Player Profiles: Trey Mourning

This week, St. Patrick and Run DSR are bringing you all their hot takes on this season’s Hoyas. Let us pray to the Lord of Light, for the night is dark and full of terror. Up this week: Trey Mourning.

NAME: Trey Mourning

YEAR: Junior

POSITION: Forward

HEIGHT: 6-foot-9

WEIGHT: 230 lbs

WHAT WE KNOW

The son of ‘Zo committed to Georgetown over Duke and Florida two years ago. We didn’t know much about Mourning at the time. It was clear he was the least developed player of what was otherwise a stellar class, but it was uncertain if his offers to play at Duke and Florida were sincere or merely attempts to land a high profile name like Mourning.

Two years and 29 points later, I have no more clarity. Mourning’s freshman year is not really worth talking about – he played only ten minutes all year – but his sophomore year showed a little bit more promise. Mourning played 14 minutes and scored 4 points against Duke. He looked poised and confident in his abilities and didn’t seem to shy away from the big stage of MSG. But he also racked up 4 fouls and 2 turnovers in that same game, and it was clear that Mourning was not fully there yet.

This trend continued for Trey over the course of the season. He didn’t make regular appearances in games, but when he got extended play, he performed well. It’s difficult to really put your stamp on a game in limited minutes, and especially in our offense – which required significant minutes to perfect. No level of talent can overcome being lost on the court.

WHAT WE EXPECT

The question, then, is how big of a talent is Trey? I keep hearing – and in flashes, seeing – that he’s one of the more talented players on the entire team. And the skillset is there: tall, smooth, athletic. He can shoot and block shots (obviously…) as well as rebound pretty effectively. But he still turns the ball over too much and fouls as much as Mikael did (well, maybe not that much). He’s thin, but hasn’t proven his outside game yet. He’s tall, but hasn’t proven his interior defense yet. He’s a tweener in his body and game, and he’s running out of time to find out where he fits on the court.

I’m not sure what to expect from Trey this year. Some epic early Kenner performances seem to underscore his talent level and ability to score from all over. But his inconsistencies as the season progressed exemplified the very reason he doesn’t get much play in season. Trey could see some minutes in small-ball five – that is, if Agau isn’t fully healthy and Govan / Hayes each fail to develop the way we expect. Or, we could see him in the forward slot – that is, if Marcus and Isaac project better as wings, and JT3 favors Trey over seasoned hands like Reggie Cameron.

So as you can tell, he’s up against a lot. He doesn’t have experience on his side, and he’s fighting against top-100 recruits at both positions he could conceivably play. But at the same time, there’s no denying the talent and effort that Trey puts in. And in a season that should be filled with change, an athletic and versatile big like Mourning could prove useful for the Hoyas.