clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

LINKS: Mixed Outlook for Georgetown in Season, Future

While many predict the Hoyas as basement-dwellers, others look beyond for potential

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: FEB 02 Georgetown at St John’s Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Well, over the weekend, a new Jordan Brand jersey for the Georgetown Hoyas may have leaked out from a photo session.

The design looks sharper than one might expect (given a few years of neglect) and appears to pay homage to both the 80s throwbacks and the Iverson-era (sans Kente), yet there are some understandable grumblings about the font (e.g., the numbers don’t look great). Fans should expect 5 uniforms, such as, perhaps, a navy jersey based on some recently released merch.

Still, it’s great to see Georgetown is doing some media photographs, albeit a little behind their BIG EAST adversaries.

According to a few pundits, Georgetown might be looking above to their BIG EAST rivals for a bit.

Here are the links:

Georgetown Basketball: What to expect from the Hoyas for the future? | Fansided

Georgetown will bring in the 53rd best recruiting class in the nation, highlighted by four-star forward Jamari Sibley. With Georgetown’s roster woes, much will not be immediately expected of the Oak Hill Academy graduate, especially as he recovers from a broken arm that occurred back in January. The Hoyas are also gaining a quality pick-up in Arkansas graduate transfer Jalen Harris.

Sibley and Harris most likely will not be enough to make noise by themselves, but for Sibley, this is an opportunity to cement himself as a cog for future success. And, thankfully for him, he will have help coming in 2021.

Georgetown preview- Will the Hoyas start to turn the corner | The Big Big East Blog

The good news is Georgetown should avoid the depth issues that plagued them in 2020. The bad news is their bench consists of players you can’t definitively say are ready for Big East play. Exhibit A is Timothy Ighoefe, who brings size but is clearly a work in progress who is a question mark should he be asked to contribute important minutes. Then you look at transfer Chudier Bile, who was all- Southland Conference last season but is being asked to take a big jump to compete in the Big East.

The Hoyas also have some exciting new recruits in guards Kobe Clark and Dante Harris, but each is a multi-year development project where they might be on a level of Blair in two or three years, but not right now. The freshman who will be the most closely watched is highly ranked forward Jamari Sibley, who the Hoyas faithful hope can become the next great front court star, but will probably be worked into more minutes as this season progresses.

Big East expert picks, 2020-21 preview | CBS Sports

11. Georgetown

It’s been a tumultuous few years for Patrick Ewing at Georgetown, and turning around his alma mater seems more difficult than ever. In addition to several in-season departures last year, he’s now tasked with replacing star guard Mac McClung, who transferred this offseason to Texas Tech, and Omer Yurtseven, the 7-foot big who forfeited his college eligibility and entered the NBA Draft. Ewing has some talented options on the roster to turn to including a pair of seniors who averaged double figures in scoring last season, Jahvon Blair and Jamorko Pickett, but it could be tough sledding once again as the Hoyas rebuild on the fly.

Omer Yurtseven Readies for NBA Draft, Looks Back on Hoya Career | Hoyas 247

“In past years, when Jessie [Govan] was here, we played down on the sides, and then hedge free throw line and up. This past year, he [Patrick Ewing] just decided to play hedge, and we just followed. I don’t really know why,” said Yurtseven. “But it was his scheme and all we had to do was go with it and trust in it. That’s what we did as a team and tried to run it the best way possible.”

“I tried to talk to him once,” Yurtseven went on to say. “I was trying to learn what is the basketball logic behind hedging, because I wanted to know, and he just said that’s the way I want to play, and that was it. That was the only answer I heard” ...

“On the court he is very gritty and absolutely will not take no for an answer,” explained Yurtseven. “But off the court, he is literally the nicest guy ever. You could be intimidated by his size, but I guess you wouldn’t expect the kindness from him. He’s just an awesome person to talk with and be around. He’s always there to talk whenever you have anything really, any questions.”

2023 PG Chase Clemmons holds eight offers, high major interests | 247 Sports

“I do whatever the coach needs me to do to win,” Clemmons added of his game. “If you need me to score then I can score, if you need me to facilitate then I can facilitate but the thing I do best is scoring.”

Coaches have taken notice of Clemmons and he has already reeled in eight offers and a plethora of high major interests.

“It’s been a little crazy,” he said of his early recruitment. “I’ve been talking to a lot of coaches like Middle Tennessee, Tennessee State, Georgia, Oregon, Georgia Tech, UCLA, Wake Forest, Houston, Georgetown, Virginia Tech, Ole Miss, Clemson, Nebraska and Auburn.”

Georgetown: “We’re just trying to build a relationship.”

Newcomer Impact Rankings - Which college basketball freshmen, transfers will lead teams in 2020-21? | ESPN

24. James Akinjo, Arizona (transfer): He was the Big East Freshman of the Year before leaving Georgetown after seven games last season. Sean Miller will give him the ball on day one.

25. Moussa Cisse, Memphis (freshman): Cisse’s commitment to Memphis over LSU was a huge boost for Penny Hardaway’s program. He’ll immediately be one of the best shot-blockers and rebounders in the AAC.

UPDATE:

2020-21 32×32: Big East Preview | CBB Central

I should be clear: Ewing is not at all deserving of the “can’t coach” label: he did an admirable job of preventing the wheels from coming off when half his rotation transferred out at the semester break in a shroud of controversy. Instead, it has been the program management side that needs improvement (though some issues were without a doubt beyond his control). Ewing did cobble together a respectable rotation for 2020-21 through the grad transfer market, adding Jalen Harris (Arkansas) to run point, Don Carey (Siena) for what likely will be a sixth man role, and Chudier Bile (Northwestern State) to serve as a bridge to Jamari Sibley at the 4. Still, so much of this season’s success or failure will be measured by the growth of sophomore big man Qudus Wahab.