DeGioia Named NCAA Board Chairman
Georgetown University president Jack DeGioia (C'79, G'95) has been named chairman of the NCAA Board of Governors, per a release at NCAA.com."As a board and representatives of the whole Association, we are committed to continually improving the higher education experience for college athletes," said interim board chair Tori McClure. "Student athletes are the center of all board decisions and discussions. Jack is an excellent leader as the group looks at how best to create opportunity for student-athletes.""I am honored to serve in this role during such an important time for intercollegiate athletics," DeGioia said. "It is more important than ever that we ensure college athletics continues to navigate the current landscape consistent with our principles, values and purpose." DeGioia, the longest tenured president in Georgetown's history and a current member of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, will serve as chairman through August 2022. A student athlete while at Georgetown, DeGioia played on the football and track teams during his undergraduate years. Double Vision: Georgetown Women 11th of 11
In comparison to men's basketball, women's basketball at Georgetown exists in a media vacuum. No local attention was paid to Thursday's Big East women's pre-season poll, which placed the Hoyas last of 11 teams.The Poll:
2. DePaul 3. Marquette 4. St. John's 5. Creighton 6. Seton Hall 7. Villanova 8. Butler 9. Xavier 10. Providence 11. Georgetown The 2020-21 Hoyas return just one starter from a 5-25 season (2-16 Big East). As was the case with the men's team, the women's team were decimated by transfers--six of the 14 members of the Hoyas transferred from the past season, including first year guard Olivia Snyder, sophomores Cassandra Gordon, Tayanna Jones, and Nikola Kovacikova, as well as upperclass players Tatiana Thompson and Morgan Smith. Fourth year coach James Howard (40-57) welcomes eight newcomers for the 2020-21 team. The news of the women's media day was the return of its greatest program--the University of Connecticut. The Huskies were 139-0 in seven years of conference play in the American Athletic Conference, won four NCAA titles, and return to the Big East as the prohibitive favorite for 2020-21 and until further notice. The Huskies won 18 Big East titles and eight national titles in the Big East from 1989 to 2013. Since 1993, the Huskies were a remarkable 380-18 (.954) in conference play. The Hoyas are 6-45 all time versus UConn, having dropped its last 28 against the Huskies. Georgetown had no selections for the Big East's first team, second team, honorable mention, or all-freshmen selection. Big East Media Day: Georgetown 11th of 11
"It is what it is. I mean we lost a lot of guys. When you look at the amount of talent that we lost that should have been here, guys going into their junior year, guys going into their sophomore year, I would pick us last." --Patrick EwingFor the first time in its 41 years in the Big East Conference, Georgetown was picked last in a pre-season poll by its fellow coaches.Georgetown totaled just 13 votes across ten voters. The 2020-21 Hoyas return two starters from last season's 15-17 team and welcome nine newcomers, the most since the 1950-51 season. Villanova earned nine of 11 first place votes, Creighton two. Returning Big East team Connecticut was placed fourth in the poll.The Poll:
2. Creighton 3. Providence 4. Connecticut 5. Seton Hall 6. Marquette 7. Xavier 8. Butler 9. St. John's 10. DePaul 11. Georgetown ADDITIONAL COVERAGE Here are the pre-season honorees: Preseason Player of the Year Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton, G, Jr., 6-2, 180, Hamilton, MA Preseason Freshman of the Year Dawson Garcia, Marquette, F, Fr., 6-11, 230, Prior Lake, MN First Team Charlie Moore, DePaul, G, Sr., 5-11, 180, Chicago, IL David Duke, Providence, G, Jr., 6-5, 205, Providence, RI Collin Gillespie, Villanova, G, Sr., 6-3, 191, Huntingdon Valley, PA Sandro Mamukelashvili, Seton Hall, F, Sr., 6-11, 240, Tbilisi, Georgia Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Villanova, F, So., 6-9, 232, Overland Park, KS Second Team James Bouknight, Connecticut, G, So., 6-5, 190, Brooklyn, NY Mitch Ballock, Creighton, G, Sr., 6-5, 205, Eudora, KS Justin Moore, Villanova, G, So., 6-4, 210, Fort Washington, MD Paul Scruggs, Xavier, G, Sr., 6-4, 196, Indianapolis, IN Bryce Nze, Butler, F, Sr., 6-7, 235, Hartland, WI Nate Watson, Providence, C, Sr., 6-10, 260, Portsmouth, VA Honorable Mention D.J. Carton, Marquette, G, So., 6-2, 195, Bettendorf, IA Bryce Aiken, Seton Hall, G, Sr., 6-0, 180, Randolph, NJ
