Junior transfer forward Tre King has been left off of Georgetown’s roster before ever playing a game for the Hoyas, according to a statement from the university.
Georgetown Athletics issued a brief statement, saying: “Junior transfer Tre King did not meet the conduct expectations of the University. He is not enrolled in classes and will not be on the Men’s Basketball team.”
With the University offering little explanation, we are left to wonder what prompted this decision. Tre King’s uncle disagreed with the program’s characterization of his nephew’s dismissal, tweeting that it was “Bull💩”. In a series of follow-up tweets, King’s uncle offered more of his perspective.
Later that night, Tre King released a statement of his own. He said he was disappointed, although he accepted “the decision by Georgetown.” He did leave the door open to a potential return, saying that he will return to campus in the “near future” while also sharing his wishes that Ewing would welcome him back onto the team.
King transferred to Georgetown this spring from Eastern Kentucky University, where he averaged 14.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game last season.
Standing at 6’9”, King would have provided sorely needed frontcourt depth for Georgetown, especially after the transfer of Qudus Wahab this spring. Instead, he leaves the university without ever having played a game for the Hoyas. This significantly alters what Ewing can do with the roster for this upcoming season, as King’s ability to space the floor as a big man would have given Ewing new potential lineup configurations, had he chosen to take advantage of it.
Currently, the roster has Jalin Billingsley, Collin Holloway, and Kobe Clark as the main forwards available (with Kaiden Rice as a swingman). While the trio of Billingsley, Holloway, and Clark are talented, they lack the experience that King possessed. Additionally, King could have been used as a center in a small-ball lineup, which would’ve been a massive help with the center rotation otherwise consisting of Timothy Ighoefe, a career backup, and Ryan Mutombo, a raw four-star prospect who nonetheless is new to college basketball.
The Hoyas currently have an open scholarship for this season, although it’s hard to imagine they’ll be able to add anyone for this year with just under a month to go until the season opener.
