GEORGETOWN A FAVORITE OF 2010 KENNEDY

Markus Kennedy, 6-foot-8 power forward from class of 2010 was one of the best players at the recent Hoop Group High School Showcase.

According to Jeff Borzello of the NBE Basketball Report, Kennedy did not demonstrate his dominance during the entire tournament, but when St. Pat’s needed him to takeover, he gladly obliged.

First of all, according to a source with knowledge of the situation, he is supposed to be 7-foot-2 when he finishes growing. If that ends up being true, look out. Offensively, Kennedy is an outstanding force inside. He can finish around the rim, and is a ferocious dunker with both hands. He moves without the ball extremely well, constantly making himself available. He gets great position inside, enabling him to get easy baskets once he gets the ball. Kennedy also has decent hands. If he does not have a shot, he looks to pass the ball and does not force shots. He had a tendency to miss a few open lay-ups at times down low, but also showed the ability to finish with contact. While he does run the floor fairly well, he will need to play in more of a half-court setting in college.

“[My strengths are] as a rebounder, passer and screener. I need to work on my conditioning, though. I’m just running miles per day to try and get more stamina.”

Defensively, he is a very shot-blocker who also changes shots without even touching them. However, he did fall victim to pump-fakes a couple of times when going for a block. He also needs to lose weight and get in better shape.

Schools alread in hot pursuit include Louisville, Xavier, Penn State, Rutgers, Rider and Ohio State. Kennedy lists his favorites as Ohio State and Georgetown. The Hoyas have shown interest, but haven’t offered yet.

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GEORGETOWN 2008-2009 SNAPSHOT

June 9, 2008


Head Coach: John Thompson III
2006-2007 Record: 28-6 (15-3 in Big East), Big East Regular Season Champions, NCAA Tournament 2nd Round

Returning Players:
Jesse Sapp, Senior (Guard)
DaJuan Summers, Junior (Forward)
Austin Freeman, Sophomore (Guard)
Chris Wright, Sophomore (Point Guard)
Omar Wattad, Sophomore (Forward)
Nikita Mesheriakou, Sophomore (Forward)


Incoming Players:
Greg Monroe, Power Forward
Henry Sims, Center
Jason Clark, Shooting Guard


Players Lost Due to Graduation:
Roy Hibbert, Senior (Center)
Jonathan Wallace, Senior (Point Guard)
Tyler Crawford, Senior (Guard)
Patrick Ewing Jr, Senior (Forward)

Players Lost Due to Transfer:
Vernon Macklin, Sophomore (Forward/Center)
Jeremiah Rivers, Sophomore (Point Guard)


Open Issues:
As we move closer to the summer, it looks more and more like Georgetown will only be suiting up nine scholarship players for the 2008-2009 season. Jeremiah Rivers and Vernon Macklin have decided to transfer out of the program, decimating their returning experience off the bench, and recruit Chris Braswell will be spending more time at prep school before coming into the program. The Hoyas did add incoming transfer Julian Vaughn from Florida State, but he will have to sit out the 2008-2009 season per NCAA transfer rules. The Hoyas have been involved in the past with Augustus Gilchrist, but it is unclear if they will be in the mix as he looks to transfer out of Maryland.

Summary:
Georgetown is losing more than 50% of their scoring and rebounding from the previous season due to graduation and personnel losses via transfers. However, the Hoyas return a very solid nucleus in Chris Wright, Jesse Sapp, Austin Freeman and DaJuan Summers. Supper recruit Greg Monroe brings a skillful mix of talent to play inside and out in a 6'10 frame and will likely step into the starting line-up from day one.

While the starting five definitely is a formibadle group, no other experience of consequence returns for the Hoyas. They will have a roster with just one senior (Sapp) and one junior (Summers), so the experience factor will be very limited.

Depth is also a major concern, with two returning bench players, Omar Wattad and Nikita Mesheriakou seeing very little action in 2007-2008 and probably not being counted on for much more, except out of necessity, in 2008-2009. The other two current bench players are talented freshman, Henry Sims and Jason Clark, but they will be thrown into the fire very early. Sims and Monroe are their only true low-block players and DaJuan Summers will be asked to carry a much larger burden defensively and on the boards next season. We are waiting for Summers to break out and become one of the league's top players, this year he should have every opportunity to be able to show the talent he has flashed in the last two seasons in a more consistent manner.

While front court depth is a legitimate concern, the options at point guard behind Chris Wright might be more of a concern. Wright's development was hampered last season with a broken foot, but he was too good of a player to redshirt and he showed the potential after his mid-season return that made him an elite recruit. He is much flashier than his predecessor, Jonathan Wallace, but in John Thompson III's Princeton-style offense, that might not always be the most effective. The personnel and their strengths could call for a little more of a wide open look with Wright breaking down defenses off the dribble and taking advantage of the versatile offense games of Austin Freeman and Summers. Jesse Sapp is very good in transition and Monroe is also very effective running the floor and scoring outside of a structured system.

This is going to be a very different type of Georgetown team. John Thompson III will be challenged to play to the strengths of his players, but a short rotation and thin roster will also benefit from the Princeton-style attack that has been so effective in the Big East the last two seasons. The Hoyas definitely have talent, but the inexperience and lack of depth will make things difficult night in and night out in the Big East in 2008-2009. The College Basketball Odds of winning on the road with this type of roster is going to be a long for the Hoyas and will likely have them as one of the most talented middle of the pack conference teams in America next year.

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