The Georgetown Men’s Basketball team publicly kicked off their season Friday night in a mostly-full McDonough Gymnasium with an event full of contests, jokes, and the first on-court look at Georgetown’s new-look team since the Kenner League.
It was only 24 minutes of game time, interspersed with comments from new head coach Ed Cooley, t-shirt tosses, about 20 missed half-court shots, and… golf?, but there were glimpses into how the team might look come opening night. Here are just a few thoughts from Friday night’s scrimmage.
Jayden Epps is going to be “the guy”
Long stretches of Friday night could realistically have been called “The Jayden Epps Show.” After reportedly scoring 46 points during an Oct. 14 closed-door scrimmage against Wake Forest, Epps’ first outing did not disappoint, as the transfer from Illinois posted 20 points in just under 22 minutes during the scrimmage. He opened the scoring with a nice drive to the rim, scored from all levels, and blew the game open by pulling up from deep in transition to bury one of a few threes.
Obviously, it’s not reasonable to expect Epps to score a point per minute every night. He can clearly score in bunches, but more importantly, he looked at home running a new offense. One highlight came early on, when Epps drove to the left and drew a help defender, then dished to junior center Ryan Mutombo. Mutombo finished with a confident two-handed slam. For a team with only three returners, this highlighted the chemistry that needs to develop. There will be growing pains, but Epps will be in the middle of things for the Hoyas this season.
The frontcourt might be OK
Much was made of the Hoyas’ lack of frontcourt presences after last season (only Mutombo, who averaged just 5.4 minutes per game last season, returned for 2023-24). In their first public action of the season, Mutombo and the group of new faces in the frontcourt did not disappoint.
Despite the losing effort, freshman forward Drew Fielder looked good on offense, scoring 13 points. It wasn’t the most efficient night for the Idaho native, but he proved he could compete for minutes on this team. His number will likely be called earlier than expected, as grad transfer Ish Massoud appeared in a cast after injuring his shooting hand in a scrimmage against Pittsburgh. John Fanta reported that Massoud will miss 6-8 weeks, so Fielder will see increased action from Day 1.
Fairfield transfer Supreme Cook also looked solid inside, with several strong finishes in the paint. The highlight of Cook’s night was his dive to recover a loose ball with under three minutes to play, despite being down double digits late in a scrimmage. His effort retained possession for the Blue team and led to an emphatic three-point play for Fielder. That level of effort and buy-in so early in the year, especially from a veteran transfer, bodes well.
Mutombo also acquitted himself well, with a few solid buckets early, then quick thinking to pick off a tipped pass early in the second half and set up a transition bucket for (who else) Epps. With Massoud out medium-term and with so many departed faces, Mutombo having a strong junior year would be a boost for the Hoyas.
This already feels different
It’s still the preseason. Cooley has yet to coach a game for Georgetown. Most of the roster is new to campus. The Big East is a gauntlet yet again. All that is true.
But Friday night, nobody seemed worried about any of it. People were ready to be happy about Hoya basketball again, and it showed. Cooley cracked jokes at students’ expense, talking trash while they prepared to attempt half-court shots. He poked fun at Epps as he squared off against the women’s team in a 3-point contest. A putting contest closed the halftime festivities, and after neither student could make the putt, Cooley shocked the crowd by taking up the putter himself (sadly, he also missed).
It was a refreshing, new feel to a Georgetown basketball event after the abject disappointment (or even apathy) that characterized much of the last few seasons. It’s still early days in the Cooley era, but for at least one night, people had reason to look forward to basketball season on the Hilltop.
Mr. Perry presents a scintillating breakdown of 3 takeaways from last night’s Blue-Gray scrimmage and gives diehard fans who are eagerly awaiting the first game of the Cooley Era even more reasons to be optimistic. Keep ’em coming, Andrew!
Let’s go Mutombo!