Coach's Comments From Media Day
Previous Polls: How Georgetown FaredSo how has Georgetown fared in pre-season polls versus the real season? Here's a view of the predicted vs. actual finishes since 1998:
2020-21 Roster Confirmed
It took a while, but Georgetown has finally published its 2020-21 roster.The basketball office did not post a 2020-21 roster online until Oct. 24, the last Big East team to do so. Some changes to note:
2020-21 Home Scheduling In Trouble
The District of Columbia has expanded its 14-day quarantine list to 39 states Monday, raising a question if Georgetown can meaningfully schedule home games this season.Eight more states were added Monday, including Connecticut (UConn), Ohio (Xavier), Pennsylvania (Villanova) and Rhode Island (PC). At this stage, the only Big East schools eligible to travel to Washington would be St. John's and Seton Hall.States without a quarantine restriction include Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii. Per a Twitter post from Jon Rothstein, Big East schedules begin December 11. New Georgetown Jersey Design Leaked
Two social media posts confirm Georgetown is going to a new jersey style for the first time since the 2015-16 season.Instagram posts from Jahvon Blair (above) and Don Carey showed a new design, ostensibly with team photos this weekend. The Sports Information office has not released any photos of this design nor jersey numbers, which are still listing the 2019-20 team on the GUHoyas.com website.Still to be disclosed: how many color variations are in the mix. As far as the gray goes, it's a good look. Poll Season Unkind To Hoyas
As pre-season polls go, the 2020-21 Georgetown Hoyas continue to trend downward.The Picks:
2. Creighton 3. Seton Hall 4. Connecticut 5. Providence 6. Marquette 7. Butler 8. Xavier 9. St. John's 10. DePaul 11. Georgetown "It's been a tumultuous few years for Patrick Ewing at Georgetown, and turning around his alma mater seems more difficult than ever," it writes. "Ewing has some talented options on the roster to turn to including a pair of seniors who averaged double figures in scoring last season, Jahvon Blair and Jamorko Pickett, but it could be tough sledding once again as the Hoyas rebuild on the fly." Georgetown scored no higher than 10th among any of CBS' five writers participating in the poll. 40 Days To Season Opener
Publicly, at least, there's no schedule, no roster, and no home court, but time marches towards a Nov. 25 opening for the 2020-21 Georgetown men's basketball season.Georgetown athletic officials have issued no comment about scheduling of non-conference games and what awaits Georgetown, given District-wide restrictions which may effectively close home games to players and coaches only. There has been no guidance from the Big East on player protocols and what happens when a player or staffer is identified as positive for COVID-19."Everything's different," Creighton coach Greg McDermott told the Omaha World Herald. "It's just going to be the year of being different. We just have to do different better than everybody else." One Big East school has announced a change of venue, with Providence moving games from the Dunkin' Donuts Center (aka Providence Civic Center) to its 1,850 seat on-campus facility, Alumni Hall. Eligibility Extended For 2020-21
A pair of NCAA changes complicate future Georgetown rosters.In separate votes, the NCAA Council voted to offer a granted an extra year of eligibility for all winter sports participants and to recommend a one time transfer for any athlete without sitting for a single year, similar to the graduate transfer option currently in effect.If the initial thought is that an extra year is an act of fairness during COVID-19, the complications soon follow. For Georgetown, there are four players whose eligibility was expected to end in 2020-21: Jamorko Pickett, Jahvon Blair, Jalen Harris, and Chudier Bile. If they choose to exercise the extra year, there may not be roster space. Current NCAA rules limits the men's roster to no more than 13 on scholarship, and Georgetown already