Credit to Eamonn Brennan:
After a tumultuous season to say the least, things are looking up for Georgetown
By Eamonn Brennan 5h ago 6
Editor’s note: This offseason The Athletic is again exploring the college basketball landscape with in-depth examinations of 75 key programs. This story is a part of that continuing series.
It was all going according to plan, until it wasn’t. Patrick Ewing’s third season began as an ode to the classical college basketball rebuild, the time-honored tradition of incremental improvement, of bringing a group along together. The 2019-20 season would be the one when a more experienced, still young, deeper than ever group of Hoyas would bring the program back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in half a decade. With that out of the way, the 2020-21 season would be the one wherein Georgetown basketball was officially, fully, undeniably, once-and-for-all back.
Then the 2019-20 season happened. What was meant to be a progressive culmination instead morphed into a rolling months-long mess of personnel departures, off-court distractions and injuries, one that left Ewing’s once-deep team playing basically five players a night for the final month of a once-promising Big East season. Throw in the offseason, which began with Mac McClung’s sudden departure and included the death of Georgetown icon (and Ewing’s coach) John Thompson Jr., and perhaps no program in college basketball (at least among those not involved in FBI investigation fallout, and maybe even then) has faced quite as much varying tumult in the past calendar year.
So then: What now?
Ewing, as ever, is undaunted. “It was a bump in the road,” he says. “My mom and dad always told me whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. We had some adversity in terms of guys leaving. But in life, you’re going to have bumps in the road. What defines you, what makes you a man, is how you come out of it.”
Considering all of the new faces — and the returning faces expected to play in ways they maybe haven’t before — it’s not surprising that Ewing is in a sort of wait-and-see mode with his newest team. Some of that comes from personnel freshness. Much of it comes from timing. As of last Friday, several Hoyas were still finishing out their 14-day quarantines after arriving back on campus two weeks ago. The players Ewing had seen in workouts still haven’t progressed beyond individual stuff. Still, Ewing, with a refreshed roster and a hard-working spirit brought forward from the end of last season, is also optimistic this team can get there before the season is done.
“We need time to develop, to see what we have, to gel as a team,” Ewing says. “We’re going through the process. We still feel we have just as good a chance as anybody to be good.”
The big question
Can the Hoyas’ whole be more than the sum of their parts?
It is hard to overstate just how new, just how totally remade, this roster is. In the past 10 months, the Hoyas have lost nine players. Last winter, star guard James Akinjo transferred to Arizona, the result of basketball disagreements about role and fit. Wing Josh LeBlanc left at the same time, and was followed not long after by guard Myron Gardner and forward Galen Alexander, amid the public discovery of restraining orders filed against them by a Georgetown student, among other allegations. After the season, in a surprise twist, McClung returned from testing the NBA Draft waters just in time to announce he had decided to transfer.
The news was a massive surprise, even to the Hoyas; in the days prior, Ewing publicly said McClung would be returning, which apparently angered McClung and his “camp,” which sounds ridiculous, we know, but that’s more or less how it went down. Ewing was sure McClung would be back, and was shocked when his guard sprung the decision.
“I thought he’d come back,” Ewing says. “He was an integral part of what we were trying to do. We gave him an opportunity to play. Whatever the reason is that he chose to leave, I’m still going to root for him. I think he’s a great kid and wish him the best.”
And then there were the good, old-fashioned departures: Omer Yurtseven to pursue a professional career. Beloved senior Jagan Mosely to graduation, Terrell Allen to the same. George Muresan too. College basketball rosters aren’t that big. Nine guys is a ton.
With respect, the fact Muresan, a walk-on, was playing minutes at the end of the season spoke to how much the Hoyas were struggling with personnel. As frustrating as it was, there was a certain amount of pride involved in the way Georgetown finished last season. Ewing’s players — three guards who played basically 40 minutes a night for several weeks straight, plus junior forward Jamorko Pickett and freshman center Qudus Wahab; the rotation was ideally just those five — dug deep. “They showed character,” Ewing says. “They showed a toughness, a resiliency.”
Things shouldn’t be quite so Alamo this time around. With an offseason to reset, Ewing and his staff landed a trio of grad transfers: Arkansas guard Jalen Harris, Siena guard Donald Carey and Northwestern State forward Chudier Bile. All three are experienced, all three should help fill out the rotation, all three have a good chance to be more than just warm bodies to put on the floor. A four-man recruiting class, led by four-star forward Jamari Sibley, fills things out more. And there are some interesting players still on board. Wahab was one of last season’s pleasant surprises. Pickett might, despite being a senior, still have potential left to tap. Senior guard Jahvon Blair did solid-enough work in challenging circumstances last spring.
Still, asking specific tactical questions about this team almost feels beside the point. The real question is about what Ewing has, and how quickly he can put it together. Are these guys better than many observers expect? Can players such as Wahab and Blair make a leap? Can Sibley excel right away? Can Ewing both develop this group of guys quickly and find a way to make them better as a group than they would be as individuals? “There’s a sense of trust,” Wahab says. “I believe in Coach. I really believe in him. And I believe in our guys. I think we have special guys coming in, and we’re going to do great stuff this year.”
The alternative, of course, is that this is just a rebuilding year.
If so, well, hey, it happens. The past 10 months have been rough. But in Ewing’s fourth season, being back at Square 1 — starting the building process that went unfinished last season all the way over again from scratch — is no Georgetown fan’s ideal timeline. Can these Hoyas be more?
