In a bit of a surprising move, Karl Hobbs is out at George Washington

In a bit of a surprising move, George Washington head coach Karl Hobbs resigned on Monday afternoon.

"It has been an honor to serve as head coach of the George Washington University's men's basketball team," Hobbs said in a statement. "I am proud of what we achieved here and am grateful to have had the chance to work with and guide the development and accomplishments of so many outstanding student-athletes."

Hobbs, who was Patrick Ewing's high school point guard, was 166-129 in his ten-year tenure in Foggy Bottom. He made the NIT in 2004 before going to three straight NCAA Tournaments from 2004-2006, including a 27-3 season where the Colonial went undefeated in A-10 play and were ranked in the top ten.

But from 2008-2010, GW finished no better than 10th in the 14 team A-10, going a combined 15-33 in A-10 play. Many folks were speculating that Hobbs could be on the way out, but he was able to turn things around this season. Despite losing his best player -- sophomore Lasan Kromah -- is a foot injury in October, Hobbs led GW to a 10-6 finish in the conference and a 17-14 record overall.

With six of his top seven returning, a young roster, and a healthy Kromah in the lineup next season, GW had a promising future.

But new athletic director Patrick Nero, who was introduced on Thursday, didn't see it that way. For what its worth, the higher-ups at GW are calling this a university decision, and that they were simply waiting for a new AD to be in place to lead the search for a replacement.

Kansas assistant coach Joe Dooley, a GW alum, seems to be the popular choice to replace Hobbs. Mike Lonergan, Vermont's head coach and a former Maryland assistant and D-III national title winner at Catholic University in DC, has also been mentioned for the GW (and George Mason) job.

But keep an eye on GW's current associate head coach Roland Martin. He's the uncle of Erik Copes, a top ten center (and top 60 player) in the class of 2011 that has already signed an NLI with GW.