SAY IT AIN’T SO: Former Captain Donald Carey to Transfer to Maryland

Last October, after the Georgetown Hoyas brought home the BIG EAST Tournament Championship, Patrick Ewing named Donald Carey his first team captain. That same day, Ewing asked for patience with a young team. We all know what happened this season. Today, Don Carey announced that he will be transferring to the University of Maryland for his fifth year of collegiate basketball.

Before last season’s 0-19 record was actualized, something like this might have been unthinkable. Today, however, so much has changed from the transfer portal to NIL to COVID-19 to Georgetown Athletics “mak[ing] make the necessary changes for him to put us back on the path to success for next year.” Carey will be remembered for his leadership, clutch four-point plays, and perseverance through the toughest year in Georgetown basketball history.

Despite the record, Don Carey won the BIG EAST Sportsmanship award in his second year with Georgetown, after averaging 13.6 points per game this year and has making 62 of 157 three-point attempts (39.5%) in 27 games.

Carey played 32 games with Mount St. Mary’s and 30 games with Siena before transferring to Georgetown as a college graduate. Carey averaged 8 points per game and almost 45% from three during the 2020-21 BET Championship year. Carey declared for the NBA last month, April 18th.

Carey’s statement on the transfer to Maryland reads:

While remaining 100% dedicated to the pre-draft process, I will be committing to the University of Maryland if I return back to school! This has been a strenuous process but I would like to show appreciation to every single school that has extended their arms out to me, believing I could positively impact their program. My family and I believe in the vision that Coach Willard and his staff have for UMD.

My growth throughout the last two years as a person leader and player is a reflection of my experience at the hilltop. I would like to thank Coach Pat, his staff, my teammates, and the Georgetown community for taking a chance on me. Special [shoutout] to Coach Crouch for investing, challenging and empowering me to be the best version of myself! [] For that I will be forever grateful. I wish Georgetown nothing but the best in the future!

It’s hard to be angry with this young man. So, the question is, why is Don Carey leaving Georgetown? This will be his fourth school and third year as a 23-year-old graduate student.

Well, there are rumors of NIL money for Carey, but nothing has been substantiated yet. Hoyas fans hope that Carey will be paid and that new Maryland coach Kevin Willard finds the right role and playing time for him to succeed and develop.

It is unclear if communication with Patrick Ewing of a potential return for Don Carey ever occurred. Perhaps Ewing was told or assumed, like many Georgetown fans did, that Carey has completed his graduate schooling and wanted to move on to the professional ranks. Any notion that Carey was “forced out” appears unfounded, but Ewing did immediately add a few shooting guards and wings, including Brandon Murray from LSU, who is considered one of the best SG prospects in the portal. If, at the time, Ewing believed Aminu Mohammed was returning and Murray was joining, perhaps everyone recognized that guard minutes might have been tough to find.

Georgetown adding Murray, Primo Spears, and Jay Heath as guards, as well as seeing Wayne Bristol and Jordan Riley play for pretty much the first time, seems to indicate that Ewing and Carey were not destined for a return. Frankly, looking at Georgetown’s roster, there is a bit of a logjam at the 2 and 3 positions, and someone will likely have to guard a power forward at times. Whether this roster can is more talented than the prior year’s iteration is yet to be determined, but it certainly looks significantly different.

The current 2022-23 roster is expected to look like this right now:

• 5 Timothy Ighoefe 7-0 250 C Sr. Lagos, Nigeria / NBA Academy Africa
• 31 Wayne Bristol Jr. 6-6 205 G Sr. Upper Marlboro, Md. / St. Thomas More School (Conn.) Howard
• 32 Malcolm Wilson 7-0 205 C Sr. Columbia, S.C. / Ridge View
• Jay Heath 6-3 195 G Sr. Washington, D.C. / Woodrow Wilson
• Akok Akok 6-9 F 205 Manchester, NH / Putnam
• 2 Dante Harris 6-0 170 G Jr. Washington, D.C. / Lakeway Christian Academy [Tenn.]
• 23 Collin Holloway 6-6 220 F Jr. Baton Rouge, La. / Port Allen
• 24 Kobe Clark 6-6 180 F Jr. St. Louis, Mo. / Vashon
• 0 Aminu Mohammed 6-5 210 G So. Temple Hills, Md. / Greenwood Laboratory School [Mo.]
• 3 Tyler Beard 6-2 180 G So. Chicago, Ill. / Hargrave Academy [Va.]
• 4 Jalin Billingsley 6-8 225 F So. Cleveland, Ohio / Lutheran East
• 12 Jordan Riley 6-4 195 G So. Brentwood, N.Y. / Brentwood
• 21 Ryan Mutombo 7-2 252 C So. Atlanta, Ga. / The Lovett School
• Brandon Murray 6-5 214 G/F Baltimore, Md. / IMG Academy
• Bradley Ezewiro 6-8 246 F Torrance, Calif. / Oak Hill Academy
• Primo Spears 6-3 185 Hartford, Conn. / Mt. Zion (Md.) Prep
• Incoming freshman Denver Anglin 6-2 G from New Jersey
• Incoming freshman D’Ante Bass 6-7 F from Savannah, Georgia
• 10 Chuma Azinge 6-3 183 G Sr. San Marino, Calif. (walk-on)
• 55 Victor Muresan 6-10 190 F Jr. Potomac, Md. (walk-on)

Best of luck, Don. We wish you well on your future endeavors.