The time has come. Georgetown basketball is less than two days away. After what has felt like the longest offseason in recent memory, it is finally here. All the hardships over the last few seasons are in the past and we have something new to look forward to. But after an offseason of such turnover, who knows what’s actually going to happen? Actually scratch that, we do. So with that being said, your all knowing, never wrong, entirely professional team of contributors here at Thompson’s Towel has come together to give you their quick hitting thoughts, vibes and hot takes (plus anything else they’re thinking and wanted to get off their chest) for the season. Let’s see what they’ve come up with:
Brendan Cole: Denver Anglin will play a pivotal role for the 2022 Hoyas
Anglin enters the fold at a time with plenty of uncertainty surrounding the Hoyas’ guards. With Jay Heath possibly ineligible and Dante Harris out dealing with personal reasons, the door is open for the freshman sharpshooter to make waves and earn a starting role down the line. If his high school highlights are any indication, Anglin could be the piece that allows this offense to space out and go bombs away from deep due to his shiftiness and quick-draw release. It may be a lot to expect for a true freshman to take control of an offense so early into his college career, but Anglin can get buckets and I believe this Georgetown team will only go as far as he can carry them.
John Kurkjian: Georgetown Gets A First Four Bid
Relax. Calm down. Breathe. But John, how is an 0-19 team gonna get an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament? I thought you were Big J the doubter and now you’re biased and optimistic?!?! Perhaps a little, but let me say, as I explained in my coverage of Big East Media Day, when you rid yourself of the vast majority of the players from last season’s dreadful campaign, the only way to go is up. Several new quality additions, a coaching staff shakeup, and a really, REALLY easy non-conference schedule has me chomping at the bit to see Georgetown succeed. Even in a relatively loaded Big East this year, there’s no saying why Georgetown can’t finish 5th or 6th and make a run in the Big East tournament to nab one of those final spots. Bold? Yes. Unreasonable? Personally, I just think there are enough unknowns for me to reach this far.
Editor’s Note: we’re starting to think John is clinically insane.
Jack Cudmore: Brandon Murray is selected to Big East All First Team
Two weeks ago, the Big East coaches poll was released with player of the year on all conference team projections. The results yielded players from Creighton (4), Villanova (4), Xavier (2), Providence (1), St.John’s (1), UConn (1), Seton Hall (1), and Butler (1). Believe it or not, zero Hoyas made the final list.
This isn’t super surprising given the Hoyas’ struggles last year and what seems to be relatively modest expectations for the year ahead, but Brandon Murray’s talent gives reason to believe that he can break Georgetown’s streak of 3 years without a Conference First-Team player (Jessie Govan, 2018-19). Last year, Murray put up 10, 3 and 2 on 42.6% shooting while starting for an LSU team that made the NCAA Tournament. Couple that with the fact that the Big East is likely to be worse than last year’s SEC, so he is primed to see those numbers improve as he makes a sophomore leap. He’s entering a situation with lots of scoring opportunities up for grabs, and will likely be a very featured player in the Hoyas’ offense, which gives him the potential to put up some gaudy numbers and statlines.
Armen Haratunian: Bradley Ezewiro becomes a consistent rotation piece by the start of Big East play
I vividly remember when Bradley Ezewiro announced he was committing to Georgetown. Let me paint the scene for you:
It was a gorgeous spring day during the grind of finals season. I was sitting in one of the study rooms in the Healy Family Student Center after pulling an all-nighter the evening prior to write a theology paper – the topic of which I still couldn’t tell you. It had just passed noon and I was scrolling through Twitter to numb my mind when I saw the news: LSU forward Bradley Ezewiro commits to transfer to Georgetown. I immediately scoured the web trying to figure out who this man is. During my search, I found out he only played 29 minutes last year, scoring 11 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. Interesting. I also found a 42 second long highlight tape from the season. The tape was mostly nothing, free throws and layups, until the last clip. Ezewiro baptized a defenseless University of Louisiana Monroe player with a ferocious poster as the clock dropped below 30 seconds in a massive 62-point blowout. I immediately fell in love.
Fast forward to today and, after a monstrous Kenner League, Ezewiro is still being slept on. Look, I understand that the sample size is small and you can never trust production from bigs in Kenner, but on a team that lacks depth and versatility like the Hoyas, Brad is going to be your man when you need to switch it up. There is honestly no reason why he can’t surprise some people and end up playing some serious minutes as the season gets going. All I’ll say is watch out.
Will Phillips: Dante Harris returns and exceeds his Freshman form this season
During his Freshman campaign, we saw Harris excel as a playmaker in the latter half of the season and into the Big East Tournament. His role allowed him to facilitate and feed the balanced scoring attack of our title-winning team. However, he entered last season with the pressure to become more of a scorer, which just isn’t his game. With the reconstructed roster this year, headlined by the arrival of Brandon Murray and the return of Qudus Wahab, Harris should be able to find that playmaker role again. The only question mark will be the playing splits between Harris and Primo Spears, but I see no reason why it isn’t Harris’s job to lose as someone entering his third year in the Ewing system.
Jake DeAnnuntis: Patrick Ewing is still on the hot seat
Yes, fans may remember when news broke last season of Coach Ewing’s “secret” contract extension that came to be after their magical Big East tournament run in 2021. Let us not forget, however, that outside of this fluke four days Ewing’s tenure here has largely been a failure. Extension or not, Ewing will have to feel some heat if this season bears an ounce of resemblance to last season. Yes, he has retooled the roster (does this ever happen in the NCAA?), but do not think this buys him more time. Show me any signs of life, I am begging. Until then, Ewing is on the hot seat.
