegiate basketball began as a student-athlete at George Washington University, led to an eleven-year coaching tenure at GW, American University, and Central Connecticut State, and eight years with the NBA as a senior manager in International Basketball Operations and Elite Basketball Coach and Player Pathways Lead, where he played a crucial role in establishing and developing the NBA Academy program

Reportedly born in Providence, Collucci called West Palm Beach, Florida his home. It appears that Greg is the son of Vic Collucci who played at Providence with Jim Larranaga and coached at PC and Roger Williams University.

At GW, He stood 6-3 and weighed 191 pounds as a senior with jersey number 34 on the 2003-04 Men’s Basketball Roster. He played for GW for four seasons, from 2000 to 2004, earning a bachelor’s of business administration degree in marketing in 2004.

As a sharp-shooting guard, Collucci averaged 5.5 points and accumulated 623 career points at GW, hitting 160 career three-pointers. His proficiency from beyond the arc led to tournament records: eight three-pointers against Yale in the 2001 Red Auerbach Colonial Classic Championship and seven three-pointers against Princeton in the 2001 BB&T Classic opener. He was named to all-tournament teams at both the 2001 BB&T Classic and the 2001 Red Auerbach Colonial Classic tournaments. During his senior year, he helped the Colonials secure an NIT berth. Collucci’s early experiences at GW included rooming with a student-athlete from Spain and having teammates from Belarus, Ukraine, and the Central African Republic, which introduced him to a diverse, international environment.

After his playing career, Collucci remained at GW for an additional seven years, marking 11 total years at the university. He first served as a graduate assistant in 2005 and then as Director of Basketball Operations in 2006. During these seasons, GW achieved NCAA berths in both 2005 and 2006, reached its highest ranking in 50 years in 2006, and captured back-to-back Atlantic 10 conference titles.

Collucci was responsible for many of the detail-oriented aspects of the GW basketball program during this period. He was promoted to assistant coach prior to the 2007 season. As an assistant, he helped Karl Hobbs lead the Colonials to their second Atlantic 10 tournament title in three years, which resulted in the Colonials’ third straight appearance in the NCAA tournament (2005, 2006, 2007).

Reportedly, his responsibilities included recruiting, strategic game preparations, film breakdown, and assisting the head coach in other team matters. He was also involved in on-campus visit planning, managing recruiting databases, film exchange, and organizing player schedules. Throughout his coaching tenure, Collucci developed extensive recruiting ties overseas.

Following his time at GW, Collucci spent one season at American University, where the team won the Patriot League Tournament Championship in 2014 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, finishing with a 20-13 overall record. He then joined Central Connecticut State University as an Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach.

Shaping Global Basketball: Collucci’s Work with the NBA

Before his current role at Georgetown, Collucci made a significant impact on global basketball development through his work with the National Basketball Association (NBA). He worked within the NBA’s International Basketball Operations as a senior manager in charge of player pathways and coaching, later referred to as the NBA’s Elite Basketball Coach and Player Pathways Lead.

Collucci was involved from the inception of the NBA Academy program in October 2016. This program is an international network of elite training and education centers for boys and girls, aimed at helping grow the game at the youth level worldwide.

The NBA Academy has branches in Australia (NBA Global Academy), China, India (NBA Academy India), Senegal (NBA Academy Africa), and Mexico (NBA Academy Latin America). Collucci’s past international recruiting experience made him a natural fit for this role.

Reports indicate that, at the conclusion of their seasons in July 2025, the NBA will close their Global Academy in Australia and Latin America Academy in Mexico. The NBA Africa Academy in Senegal will remain open, with plans for a new Global hub—potentially in the UAE—to be established in the future.

Collucci explained that the Academy’s international trips, such as attending the National Prep School Invitational (NPSI), provide “a great access point for so many great colleges and universities” and serve as an “excellent measuring stick” for player development. The Academy also attends events like the Tarkanian Classic and hosts its own NBA Academy Games.

Within the NBA Academy, Collucci’s responsibilities included supporting young athletes’ aspirations by providing them with athletic and academic resources. The program focuses on a holistic view of development, which includes academic education, physical preparation, nutrition, financial literacy, time management, public speaking, and social media training.

Collucci emphasized that a core trait the NBA Academy seeks in players is the ability to inspire the next generation, noting that their job is to tell the diverse stories of players and support them in achieving their goals.

What is a College Basketball General Manager?

A new executive role is rapidly becoming standard in college athletics: the General Manager. But unlike in professional sports where the GM hires the coach, the college GM works directly for them, acting as a chief of staff for the modern, high-stakes world of collegiate programs.

This position was born from necessity. The seismic shifts of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) compensation and the chaotic freedom of the transfer portal have created complex responsibilities that extend far beyond traditional coaching. Head coaches, now acting more like CEOs, need a specialist to manage the program’s most critical assets: its players and its money.

Georgetown previously had Mark Fox as Director of Student-Athlete Relations and NIL Partnerships before he followed his friend Mark Pope to the University of Kentucky.

The college GM’s primary duties are to navigate this new landscape. They manage NIL strategy and liaise with booster collectives, scout and recruit players from the ever-active transfer portal, and use data to model long-term roster health. The role also involves building relationships with alumni, donors, and recruits’ families, solidifying the program’s foundation off the court.

The GM role is highly adaptable, with its focus shifting based on the program’s scale. At major universities, it’s about leveraging massive financial resources. At mid-majors, it’s about creative fundraising and finding players who are a perfect cultural and institutional fit. This flexibility is reflected in the diverse backgrounds of those hired, who range from former NBA executives and data analysts to beloved alumni and fundraising experts.

The consensus is clear: the General Manager is no longer a luxury but a vital component of an elite college basketball program. As college sports continue to professionalize, the GM is the essential front-office mind tasked with building and maintaining a competitive team.

Greg Collucci’s journey as a former Division I player, long-time college assistant coach, and high-level NBA executive provides him with a uniquely comprehensive view of basketball operations. His playing career and eleven-year coaching tenure at GW give him an intimate understanding of the DC-area collegiate landscape and the demands placed on student-athletes.

He has direct experience building solid programs, having been a key assistant on teams that captured multiple conference titles and made four NCAA Tournament appearances. Collucci’s early role as Director of Basketball Operations appears to have honed his skills in managing the crucial, detail-oriented aspects of a successful program.

His eight years managing player pathways for the NBA gives him a high level of credibility and connections when recruiting elite talent with professional aspirations. Collucci was instrumental in establishing the NBA’s global academy system, providing him with a vast international scouting and recruitment network. This experience focused on holistic development, encompassing academics, life skills, and financial literacy alongside athletic training—all traits admired on the Hilltop.

His expertise in teaching young athletes to manage public speaking and social media is perfectly suited for navigating the modern NIL era. He understands how to evaluate talent not just for on-court skill but for the character needed to inspire future generations.

Ultimately, this rare combination of collegiate operational success and global, NBA-level talent development makes him the ideal architect for Georgetown’s future.

Welcome, Greg! HOYA SAXA!