has verbal commitments for three freshmen. The current freshmen are thus eligible through 2024-25, affecting how much Georgetown can add via recruiting. And then there are transfers, which have hurt Georgetown as much as any team. Head coach Patrick Ewing has lost eight players to transfer in the last three seasons. "Under the proposal developed by the NCAA Working Group on Transfers, athletes are afforded a one-time transfer during their athletic careers without suffering the penalty of sitting out a season, reversing a policy from the 1960s," writes Sports Illustrated. "Fall and winter sport athletes would have to notify their schools of a transfer by May 1, with an exception extending the date to July 1 for an end-of-the-year head coaching change or the non-renewal of scholarships. Spring sport athletes would have until July 1 to notify schools of transfer. Athletes missing those deadlines would not be immediately eligible at their new school." The change would be effective in the 2021-22 academic year. NCAA Regional Sites: DC in 2026
Capital One Arena has been selected for the site of the 2026 NCAA Eastern Regionals, per a release. The arena has follows a six or seven year rotation for the regionals, having previously hosted in 2006, 2013 and 2019. Per NCAA rules, Georgetown cannot be seeded in a regional it hosts, but would not prevent other local teams from appearing there.Until the Washington Redskins get a domed stadium sometime in the future, the National Capital region will not host a Final Four. Upcoming sites through 2026 include Indianapolis (2021, 2026) New Orleans (2022), Houston (2023), Phoenix (2024) and San Antonio (2025). The only local venue to have hosted a Final Four was the University of Maryland's Cole Field House, in 1966. DC Extends COVID-19 Restrictions
The District of Columbia Mayor's Office has extended COVID-19 restrictions through Dec. 31, 2020, adding to the uncertainty for Georgetown to host men's and women's basketball games in 2020.Phase 2, enacted June 22, closed a number of activities including the numerous private and public gatherings, including athletic activities. The decree signed October 7 repealed the earlier clause from June banning "high-contact sports", but maintains a limit of 50 persons in any private or public setting, including participants. Further, only a stated number of facilities may host such events, and neither Capital One Arena nor any athletic facility was on the original list.Athletic events across the District appear to be on hold in a mix of contingency plans. DC high schools do not expect to begin basketball until Jan. 4 per an earlier release. NBA and NHL games are not scheduled to return until the end of the calendar year, and none of the six universities within the District (Georgetown, George Washington, American, Howard, UDC, or Catholic) have announced any schedule plans. In fact, no major Division I school has finalized schedule dates. The District is also maintaining its 14 day travel quarantine, now extended to 31 states (an update from the map above). Big East opponents which fall in quarantine states include Butler, Creighton, DePaul, and Marquette, making it highly unlikely these teams could play in Washington, regardless of venue, and meet the current quarantine rules. Other quarantine rules in Big East states are as follows:
Georgetown Signs Third Recruit For 2021
Georgetown stayed close to the family with a verbal commitment from 6-11 center Ryan Mutombo, son of Georgetown All-America Dikembe Mutombo (I'91).Mutombo made the announcement on his Instagram page:
Mutombo, a senior at the Lovett School in Atlanta, is ranked #108th nationally from Rivals.com and #95 in the RSCI consolidated ratings. His recruiting stock rose last season before the COVID-19 restrictions took hold, and opted for Georgetown over a strong push from Tennessee. "I know Georgetown is great and it'd be great to go to my dad's alma mater, but I have to make sure I make the right choice for me if I'm trying to get to the next level beyond college," Mutombo said. "I'm just making sure I keep all my options open." Ryan stands with Patrick Ewing Jr. (2006-08), Riyan Williams (2013-16), and Trey Mourning (2014-19) as second generation players at Georgetown in the last two decades. Mutombo joins Jordan Riley (#136 nationally) and Jalen Billingsley (#147) as 2021-22 recruits. Should 2019-20 recruit Tyler Beard (#141) recommit to Georgetown following a prep year at Hargrave Military Academy, Georgetown would have all remaining scholarships filled for the 2021-22 season, though ESPN.com reports that "Ewing is still strongly pursuing two five-star prospects in 2021, guard Aminu Mohammed (No. 11) and Efton Reid (No. 18)." A tentative 2021-22 depth chart (net of walk-ons) is as follows:
