WASHINGTON, D.C. — To his credit, Karl Hobbs is not afraid to admit he’s made a few recruiting mistakes over the last few seasons.

Hobbs, the George Washington University basketball coach, has experienced both great success and some rocky times in his eight seasons in D.C. In 2006, the Colonials won 27 games and were ranked in the Top 10. In the last two seasons, GW won 10 and 9 games. Hobbs puts the blame on himself.

“We took a few transfers and a few guys who weren’t the kind of kid we’ve had success with. That was a challenge,” Hobbs said. “We’re turning it back around now. It’s a process that started two years ago where we had to get rid of some guys in order to move forward again.”

So far this season, Hobbs’ transformation looks good. Sparked by a six-player freshman class, the Colonials are off to their best start since ’06, with a 6-1 record. Wednesday night brings the toughest test yet when Providence College invades the Smith Center. Hobbs said the return to an uptempo, defensive-minded style with long, athletic players like former stars Mike Hall, Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Omar Williams has him excited about this team.

“We recruited back to our foundation and recruited kids with character first who also had good potential,” Hobbs said. “Without question, these guys are like what we used to have. We took our time recruiting this class and I made sure to see each and every one of them play a few times in person.”

The Atlantic 10’s coaches picked GW to finish 11th (ahead of only Fordham) in the preseason, but that call appears way off. Two season-opening road wins, combined with a convincing home win over George Mason, have sparked renewed interest in the program on campus. The team’s only loss came at home against Oregon State in a game where everyone was a bit distracted by a special guest. President Obama and the rest of the First Family came to the game to see Michelle Obama’s brother, Craig Robinson, coach his Beavers.

GW is coming off a solid, double-figure win over Navy on Sunday. Two of the freshmen — Lasan Kromah (16 points) and Tim Johnson (12) — came up big again. Senior star Damian Hollis led the way with 18 points. “Our motto is, we’re going to get you,” said Hollis. “We don’t know when, but it’s going to happen. So we keep on fighting.”

PC’s visit to the Smith Center is another dangerous scheduling move, somewhat similar to the team’s trip to Northeastern last week. The Friars survived that road game but will have to play very well again to avoid a third road defeat of the season. Big East teams rarely — if ever — play GW in its cozy, loud campus gym. In fact, the last Big East team to play in the Smith Center was Providence in 2000. The Friars won that game, 93-80.

This is PC’s fourth true road game this season. No other Big East team will play more than two.

“There’s a reason why teams don’t go play at URI and George Washington and Northeastern. You can lose,” said Keno Davis. “You have to understand that even though you lose a tough game like (URI), you’re no worse of a team. You have to keep improving and know that over the length of a season that will pay off. We’re going to have some great games and high moments and some like Saturday when we’re down over a tough loss. But over the long haul, this is a good group to work with.”

kmcnamar@projo.com