After a tumultuous season to say the least, things are looking up for Georgetown
By Eamonn Brennan 5h ago 6
Editor’s note: This offseason The Athletic is again exploring the college basketball landscape with in-depth examinations of 75 key programs. This story is a part of that continuing series.
It was all going according to plan, until it wasn’t. Patrick Ewing’s third season began as an ode to the classical college basketball rebuild, the time-honored tradition of incremental improvement, of bringing a group along together. The 2019-20 season would be the one when a more experienced, still young, deeper than ever group of Hoyas would bring the program back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in half a decade. With that out of the way, the 2020-21 season would be the one wherein Georgetown basketball was officially, fully, undeniably, once-and-for-all back.
Then the 2019-20 season happened. What was meant to be a progressive culmination instead morphed into a rolling months-long mess of personnel departures, off-court distractions and injuries, one that left Ewing’s once-deep team playing basically five players a night for the final month of a once-promising Big East season. Throw in the offseason, which began with Mac McClung’s sudden departure and included the death of Georgetown icon (and Ewing’s coach) John Thompson Jr., and perhaps no program in college basketball (at least among those not involved in FBI investigation fallout, and maybe even then) has faced quite as much varying tumult in the past calendar year.
So then: What now?
Ewing, as ever, is undaunted. “It was a bump in the road,” he says. “My mom and dad always told me whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. We had some adversity in terms of guys leaving. But in life, you’re going to have bumps in the road. What defines you, what makes you a man, is how you come out of it.”
Considering all of the new faces — and the returning faces expected to play in ways they maybe haven’t before — it’s not surprising that Ewing is in a sort of wait-and-see mode with his newest team. Some of that comes from personnel freshness. Much of it comes from timing. As of last Friday, several Hoyas were still finishing out their 14-day quarantines after arriving back on campus two weeks ago. The players Ewing had seen in workouts still haven’t progressed beyond individual stuff. Still, Ewing, with a refreshed roster and a hard-working spirit brought forward from the end of last season, is also optimistic this team can get there before the season is done.
“We need time to develop, to see what we have, to gel as a team,” Ewing says. “We’re going through the process. We still feel we have just as good a chance as anybody to be good.”
The big question
Can the Hoyas’ whole be more than the sum of their parts?
It is hard to overstate just how new, just how totally remade, this roster is. In the past 10 months, the Hoyas have lost nine players. Last winter, star guard James Akinjo transferred to Arizona, the result of basketball disagreements about role and fit. Wing Josh LeBlanc left at the same time, and was followed not long after by guard Myron Gardner and forward Galen Alexander, amid the public discovery of restraining orders filed against them by a Georgetown student, among other allegations. After the season, in a surprise twist, McClung returned from testing the NBA Draft waters just in time to announce he had decided to transfer.
The news was a massive surprise, even to the Hoyas; in the days prior, Ewing publicly said McClung would be returning, which apparently angered McClung and his “camp,” which sounds ridiculous, we know, but that’s more or less how it went down. Ewing was sure McClung would be back, and was shocked when his guard sprung the decision.
“I thought he’d come back,” Ewing says. “He was an integral part of what we were trying to do. We gave him an opportunity to play. Whatever the reason is that he chose to leave, I’m still going to root for him. I think he’s a great kid and wish him the best.”
And then there were the good, old-fashioned departures: Omer Yurtseven to pursue a professional career. Beloved senior Jagan Mosely to graduation, Terrell Allen to the same. George Muresan too. College basketball rosters aren’t that big. Nine guys is a ton.
With respect, the fact Muresan, a walk-on, was playing minutes at the end of the season spoke to how much the Hoyas were struggling with personnel. As frustrating as it was, there was a certain amount of pride involved in the way Georgetown finished last season. Ewing’s players — three guards who played basically 40 minutes a night for several weeks straight, plus junior forward Jamorko Pickett and freshman center Qudus Wahab; the rotation was ideally just those five — dug deep. “They showed character,” Ewing says. “They showed a toughness, a resiliency.”
Things shouldn’t be quite so Alamo this time around. With an offseason to reset, Ewing and his staff landed a trio of grad transfers: Arkansas guard Jalen Harris, Siena guard Donald Carey and Northwestern State forward Chudier Bile. All three are experienced, all three should help fill out the rotation, all three have a good chance to be more than just warm bodies to put on the floor. A four-man recruiting class, led by four-star forward Jamari Sibley, fills things out more. And there are some interesting players still on board. Wahab was one of last season’s pleasant surprises. Pickett might, despite being a senior, still have potential left to tap. Senior guard Jahvon Blair did solid-enough work in challenging circumstances last spring.
Still, asking specific tactical questions about this team almost feels beside the point. The real question is about what Ewing has, and how quickly he can put it together. Are these guys better than many observers expect? Can players such as Wahab and Blair make a leap? Can Sibley excel right away? Can Ewing both develop this group of guys quickly and find a way to make them better as a group than they would be as individuals? “There’s a sense of trust,” Wahab says. “I believe in Coach. I really believe in him. And I believe in our guys. I think we have special guys coming in, and we’re going to do great stuff this year.”
The alternative, of course, is that this is just a rebuilding year.
If so, well, hey, it happens. The past 10 months have been rough. But in Ewing’s fourth season, being back at Square 1 — starting the building process that went unfinished last season all the way over again from scratch — is no Georgetown fan’s ideal timeline. Can these Hoyas be more?