For Geoff Sprouse, Adrian Samuels and Noah Jones, bringing a championship back home to Bender Arena was the definitive highlight of their careers. But for each senior, the path to Patriot League glory was vastly different.
“I came here on a visit around springtime, and the weather was beautiful. I enjoyed every bit of it being in D.C.,” Sprouse said. “I fell in love with everything, and the rest was history.”
Sprouse was recruited out of Pembroke Pines Charter School in Florida by former Eagles head coach Mike Brennan, the only of the three seniors recruited by Brennan. At Pembroke Pines Charter, Sprouse led the school to its first state title and was one of only two players to eclipse 1,000 career points.
During his time at American, leadership was instilled in him by Lincoln Ball, Colin Smalls and Matt Rogers. In the 2025-26 season, Sprouse helped take on the leadership role.
“We had a lot of new guys this year and just instilling our culture day in and day out is what we’re about at American,” Sprouse said.
When Sprouse came to college, he was a pure 3-point shooter. Now, he has evolved into a primary point guard, handling the ball and facilitating the floor.
“He did really well from a leadership standpoint because he was one of the guys who led by action,” assistant coach Isaiah Tate said. “He pushed culture for us.”
When Brennan was fired on March 20, 2023, it came as a surprise to the team that started a busy off-season process.
“Going through that was a crazy process; the coach who recruited me in high school was getting fired,” Sprouse said.
However, after the three years spent with current Eagles head coach Duane Simpkins, Sprouse built relationships he sees himself maintaining after graduation.
“I tell everybody this, it’s not only what they did for me on the court, but also off the court,” Sprouse said. “I’ll have relationships with those guys probably the rest of my life. Something I didn’t have as much with the old coaching staff.”
Simpkins spent eight years as an assistant coach at George Mason University, and during his final season, he faced Sprouse and the Eagles on Nov. 13, 2022.
“[Sprouse] could really shoot it, we had to make sure that somebody was aware where he was at all times,” Simpkins said.
When Simpkins was hired to be American’s head coach in 2023, he identified Sprouse as a player he could use to mold the team into his own image.
“The asset he brought to the table — his ability to shoot — is one that as a basketball coach you don’t find a lot,” Simpkins said. “So the question was: how can we maximize it?”
By the end of his career, Sprouse ranked in the top 10 in school history for 3-pointers made.
“It means I put in a lot of work to get to that spot,” Sprouse said. “To actually have my name cemented into a school I went to all four years, it means a lot to me, it means a lot to my family.”
Samuels’ story was one that was different from Sprouse’s.
While Simpkins was still at GMU, one of his close friends connected the assistant coach and Samuels’ mom. After the two met and reviewed film together, Simpkins said Samuels was “a player/character guy” who was exactly the type of walk-on he wanted.
During his time at American University, Samuels logged the most minutes of any walk-on of Simpkins’ tenure. For each moment he was on the court, he contributed valuable minutes to the team.
“Adrian has been able to bring it when he was healthy and on the court,” Tate said. “He’s usually helping to push culture and doing what he’s supposed to do.”
Another walk-on that Simpkins had was Jones, who spent a lot of time this season working with the big men on the team. This year, the team relied on heavy center minutes from sophomore Julen Iturbe, who went from 26 to 32 games played this season, all as a starter.
“He knows all our players as good as anybody,” Tate said. “He knows how things are supposed to look. Really good on the bench, really good in games, really good helping us prepare.”
Throughout the season, Jones was down on the floor in practice, helping to mentor younger teammates.
“[Simpkins] always encouraged me to speak up and be a vocal leader to some of the younger guys on the team,” Jones said.
Each senior had their own journey with the Eagles and Simpkins, but the 2024-25 championship is what united them.
“That was probably the best season I’ve ever had in my life, just in terms of the achievements we had as a team,” Samuels said. “The feelings I got individually with my team at each and every practice, game and every night in the hotel — it was an amazing experience.”
Jones shared Samuels’ feelings of victory and recalled how each moment felt.
“We had a great group of guys that year,” Jones said. “Once you get one championship, it just makes you hungry for more, and that is what the biggest impact on me was, just chasing that feeling again.”
Sprouse played 17 minutes and contributed 9 points in the championship win in front of a sold-out crowd at Bender Arena in a rematch against the Navy Midshipmen.
“Having that rematch on our home court was surreal,” Sprouse said. “The amount of support we got from the city was awesome.”
As graduation creeps nearer, Sprouse will be looking to take his talents overseas to Europe and play professionally. Jones will be suiting up for another season at American during his graduate year, while Samuels plans to play his graduate season elsewhere.
This article was edited by Matthias Jaylen Sandoval, Jack Stashower and Gabrielle McNamee. Copy editing done by Avery Grossman, Arin Burrell, Nicole Kariuki, Ryan Sieve and Mattie Lupo.
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