Hopkins' a Hoya. Now what? With two fall commitments for next season and two scholarships left for the Class of 2011, Georgetown is moving ahead after a difficult recruiting summer.
I am hesitant to say Georgetown is in a good spot because one year ago today I would have said landing Tyrone Johnson and Rakeem Christmas was a sure thing, but that is the nature of the recruiting beast, and why following it closely can only cause pain and grief. I do give Thompson the Third credit, however, as overcoming the loss of your lead recruiter to a conference rival during the beginning of the recruiting busy season is difficult to overcome, and the commitment of Mikael Hopkins is proof that he and his staff put in major work this off-season to reconnect with David Cox's prime targets. Next up is determining who to pursue, and what future Georgetown squads need.
(More after the Jump)
Georgetown will lose three starters after this year in Austin Freeman, Chris Wright, and Julian Vaughn. Despite the Hopkins commitment, there is still a big man hole to fill in future seasons.
| 2010-2011 | 2011-2012 | 2012-2013 | |
| Guard | Wright / Sanford / Starks | Sanford / Starks | Sanford / Starks |
| Guard | Freeman / Clark | Clark / Trawick | Trawick |
| Forward | Thompson / Bowen | Thompson / Bowen | Thompson / Bowen |
| Forward | Benimon / Lubick | Benimon / Lubick | Benimon / Lubick |
| Center | Vaughn / Sims / Ayegba | Sims / Ayegba / Hopkins | Ayegba / Hopkins |
The above does not try to reflect starting lineups, since much of that will be determined by development and experience, and is instead ordered by class. And, it makes a futile attempt to assign players to traditional positions, which is not really relevant in Thompson's offense since every player is expected to pass, shoot, rebound (sometimes) equally.
Even though the paint positions have a lot of bodies listed, there is a lack of both proven experience and untapped potential. The development of Henry Sims has been disappointing so far, and reports from this summer indicate that Moses Ayegba is athletic but not ready to make an immediate impact. Jerrelle Benimon, while valuable in relief last season, was recruited to take up minutes. First priority for Thompson and staff is to get Nate Lubick help in the paint. Probably too late to pursue anyone of significance in the Class of 2011, as most of the top big men have already committed or indicated interest elsewhere, but the Hoyas are on the short list of many talented high school juniors.
Georgetown's should focus its efforts on landing two big men (Daniel Ochefu, Brandon Bolden, Tony Parker, Kaleb Tarczewski, Andre Drummond, Amile Jefferson) and one point guard (Kyle Anderson, James Robinson, D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera) in the Class of 2012, and finishing off 2011 with another SG/SF (Rodney Hood, Jarelle Reischel). That would use up the four scholarships Georgetown has left for the next two seasons (barring transfers). Based on recent visits, offers and invites to Midnight Madness, this is exactly what Thompson and staff are doing.
A look at who Georgetown has been pursuing can be found on the Recruiting and Visits Page.