What Happened To Georgetown’s NBA Talent?

There was an interesting graphic about Georgetown coach John Thompson III shown early in Sunday's nationally televised game against Xavier. Seeing as the Hoyas eventually lost 86-75, falling to 10-10 on the season and a stunning 1-6 in Big East games, some of the numbers now require a small tweak. They remain alarming.

What CBS showed represented a distinct split in success over Thompson's 13 seasons. Here's the breakdown of the first nine vs. the most recent four.

Winning percentage (overall): .701 vs. .551

Winning percentage (Big East): .635 vs. 461

NCAA Tournament appearances: 7 vs. 1

Sweet 16s: 2 vs.0

We can add other data. For instance:

* Number of seasons with fewer than 20 wins: 2 vs. 2, but it seems likely that for the third time in five campaigns Georgetown won't reach 20.

* Big East regular season titles: 3 vs. 0

Here's another example and perhaps the best at explaining the drop in success: NBA talent.

Over those initial nine seasons, Thompson put nine players into the NBA, including Otto Porter. The 2013 Big East Player of the Year entered the 2013 Draft following his sophomore season. No NBAers since.

The nine includes even undrafted players on 10-day contracts -- a step beyond the Hoyas media guide -- and doesn't include Jerrelle Benimon, who transferred after two seasons.

In those nine seasons, the Hoyas had at least one future first round pick -- Jeff Green, Roy Hibbert, Greg Monroe, Porter -- in eight of them. The lone exception came in 2010-11, but that roster included three players who would play in the NBA plus Austin Freeman (Georgetown’s 8th all-time scorer) and Jason Clark (21st).

Here's a year-by-year look. NCAA Tournament seasons in bold. Active NBA players in italics.

2004-05: Jeff Green (5th overall pick in 2007), Roy Hibbert (2008 1st round pick)

2005-06: Green, Hibbert

2006-07: Green, Hibbert, DaJuan Summers (2009 2nd round pick; 83 games over 4 seasons), Patrick Ewing Jr. (2008 2nd round pick; 7 over 1)

2007-08: Hibbert, Summers, Ewing, Chris Wright (10-day contract; 3 over 1)

2008-09: Greg Monroe, Henry Sims (Undrafted; 135 over 4), Summers, Wright

2009-10: Monroe, Hollis Thompson* (Undrafted; 256 over 4), Sims, Wright, Jerrelle Benimon (Undrafted; 2 over 1)

2010-11: Thompson, Sims, Wright, Benimon

2011-12: Otto Porter, Thompson, Sims

2012-13: Porter

2013-14: None/TBD

2014-15: None/TBD

2015-16: None/TBD

2016-17: TBD

(* Hollis Thompson was waived by the 76ers this month)

Let's note a couple of things. Obviously, the complete story on the last four seasons hasn't been fully written seeing as players from each of those recruiting classes remain on the roster. However, there are no clear NBA locks on the roster.

Georgetown wing L.J. Peak, ranked 75th overall by Draft Express, is arguably the program's best hope for another NBA player. Sophomore center Jessie Govan previously received some first round hope by DE, but now ranks 84th.

Not all great college basketball players land a job in the world's top professional basketball league. Arizona's Miles Simon was named Most Outstanding Player of the 1997 Final Four and played only five games in the NBA. Luke Hancock took MOP honors in 2013 after Louisville cut down the nets, but never played a second in the NBA. Same so far for D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera and Freeman, both players in the JT3 era and two of the top 10 all-scorers in program history.

Furthermore, not all the future NBAers were studs from the start with the Hoyas. Hibbert, inherited by JT3 along with Green, famously entered Georgetown a truly raw prospect. Sims didn't truly make a consistent impact for the Hoyas until his senior season.

Yet for the most part, those Georgetown teams from seasons 1-9 had a true identity and a go-to guy. Someone like Xavier's Edmond Sumner.

After the Hoyas went from trailing 52-40 to tying the No. 22 Musketeers at 58-58, the sophomore guard scored seven of his 14 points during a decisive 12-3 run despite dealing with a shoulder injury.

“Keep in mind that this game was tied at 58,” CBS analyst Dan Bonner said, “and Edmond Sumner took over.” In years past announcers made similar comments about Georgetown stars who doubled as future NBA players. Speaking of which, Draft Express ranks Sumner as the 28th prospect in the projected 2017 Draft class.

Think Georgetown’s woes are about recruiting? Here's a list of top 100 recruits since 2007 as ranked by ESPN.

2007: Freeman (8), Wright (26)

2008 -- Monroe (20), Sims (32), Clark (45)

2009 - none

2010 - Nate Lubick (48), Markel Starks (76)

2011 - Porter (42), Mikael Hopkins (78), Jabril Trawick (80)

2012 - Smith-Rivera (58), Stephen Domingo (77)

2013 - Reggie Cameron (63)

2014 - Isaac Copeland (16), Peak (31), Paul White (34)

2015 - Govan (67), Marcus Derrickson (89)

2016 - none

While there were more top 20-50 players earlier in the Thompson era, he's consistently added notable help. There was tremendous hope for the 2014 group, but now only Peak remains among those listed above. Thompson also added former UCLA center Joshua Smith, the No. 20 recruit in 2010, after Porter left. Graduate transfer Rodney Pryor, Georgetown's leading scorer, joined the roster this season.

Yet there might not be a future NBA player over these last seasons, though Peak, Govan and Derrickson have hope. Let's not even ponder first round pick for now.

Players change, but the coach remains and therefore the *blame* lands on him. Does this fall on Thompson the coach or Thompson the recruiter?

Somewhere in the middle. Too often, it's unclear if the recruiter knows what type of style the coach plans to deploy. For example, late adds like Smith or junior college transfer Jonathan Mulmore are fine based on talent, but the signings had whiffs of desperation.

Smith provided a low-post threat, but his massive size clogged lanes within in Thompson's cut-heavy offense and lack of conditioning took away fast break hopes.

Mulmore's speed is ideal for up-tempo, but his raw skills in half-court sets and perimeter shooting are miles away from the competence of Jonathan Wallace, one of the hero’s from the 2007 Final Four team and prototype point guard for a Thompson offense.

Thompson knows more about X's and O's then I ever will, but it's apparent he's searching for a tactical foothold. These recent editions don't rebound and defend like his previous versions and yet the Hoyas haven't transformed into a modern spread-the-court attack either.

These recent Georgetown teams may not include any future NBA players. Beyond anything else about the program's downturn, that might be the biggest culprit of all. Some of that falls on those on the court. The real question for those in charge of the program now starving simply for postseason play is how much falls on the man buying the groceries and cooking the meal.