In this mailbag, Will and Jacob talk about what Jagan’s role on offense should be, if Yurtseven will declare for the draft, and what the Hoyas should do with the abundance of scholarships they currently have.
Q1: Do you think Jagan Mosely needs to call his own number more on offense? It feels like he can become invisible at times.
Jacob: Yes and no. There’s no question that Mosely has taken a step forward in terms of his offensive capabilities this season, specifically when it comes to knocking down shots. As a matter of fact, Mosely is second on the team in field goal percentage (53.7%) and first in three-point percentage (48.5%). Still, it’s clear that these fantastic numbers are at least partially due to Mosely’s shot selection and choosing the right spots to attack. That being said, I do agree that Mosely seemingly disappears at times, such as against ‘Nova when he attempted just one field goal. It would be nice to see more games from Jagan like last week’s win over St. John’s when he scored 12 points on four of eight shooting, while also dishing out 7 assists. The Hoyas would likely benefit from Mosely upping his usage rate, but certainly not if it comes at the expense of his sound decision making.
Will: I wholeheartedly believe Jagan should start being more aggressive on offense. His 48.5% rate from three speaks for itself (it’s the best in the Big East among people who play actual minutes), and while that percentage is likely a result of his selectiveness with shots, I’d argue that he can strike a balance between taking worse shots (with a slightly worse percentage from three as a result) if the rate and points produced outweigh the cons, which I think it does.
At the very least, he should be more involved with the offense, to keep the defense honest and also to keep the ball moving.
Q2: Omer Yurtseven has made it clear that he intends to go pro after this year. Do you think he will reconsider after his start to the Big East season?
Jacob: Unfortunately I don’t think so. Yurtseven declared for the NBA Draft after both his freshman and sophomore seasons at NC State, though he ultimately decided to come back to college on both occasions. After going through the process of transferring to Georgetown and sitting out the entire 2018-2019 season, I don’t see this happening again. Regardless of his numbers, Yurtseven is very impressive physically, and this won’t go unnoticed by NBA scouts. From all the rumblings I’ve heard, it would take something drastic for Yurtseven to be back at Georgetown for another year. As for right now, I’m sure Ewing and his staff are operating under the assumption that they will be without Yurtseven in the fall.
Will: I’m of the opinion that Yurtseven’s value right now is fairly low if he keeps playing like he has for the past few weeks for the rest of the conference, and so he’d probably want to rebuild value to prove his worth as a draft pick.
However, for Yurtseven, his approach will be looking at how he’ll best break into the league. It’s easier to get in if he’s a 22 year old at the time of the draft (he’ll be turning 22 just under a week before the draft) as scouts might think he’s still got some untapped potential, but the longer he stays in college (and he can’t build a ton of value in a hypothetical senior season), the less likely scouts might be willing to take a flier on a 23 year old, since they’ll think “well, this is probably all he’s got now.” So as much as it stinks for Hoyas fans, he’s still probably gone at the end of the year. I should also conclude this with the fact that Yurtseven is still an amazing player, who has a lot of potential and a lot of current talent too.
Q3: How many roster spots will Georgetown have to fill for next season?
Jacob: Terrell Allen and Jagan Mosely will have exhausted their NCAA eligibility and thus will not be back next season. Assuming Yurtseven leaves for the draft, that would leave Georgetown with just six scholarship players and seven (!) open scholarships for next year. The Hoyas currently have two commits in high school seniors Dante Harris, a two-star point guard, and Jamari Sibley, a four-star forward. As for what Ewing will try to do with the remaining scholarships, he seems to have been hitting the recruiting trail hard these past few weeks. Don’t be surprised if Ewing goes to the juco or grad transfer market, as he’s done in the past, to fill out Georgetown’s 2020-2021 roster.
Will: The Hoyas have an abundance of scholarships for next year (even before figuring out what Yurtseven is going to do for next year), and a lot of places of need. For one, the Hoyas are in need of a point guard, again. We lucked out big time with the pickup of Terrell Allen on the grad transfer market, and look for the Hoyas to look there again for help at the 1. In addition, the Hoyas need wings. Badly. Grad transfers are another possibility, but the Hoyas have also remained involved with several 2020 recruits, including 4 star recruit Matthew Alexander-Moncrieffe, who’ll be visiting the Hilltop in early February. In short, the number of roster spots that we need to fill is in flux since Yurtseven is technically eligible for another year, but like Jacob said, don’t be surprised if he leaves.