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The college basketball offseason is in full swing.
The Georgetown Hoyas have not played a basketball game since March 13, nearly four months ago. The team crashed out of the Big East Tournament Opening Round in a 74-56 loss to Providence, ending the season with a 9-24 record with zero wins against Big East teams not named DePaul.
Since that night, the Hoyas roster has shifted considerably, with players transferring in and out of the program as is now custom across college athletics in the current transfer portal era.
Just five days after the loss, guard Wayne Bristol entered the portal and later committed to Hampton, followed two days later by sophomore guard Rowan Brumbaugh, who is headed to Tulane.
In mid-April, former North Carolina recruit Dontrez Styles announced he would be leaving the Hoyas as well to return to the ACC with NC State in 2024-25, followed by both Supreme Cook and Ryan Mutombo, who transferred to Oregon and Georgia Tech, respectively.
As it stands, Head Coach Ed Cooley and the Hoyas will be returning 32% of its scoring from a team last season that won two conference games, the third lowest mark in the Big East Conference.
The biggest chunk of that 32% comes in the form of Jayden Epps. In his first season after transferring from Illinois, Epps averaged 18.5 PPG. Where he’ll need to improve in his second season in D.C. is ball security, having averaged just over 4 assists per game paired with nearly 3.5 turnovers per game.
The other key returner for Cooley is sophomore center Drew Fielder. Fielder may find himself as the starting big man, standing at 6’10” and coming off a 5 PPG season, mostly coming off the bench.
Besides the departure of Jay Heath and Ismael Massoud after graduating, and losing Bristol, Brumbugh, Styles, Cook, and Mutombo in the transfer portal, Georgetown has added a few pieces to replace what it has lost.
Perhaps the most significant addition is Harvard transfer Malik Mack. A Washington, DC native, Mack averaged over 17 PPG during his freshman season in the Ivy League, scoring in double figures in all but three games, winning Ivy League Rookie of the Year while leading the team in scoring, assists, free throw percentage, minutes played, and steals.
Additionally, the Hoyas have added Micah Peavy from TCU, Curtis Williams from Louisville, and Jordan Burks from Kentucky.
A guard with one year of eligibility left, Peavy averaged nearly 11 PPG last season, scoring 6 in TCU’s controversial win at Capital One Arena in December of last season.
Curtis Williams and Jordan Burks were both minimal contributors last season, looking to create a larger impact in 2024-25. Williams, a 6’5” freshman guard, scored just over 5 points per game with the Cardinals while Burks, a 6'8” freshman guard scored just under 2 points per game in 20 appearances for the Wildcats while averaging just over 7 minutes in those appearances.
Besides the portal additions, Coolely and his staff have been busy in the high school ranks.
This season, Georgetown will welcome in Drew McKenna, Kayvaun Mulready, Caleb Williams, and Thomas Sorber as the freshmen class.
McKenna and Williams are both local kids while Mulready heads to the DMV from Worcester, MA and Sorber travels south from Philadelphia.
It’s one of the better recruiting classes, on paper, that Georgetown has had in a while. However, with so much new on the roster, it remains to be seen how the team will gel with one another and if the wins will follow.
Entering year two, really only one thing is clear: the pressure is on for Ed Cooley and his staff to start delivering with some winning basketball.
Four months til tip. See you in the fall.
Early Prediction for Georgetown Starting Lineup:
PG: Malik Mack
SG: Jayden Epps
SF: Micah Peavy
PF: Drew Fielder
C: Thomas Sorber
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