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LOCATION: Washington, D.C.
CONFERENCE: Big East
LAST SEASON: 15-16 (.483)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 6-12 (10th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 0/5
NICKNAME: Hoyas
COLORS: Blue & Gray
HOMECOURT: MCI Arena (20,000)
COACH: Craig Esherick (Georgetown '78)
record at school 8-10 (1 year)
career record 8-10 (1 year)
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ASSISTANTS: Mike Riley (Georgetown '78)
Chip Simms (Georgetown '92)
Ronnie Thompson (Georgetown '92)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 21-29-20-16-15
RPI (last 5 years) 26-8-57-115-97
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in NIT first round.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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First, the good news. This preview will include real, live quotes from a Georgetown coach, not recycled comments extracted under duress and distributed to everybody hoping to glean some information about the program. Craig Esherick may be committed to continuing the Hoya Way on the court, with the strong defense and the desire to play as many ball-hawking members of his roster as possible, but at least he is willing to talk about his club. Call it basketball glasnost. And rejoice. Why wouldn't Esherick want to talk? When retired Hall of Fame coach John Thompson referred during his farewell press conference to the reinforcements that were on their way to the Hoya program, he wasn't joking around. He neglected to mention that there would be some pretty impressive holdovers, too. Georgetown may be too young to mount any kind of a serious charge at the Big East title, but the Hoyas are loaded with young talent and promise, proving that anybody who thought Thompson had lost his touch on the recruiting trails was dead wrong. Last year, we saw glimpses of how good players like Anthony Perry, Kevin Braswell and Ruben Boumtje Boumtje could be. This season, we'll learn about players like Jason Burns, Lee Scruggs, Courtland Freeman and Wesley Wilson. But wait, there's more. An early commitment from power forward Mike Sweeney gave the Hoyas a jump on the 2000 race as if the team has any more room. This year's roster will include seven players who are freshmen or sophomores and another, Perry, who is entering just his second year of eligibility and could end up playing three more seasons (including this one) should he graduate, thanks to his previous partial qualifier status. It looks as if the Hoyas are going places, and Esherick is driving the bus with a smile on his face. "I'm very pleased with the new guys, but I'm probably more pleased that we have all of our starters back. They'll establish the tone," Esherick said.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT B BENCH/DEPTH B+
FRONTCOURT B INTANGIBLES B
There will be plenty of excitement surrounding the Georgetown program this year, thanks to the influx of talent and the strong returning crop. Those who wondered whether John Thompson's decision to leave would cripple the Hoya tradition can rest assured that things will roll right along, perhaps better than before. This team may be a year away from big things, but the long-term forecast is certainly bright. Anthony Perry and Kevin Braswell were impressive last year, even if they did make their share of mistakes. Thanks to newcomers like Jason Burns, they could be even better, thanks to increased freshness and decreased responsibility. Georgetown has been without quality depth at the point for a long time. No more. Up front, get ready for waves of big, athletic players, led by Ruben Boumtje Boumtje, who could become a huge force this year, at least on the defensive end and the backboards. Not that Jameel Watkins, Wesley Wilson, Lee Scruggs and Courtland Freeman are going to let him have all the fun. This group is deep, versatile and capable of matching fouls with any team around. Esherick may have instituted a policy of glasnost within the Hoya hoop community, but it wasn't like he had much to hide. The program is headed in the right direction, and woe to those who underestimate it this year. |
And one needs to be set. Although Georgetown made some headlines during the two years Allen Iverson played for the school, it has remained out of the national spotlight, a shell of its former fearsome self. Some thought Thompson had lost interest and therefore slacked off on his recruiting. Others believed that building an entire system around defense, often to the extreme detriment of putting the ball in the basket, was not only hopelessly outdated but unable to attract any top players, precious few of whom are interested in sacrificing their scoring averages in the pursuit of the perfect floor burn. Things look ready to change. Teaming the new class, which boasts equal parts bulk, strength, defense and scoring ability, with the holdovers should give Esherick a deep, versatile roster. He will be able to press and take chances defensively while also fielding a lineup that can score in more than just in fast break situations. "We filled a lot of needs with our recruiting," Esherick said. "We thought our ballhandling was not that good last year, and we needed to do something with our shooting." The man knows his team. Georgetown committed a whopping 556 turnovers last year (nearly 18 a game) and shot .388 from the floor, a statistic not enhanced by an anemic .303 "accuracy" from three-point range. Sure, Georgetown stole the ball, blocked shots and hit the boards, but basketball is a two-way game, and the Hoyas have to improve on the offensive end if they want to be playing deep into March any season soon. "I think we've improved our offense a great deal," Esherick said. "That's what we needed to do." Don't worry about the defense. There will be plenty of that. Georgetown boasts four players 6-10 or taller, none of whom tips the scales at less than 230 pounds. Add in Freeman, a 6-9 shot-blocking whiz, and you have the makings of an impenetrable interior fortress. Leading the way is Boumtje Boumtje (8.