Class of '16 Georgetown Hoyas Recruiting Update: The Guards are Coming

Recruiting Update: Guards!

In recent years, Head Coach John Thompson III and his staff have had a great deal of success with recruiting. However, most of their success has been in the frontcourt, bringing in prospects such as Isaac Copeland, Paul White, Marcus Derrickson and Jessie Govan, and outside of Tre Campbell and perhaps L.J. Peak, the team has not secured many high-level guard recruits. The staff is working hard to change that trend, as they will welcome three of the best guards in the country to the Hilltop in the coming weeks.

Curtis Jones, 6'3" G, Huntington Prep (West Virginia): #57 ESPN, #60 Rivals, #69 247Sports

Jones is a combo guard who is built to score. At 6-foot-3 with a long, athletic frame, he is able to use his great quickness to get to the rim and is comfortable shooting the ball both in the midrange and from three-point land. He is effective in catch-and-shoot situations and is the type of player who can put up a bunch of points in a hurry. In addition, his combination of length and athleticism give him the tools to develop into a solid defender.

This all sounds very enticing, but like any prospect Jones does have a few flaws. I saw him play live in New York City at the Dick's Nationals tournament, and he struggled mightily against Oak Hill Academy's ferocious defense. That was only one game and is obviously not a large enough sample size to make any meaningful evaluation, but most pundits agree that Jones will need to improve his ball-handling and distributing if he wants to play the point guard position at the next level.

Still, Jones's combination of athleticism and scoring ability should allow him to be an effective scorer at the collegiate level. In addition, his skills would pair very nicely with the raw athleticism of Jagan Mosely.

Jones visited Georgetown's campus in June and received a scholarship offer.

"It was a great visit. I got to talk to coach John Thompson III and he told me how they do things, and they get people better. With the roster they have, I will be able to come in and play a lot," Jones said after his visit.

Recently, the senior has scheduled three official visits to Indiana, Georgetown and Oklahoma State. He will be on the Hilltop on the weekend of September 4.

Bruce Brown, 6'4" G, Vermont Academy (Vermont): #30 ESPN, #52 Rivals, #52 247Sports

Brown is a different type of prospect, but he is no less effective. He is an explosive athlete who knows how to pick his spots and get to the room, and he has shown a penchant for dunking on people's heads. In addition, he has been lauded for his competitiveness and his motor, and he uses that energy level to be an effective on-ball defender at either guard position.

Scout's Brian Snow had this to say about Brown, naming him as the player who was most fun to watch this summer:

"Brown put a solid, but not elite, BABC squad on his back all summer and really played well. What makes Brown so much fun to watch is his non-stop motor and the incredible toughness that he brings to the floor every single time. Brown isn't a great shooter but knows how to score and, while he isn't a point guard, he makes others better. Overall he is just great to watch, and is the type of kid who helps a college team accumulate a lot of wins."

That's a player that any coach at any level of basketball should want to have on their team; it evokes memories of fan favorite Jabril Trawick's time on the Hilltop.

Wade Smith, a former graduate assistant at Georgetown, is a current assistant coach at Vermont Academy, where Brown goes to school. This may sound like a useless piece of information, and it very easily could be, but as we all know, connections matter in recruiting, and coaches can use any edge that they can get.

Thompson and his staff have made Brown a priority, and he will be visiting campus on an official visit a week after Jones. I know that I am not alone in saying that I would be thrilled to have this young man at Georgetown.

Seventh Woods, 6'1" G, Hammond School (South Carolina): #55 ESPN, #25 Rivals, #56 247Sports

You can find everything you need to know about Woods and his Georgetown recruitment here. Here are some of the more important details:

Woods is a fearless scorer who can be effective from all three levels of the court, but like most high school guards, he needs to improve the consistency and range on his jumper. Despite these nitpicks, though, make no mistake: Woods is a potential superstar, and could make a huge difference at Georgetown or any other school.

Georgetown was not consistently named as one of Woods's top schools early in his recruitment. However, in a somewhat surprising and certainly encouraging twist, he released his top four schools on Friday: South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, and Georgetown.

In a new development, Woods has scheduled his official visit to Georgetown for the weekend of September 11, the same week that Brown will be visiting.

Verdict:

Landing any one of these three guards would be a major coup for Thompson and his staff, and would help fill the void left on the roster by D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera's graduation. Along with Tre Campbell and Jagan Mosely, a new recruit could suddenly create an athletic and skilled backcourt, which would bode extremely well for Georgetown's future, especially considering the wealth of frontcourt talent that is already on campus.