Washington Times Boosts Georgetown Coverage In Recent Features On Markel Starks And The Hoyas

While the Washington Post remains Georgetown beat writer-less after Tarik El-Bashir's unfortunate departure for greener pastures, the Washington Times has revved up its Georgetown coverage of late with a couple of interesting looks at the Hoyas.

First, a feature on Markel Starks, who will be counted on to provide consistent leadership for the young Hoyas this season. It seems as if Starks is ready for the task:

"I watched a lot of tape," Starks said. "I've had to study myself. I've had to study other guys. I've had to study our players. I've had to study our team. In the midst of it, I've tried to figure out where guys like to have the ball, where guys feel comfortable in scoring positions."

More after The Jump:

In addition to the Starks piece, the Times unveiled its "Summer Shootaround" series with a look at Georgetown. Highlights include the following:

1. Otto Porter is the Hoyas' top returning scorer at 9.7 points per game. He was also Georgetown's leading rebounder (6.8).

"Obviously, he's going to be a very key piece to our success this year, not only from a points standpoint but a rebounding standpoint, an assist standpoint, just an all-around player," Starks said.

2. Porter attended skills academies hosted by LeBron James (Las Vegas) and Kevin Durant (Chicago) this summer.

"It was a great experience playing at that level of competition," he said. "Going through skills and things like that, it just helps with the confidence playing with other great guys in college. It helps a lot. You just learn so much."

3. Sophomore guard Jabril Trawick played in all 33 games last season, averaging 3.4 points in 11.4 minutes. He could play a larger part in the Hoyas' rotation this year.

"Jabril is working. He's working. Man, he's working," Porter said. "He knows he has to play a role and he's going to do whatever it takes."

4. Forward Moses Ayegba has played all of 26 minutes in two seasons and sat out last year with a right ACL tear, but he's still picked up a lot.

"Granted he hasn't played in two years [and] forgive me for saying this, but I think he's going to give us some experience seeing that he's been around the game for two years at the college level," Starks said. "He's seen some things and it shows up in workouts."

Good stuff from the Times so far this summer, and hopefully this kind of coverage continues into the season.