2008-2009 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 8) GEORGETOWN

It is transition time for coach John Thompson III and the Georgetown Hoyas, but do not feel to sorry for the Hoyas, this is not a rebuilding time, but clearly a time to re-load. After back-to-back regular season Big East championships, the Hoyas say good-bye to approximately 52% of their scoring and rebounding from a year ago and are forced to replace their starting point guard and leading scorer. Always tough tasks in the Big East, and this year will be no exception with the multitude of returning stars in the conference.

The Hoya frontcourt was decimated by personnel losses this offseason of graduation and transfer, but another fine recruiting effort by Thompson and his staff will have the Hoyas not conceding anything in their quest for another Big East championship and trip to the NCAA Tournament.

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Comings:

John Thompson III has certainly made quick work of putting the Hoyas back into consideration for the top players available on the recruiting trail, not only locally in the very fertile DMC (DC/Maryland/Virginia) corridor, but nationally as well. This year’s recruiting coup is Greg Monroe, a McDonalds All-American from Harvey (LA). The staff did not have to go too far to bring in the other two freshmen newcomers as center Henry Sims comes to Georgetown from Baltimore and Jason Clark, a guard, is added from Arlington (VA).

The fourth new face for the Hoyas is forward Julian Vaughn. Georgetown recruited the Vienna (VA) product out of high school in the class of 2007, but he left the area and joined the program at Florida State. After one season down South, Vaughn decided he needed to be closer to home for personal reasons, and with the blessing of the FSU program, Vaughn received a hardship waiver from the NCAA and will be available this season for the Hoyas.


Goings:

As noted, Georgetown says good-bye to four year starting point guard Jonathan Wallace and leading scorer and all-Big East first-teamer Roy Hibbert. Also graduating was key reserve Patrick Ewing Jr. and guard Tyler Crawford. The losses did not stop there as power forward/center Vernon Macklin decided to leave the program and move on to Florida and Jeremiah Rivers transferred to Indiana. That is five key players from last year’s 8/9 man rotation.


Net Impact:

Anytime you have to break in a new point guard, there will be an adjustment. Wallace was the starting point guard for JT III all four years he has been the head coach of the Hoyas. The chemistry from the bench to the floor was always in tune the last few seasons. Hibbert had progressed by leaps and bounds from his early days to be a force in the Big East. The newcomers are definitely talented and have a very high level of potential, but getting ready to go right from day one in this conference will be difficult. Vaughn has the added help of a season under his belt in the ACC, so look for him to fill a leadership role in their frontcourt.


2008-2009 Backcourt Outlook:

The man in the spotlight for Georgetown this year will be 6-foot-1 sophomore point guard Chris Wright. The Bowie (MD) native had his freshman season sidetracked by a an early season foot injury, but still appeared in 16 games and played key minutes down the stretch in the Big East and NCAA Tournaments. Wright is more of a dynamic offensive player than his predecessor, Jonathan Wallace, and can play at a higher tempo with the ability to create his own offense. The Georgetown system relies on players playing within their roles, but the talent of Wright might have JT III looking to open things up a little more. It will be interesting to see how quickly Wright assimilates himself into the role of manager on the floor within the system.

Productive and consistent Jesse Sapp returns to the backcourt for his senior season. Sapp is a player that could excel offensively with Wright as his running mate in an increased tempo style of play. Sapp was the Hoyas’ top assist man last year averaging three assists and four rebounds with his nearly 10 points a game.

One area of concern with the Hoyas is ball-handling depth. Wright is the only point guard on the roster and Sapp and freshman Jason Clark both might have to assume more of the point guard duties than planned due to the transfer of Rivers. One thing that will help is the system the Hoyas run is called on to create scoring opportunities more than the individual players. Clark, a 6-foot-2 guard with scoring ability, will play a key role as the primary backcourt depth this season.

