Georgetown basketball has the capacity to generate ceaseless hope and crushing agony. It’s a unique state of affairs, but such is life as a sports fan.
Sometimes it seems like there are two different worlds that the different halves of the Georgetown fanbase live in. One side lives in a world of relentless optimism, with the admirable belief that there are bound to be better days ahead. The other side lives in a world where Georgetown is descending into the depths of mediocrity, steadily moving further from relevance, with no prospects on the horizon and with no faith in the current team. I mean, at that point, why even follow sports? It surely can’t be fun.
As it is, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. We will look at the past year of Georgetown basketball for answers, and boy oh boy, has it been an eventful year.
The current season has been far from what Georgetown fans expected, but it has been its own journey. Being a Georgetown fan is a form of masochism, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
The state of Georgetown basketball is growing stronger each day. Fans (particularly students) have become more engaged, the current team shows heart in every game, and the future has lots of tantalizing potential.
I’ll be evaluating the direction of the program on three key metrics: The fan engagement (in particular, that of students) with the program, the actual on-court play, and the future direction of the program (such as recruits).
Student Engagement
Student engagement with the basketball program is at the highest point it’s been in my three years on the Hilltop. Despite the loss of four key rotation players partway into the season, students have continued to turn out in force for games. The student section is often packed all the way to the top of the bowl for most games, something I haven’t seen on a consistent basis in years past.
Hoya Blue has registered more student interest this year, and student participation has been higher than in years past. There’s also an increased awareness on campus about the basketball team itself, a pattern that bodes well for further student engagement in future years as the Hoyas continue to make improvements.
For as much as people like to complain about attendance, student attendance and engagement has been consistently strong this season even amidst all the drama. So can we just make a pact as a fanbase to stop complaining so much about what college kids do? This is also applicable for the actual team itself.
The On-Court Product
In the past year, the Hoyas returned to postseason play for the first time in four years (even if it was the NIT). The Hoyas were expected to contend for an NCAA Tournament spot this year, but…
The starting point guard quit on the team midseason and transferred.
His friend also decided to transfer out.
It was revealed that one of the transfers and two other current players had court cases pending against them. Then those two other players transferred a week later.
Despite this adversity, the Hoyas rattled off a six game winning streak after the first set of transfers, with just seven scholarship players available.
In addition, Ewing led the team to an excellent non-conference record, going 10-3 against a strong non-conference slate. He finally got the Syracuse win that he had been hunting for, and had solid road wins against Oklahoma State and SMU.
The Hoyas have had some ups and downs since Big East play began, but it’s clear that the team is a group of fighters who fight for their coach and their teammates (see @St. John’s). It’s also undeniable that the team can be tough to watch at times (see, @Providence, @Seton Hall), but there’s also times where it’s absolutely electric. The play, especially since the transfers, has been much more fluid and team-oriented, even if the skill level isn’t where it was pre-transfer. Comparing the state of the team to where it is now compared to where the team was a year or two ago, the team today is a team with talented pieces and heart. While they’re not where we expected them to be, that’s also because the starting point guard quit on the team and three others transferred out midseason, so a readjustment of preseason expectations was in order. However, the transfers allowed Ewing to build a team in his own vision since in the immediate wake we saw more offensive planning, the ball was being passed around, and the overall uptempo offensive team that Ewing has repeatedly stated that he wanted the Hoyas to be. The team still has to figure things out on the defensive end, an endless source of frustration for Hoyas fans. For now, we have to roll with the team we have, and right now, the Hoyas are still on the edge of the bubble, which is incredible given all things considered.
The Future
The Hoyas have been making improvements every year under Ewing’s tenure. We went from having an offense led by Jonathan Mulmore to having Mac McClung.
Despite all the troubles that the Hoyas have faced this season, they still have the current 48th ranked recruiting class nationally, and 4th in the Big East. If the Hoyas land Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe, the Hoyas would become the 29th ranked class nationally and 3rd in the Big East.
The Hoyas’ recruiting has been strong overall, getting in with several players early in the process (such as Terrance Williams and RJ Davis) who were later identified and picked up by bigger programs later in the cycle. The Hoyas seem to be finding consensus high-quality talent earlier, which bodes well for the future as they begin to close on some of these recruits.
Ewing and his staff have been able to identify talent, including Mac McClung, Josh LeBlanc, Qudus Wahab, and James Akinjo. Although LeBlanc and Akinjo are no longer with the team, they were key contributors in their freshman seasons.
In addition, with Qudus Wahab as the apparent center-in-waiting, he looks to have the potential to become a star.
The future will largely hinge on what Ewing is able to pull off on the recruiting trail, but he’s managed to get the Hoyas back in the conversation for four star and five star recruits, and I believe it’s just a matter of time until he starts to nab some of these types.
In the meantime, we have to watch Cole Anthony play on the “least gifted” UNC team that Roy Williams has ever coached. It stings now, but I do have faith that Ewing will be able to begin to close on these types of players.
With an abundance of scholarships for next year, look for Ewing to hit the grad transfer market again, and he will hopefully be able to bring in a player or two who can perform like Terrell Allen has this year.
Conclusion
It’s been a rough few months to be a Georgetown fan. The best way to describe it is it feels like we were kicked down the ground and then had the sh*t kicked out of us. That’s what happens when fans’ (and the media’s) expectation to make the tournament is shattered by transfers.
However, the bad times shouldn’t overshadow the good that is coming from the program as Ewing and company continue to diligently rebuild. The future holds promising signs, and the present isn’t too bad either. The current team is shorthanded, and it definitely shows in games, but they’re a fun bunch to root for and student engagement is going back up again.
The state of Georgetown basketball is growing stronger each day, and that should be a cause for celebration. We hold out optimism for the team because things aren’t nearly bad enough to become relentless pessimists, and besides, watching sports should be fun.