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 82 blocked shots), a junior who rebounded from a wrist injury that kept him out of most of the 1997-98 season to make a strong debut. Active, mobile and still getting bigger (6-11, 245 pounds), Boumtje Boumtje could become the Hoyas' first dominating center since Othella Harrington was tearing it up during his first few years in D.C. The key for Boumtje Boumtje is how well he develops on the offensive end, where his game remains unrefined. The athletic potential, however, is most certainly there. "Ruben has gotten stronger," Esherick said. "He spent a lot of time before last season rehabbing his wrist, and by the end of last season, he was in better shape than when he began. The value of someone like Ruben is that he can block shots, rebound and clog the middle. He has some offensive skill, too, and isn't a bad shooter." There is plenty of beef to play next to and behind Boumtje Boumtje. Fifth-year senior Jameel Watkins (7.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 58 blocked shots) started next to Boumtje Boumtje last year, giving the Hoyas a formidable interior power plant. The 6-10, 244-pound Watkins may lose a little playing time this year, thanks to the newcomers' arrivals, but he is a valuable rock inside and can help the Hoyas handle just about anybody on the backboards. Scruggs (Daytona Beach (Fla.) CC/Franklin, N.C.) is a 6-10, 230-pound junior forward/center who averaged 18.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 5.5 blocks last year. A second-team NJCAA All-American, Scruggs has long arms and excellent leaping ability, two characteristics that made him Daytona Beach's all-time shot-blocker. Scruggs can move, pass and shoot out to 10 feet. Unlike the other Hoya big men, he can make an impact on the offensive end. "I'd say he's more offensively gifted than most other guys his size," Esherick said. The final Hoya giant is Wilson, a 6-11, 250-pound freshman (Vallejo, Calif./Maine Central Institute), who comes to Washington with a body most freshmen would envy and the willingness to mix it up inside. He averaged 12.9 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.0 blocks last year, and though he may be ready to start at some schools, he will have to wait his turn at Georgetown, at least until Watkins leaves town after this season. "He's a good athlete for someone his size," Esherick said. Freeman (Socastee HS/Myrtle Beach, S.C.) adds another dimension to the frontcourt, thanks to his lean, active body and ability to move well along the baseline. Although the 6-9, 215-pound freshman could use some quality time in the weight room, Freeman gives Georgetown the opportunity to play a little quicker game without sacrificing too much of its defense. He averaged 17.3 points, 12.2 rebounds and 5.0 blocks last year and showed the ability to score inside or out. He scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the Capital Classic and should find an immediate niche in the lineup. Not that 6-7 senior Rhese Gibson (1.1 ppg, 1.9 rpg) will like that very much, but Gibson lacks Freeman's versatility and offensive skill. A willing defender who can handle assignments at all three front-line positions, Gibson is valuable for his experience and familiarity with the Hoya system. Another freshman, 6-8 Victor Samnick (Newport (Md.) Prep/Doala, Cameroon), averaged 15.0 points and 9.0 rebounds last year and has the potential to be a great rebounder. His raw game, however, will force him to wait for time in the crowded Hoya frontcourt. The returns of Perry and Braswell could be enough to make any coach happy, but with the fortifications provided by the recruiting class, Esherick must be thrilled about his backcourt. Perry (14.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 65 assists, 58 steals), a 6-3 junior, enjoyed an excellent debut, leading the Hoyas in scoring and minutes played (34.5 per game), but it was clear that he needed help and would have been more effective with less playing time. Still, for someone who missed the 1997-98 season as a partial qualifier, Perry did a fine job. The same goes for Braswell (13.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 141 assists, 84 steals), who played the second-most minutes on the team (33.7 per game) and may have had an even tougher job than Perry, thanks to his continued ballhandling and playmaking possibilities. Though he can play the point, the 6-2 sophomore is more of a combination guard. "The one thing I didn't want to do last year was to be too hard on Kevin and Anthony," Esherick said. "They were two first-year players who had an awful lot of responsibility. I was very pleased with the year they had." That said, Esherick wants and Georgetown needs more. Perry must shoot the ball better, particularly from long range, where he made just .332 percent of his three-point shots. He and Braswell have to cut down on turnovers. Expect to see those improvements, thanks to maturity but also to the presence of some newcomers who will lighten their burdens. Georgetown fans expected immediate help from 6-0 freshman point Raynardo Curry (East HS/Memphis, Tenn.), a classic point man and excellent penetrator who plays good defense and excels when the tempo is revved to the limit. He averaged 21.0 points, 6.0 assists and 4.0 steals. He may be a little brash for some, but Curry can play. Unfortunately for the Hoyas, he will be doing it at Western Kentucky, the result of a "mutual agreement" between player and institution to part ways. That means more work for 6-5 freshman Jason Burns (Durango HS/Las Vegas, Nev.), a machine-gunning guard who can also handle the point. "He may give us a bad reputation," Esherick said, referring to Burns' affinity for launching shots. Burns scored 20 a game last year and has a good long-range stroke but needs to add some heft to his lithe, 175-pound frame. Three other new faces should figure in the backcourt picture. One is 6-1 freshman Demetrius Hunter (Cheyenne HS/Las Vegas, Nev.), a husky (205 pounds) combo guard who was a full-time point in high school but who has the skills to handle some off-guard work at this level. Hunter (21.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.0 apg, 2.0 spg) is fast and loves the open court. "He's a very strong player, who could see time at the point guard, shooting guard or three position," Esherick said. Trenton Hillier (Kenston HS/Chagrin Falls, Ohio) is a 5-9 point who handles the ball well but won't be available to the team until after football season. He will handle return duties and play wideout for the Hoya football team. Junior Gharun Hester (0.8 ppg, 0.4 rpg, five appearances) is a 6-4 walk-on.
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