If your looking for a potential breakout player this season, then Austin Freeman is one to keep your eye on. Freeman is a 6-foot-4, 240 pound wing that has top-notch offensive potential and could really evolve into a go-to scorer for the Hoyas this season. The product of the famed DeMatha program of Hyattsville (MD) felt his way through a freshman season that saw him average 9 points a game. With increased opportunity this year, expect that number to increase significantly as Freeman shot 51% from the floor, 40% from three-point range and 82% from the line in his rookie season. Very efficient numbers.

Omar Wattad might be called on to fill some minutes on the wing. The 6-goot-5 sophomore only saw action in 11 games last season.


2008-2009 Frontcourt Outlook:

Georgetown says good-bye to virtually all of their interior talent from last season with the graduation of Hibbert, Ewing Jr and the transfer of Macklin. One player returning is forward DaJuan Summers. The all-league potential performer seemed to plateau a bit in his sophomore season, averaging 11 points and 5 rebounds, up slightly from an impressive freshman season that saw him star in the Hoya NCAA Tournament win against North Carolina. At 6-foot-8, the Baltimore native has the tools and size to score inside and out in the Big East, as well as rebound and defend with forwards of all shapes and sizes. This could be a season that he grabs control of the team similar to Jeff Green in Summer’s freshman year.

The only other frontcourt player with previous extensive experience at the college level is Julian Vaughn. Listed at 6-foot-9 and 245 pounds, Vaughn has the size to compete in the paint in the Big East. However, Vaughn is also adept at facing up as a skilled four that has range out the three-point land, he might be called on to alter his game and go inside this season for the Hoyas and bang in the Big East, which will be a new function of his game that he hasn’t shown much of previously.

One of the reasons there is some hype surrounding this year’s Hoyas is the addition of Greg Monroe, a multi-skilled, 6-foot-11 forward out of Louisiana. The McDonald’s All-American tantalizes scouts with his ability to handle and pass the ball and run the floor with his long, lean and athletic 6’11 frame. One area where Monroe is going to have to improve upon is his strength and toughness which will be challenged in the Big East. There might be a large load for him to carry in the Hoya frontcourt, how quickly he develops the physical standpoint of his game will determine how quickly he begins to realize his immense potential for the Hoyas.

Henry Sims is a similarly built big man to Monroe, but he does not have the array of perimeter skills that his fellow frosh possesses. Sims, though, is a back-to-the basket offensive threat that will rebound and block shots. The freshman year in a conference like the Big East will be quite an adjustment for any big man, and expect it to be so for Sims. Given time to development, Sims will finish his career as a high-end Big East center. Rounding out the depth of the Georgetown frontcourt is Nikita Mescheriakov, a native of Belarus that did not see any time as a freshman. A definite project, with the Hoyas lack of depth, there might be a time he is called on, but he is at least a year away from being ready to make meaningful contributions in the Big East.



2008-2009 Team Outlook:

There you have the 2008-2009 Georgetown Hoyas. Heading into the season with just 10 scholarship players, depth is a major concern as Wattad and Mescheriakov are not likely to be Big East factors this season. And, of that eight that are, three are freshman and another is a transfer into the program, meaning just four players return with previous experience in John Thompson III’s intricate system, making for some long college basketball odds Of course, one of them is Chris Wright, the heir apparent, and possibly only, point guard who missed more than half of last season due to a foot injury.

I definitely am not discounting the individual talent of the Hoyas roster and realize that, individually, there is the potential for several all-league Big East performers on the squad. But, night in and night out, having just eight real candidates for playing time with six of them having one year or less experience in high major basketball will make this an up and down season for the Hoyas. The talent is there to beat nearly anyone on any given night, but one injury, one off night by a key player or foul trouble will derail the Hoyas and will happen from time to time.

Georgetown is reloading, they are just a little short in stocking up on their ammunition to face the Big East over an 18 game schedule.



2008-2009 Big East Prediction: 10-8