What to Expect with Georgetown’s Open Practice

The annual Open Practice is set for Saturday, October 5th, 2019. The practice feels a bit early this season but the optimism for the Georgetown Hoyas has not been this high in a handful of years. With Hoya Madness next week and games in a month, it’s full speed ahead.

The schedule for October 5th is:

• 9:30 AM Autographs in Nolan Hall of the Thompson Center
• 10:45 Hoyas Practice in McDonough

While many fans have seen this (hopefully) deep squad via stream from the Bahamas, there are still some questions about the team, especially the 6+ newcomers.

Here are 5 things to think about as you observe the Hoyas (in person or via social media):

1. How tall is this freshmen class up close? Ewing’s on-boarding of three centers—Qudus Wahab, Timothy Ighoefe, and Malcolm Wilson—used to invite questions of his recruiting strategy but clearly the goal was intimidation. Maybe he’s just tired of bending down to talk face-to-face. With the “Nigerian Nightmare” Qudus Wahab expected to measure in at above 6’11”, these three 7-footers should be a huge attraction at a large autograph table. Let’s hope the Chick-fil-a in the Leavey Center helped them pack on some pounds in August and September.

2. Who are the new wings? We already love the new aggressiveness, hustle, and depth at the 3-spot, but Galen Alexander and Myron Gardner are still largely unknown quantities. The Bahamas stream never gave us a great look at faces, and we don’t all stalk these kids’ tweets and ‘grams, so it will be nice to identify GU’s newest difference makers at the not-so-small-forward position. Let’s start with this, which one has better shooting form?

3. Omer Yurtseven. Ewing and pundits have been raving about Y7 as a special talent, while most Hoyas fans are hoping he fills Jessie Govan’s inside stats with maybe a bit better defense and positioning. It’s time to see what’s developed for Omer since the film from his days as a Second-Team All-ACC player in 2018.

4. Sophomores hitting the weight room. By all accounts this summer James Akinjo, Mac McClung, and Josh LeBlanc were putting in work—and “all accounts” are merely the new all-access videos that @GeorgetownHoops releases to make us feel guilty for skipping leg day (and arm day). Having 3/5ths of the All-Freshman BIG EAST Team coming back as starters is a strong start to building a lineup, but it’s nice to have these three setting the bar for the team in terms of getting stronger and better. Try to check out their frames without being weird about it.

5. Everyone needs to stay healthy. It looks like Jagan Mosely has been working out after whatever injury/recovery may have kept him out of the Bahamas exhibition games. We don’t want anyone sitting out of the open practice with a walking boot or crutches.

BONUS: Patrick chewing less often. The rising sophomores are not the only ones working out, as Patrick Ewing looks to be getting healthier and slimmer. It appears that the 57-year-old, third-year head coach has been hitting the treadmill as had as he’s been hitting the recruiting trail. Hoya fans need a healthy coach to lead the team on a deep April run.

As of this posting, there appears to be room for more registrations (before midnight on 10/3). The Hoya Hoop Club reminds that this event is only available to those who have made a gift or pledge to Georgetown Athletics since July 1, 2019 and current season ticket holders.

As revealed by Mark Guerrera on episode 10 of the Kente Korner podcast, donating is the only way to ensure you get all the HHC emails.

If you’re going this weekend, be sure to take lots of photos (may I suggest tagging #HHCPractice) and share your thoughts.

HOYA SAXA