Ranked Recruits Of The Ewing Era
Ryan Mutombo is only the fourth Top 100 recruit signed in the last four years, a measure of the uphill struggles Patrick Ewing continues to face in national and local recruiting.Georgetown has made offers to over a dozen Top 30 recruits in the last three years and missed on all of them, a reflection of Georgetown's lack of recent success as well as a steady decline in the local DC talent pool. Of the 120 Top 30 players ranked from 2018 through 2021, just three were from the local area, and GU is considerably less visible to recruits in California, Florida, or Texas.For those recruits who are local, the Hoyas have been consistently outperformed by Maryland and Villanova, the latter using its NCAA and NBA visibility to draw recruits northward. (Villanova has seven active NBA players signed since 2016, Georgetown none.) Grad transfer Don Carey is the only local product in this fall's record eight man class; as such, Jamorko Pickett (#88, 2017) and Qudus Wahab (#129, 2019) are the only scholarship players on the team who were recruited as freshman from the local area. Gone are the days of Parade All-Americans (Georgetown's last was Nate Lubick in 2010) or players in the McDonald's All-America game (Chris Wright, 2007). Changing that is simultaneously simple and complex: simply put, win. Georgetown has not been nationally ranked in five years and Ewing is a combined 16 games under .500 in Big East play. Win, and recruits start to take notice. If not, the top 100 level may become Georgetown's ceiling, or as Michael Jordan famously misspoke, "the ceiling is the roof." Top Five Ranked Recruits By Coaching Era
The Last Lap
After 23 years in motor racing, the NASCAR career of former Georgetown basketball player Brendan Gaughan (B'97) came to an end Sunday at Talladega Speedway.Following Georgetown, Gaughan entered NASCAR's truck series, where he won eight races in 217 starts and was named Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year in 2002. In 2004, he joined what is currently known as the NASCAR Cup Series, finished second in the Rookie of the Year standings and placed 28th overall, but was dropped by his sponsor, Penske Motorsports. He spent the next 10 years in and out of racing, but caught a second wind when Beard Motorsports picked him up in 2017. Gaughan has seen some of his best finishes in his final years on the circuit, with an 11th place showing in the 2017 Daytona 500 and a 7th place showing this year. In 67 NASCAR starts, he had eight top ten finishes despite often starting in the back of the field.The Talladega Speedway has a special place in Gaughan's career. In 2019, while leading late in a race, Gaughan's car was rear-ended in a crash and his car went airborne at 200 mph. He was not injured in the crash. Sunday's race ended in a oddly similar manner: Gaughan was one of 13 cars in a multi-vehicle crash in the 109th lap of the race which required a restart. Gaughan's car sustained major damage, and he finished the race in 34th place. Gaughan, who played two years of football and three years of basketball at Georgetown, has been loyal to the Hoyas throughout his pro career. At one point, his #62 truck was painted in Georgetown blue and gray, and once wore a racing helmet designed to look like the Georgetown "G" football helmet. He ends his NASCAR career following a successful recovery from COVID-19 earlier this year. "I did not expect to have these last four years in NASCAR, Gaughan told Racer.com. "The Beard family gave me something that was completely unexpected. They gave me this last little bit of fun, and it's been phenomenal. I want to go try and win one. I've got one more shot to win a Cup race, and I'm going to do my damndest to do it." GU: Virtual Event For John Thompson
The Georgetown University Facebook page hosted a virtual event in remembrance of former coach John Thompson.The one hour prerecorded video was hosted by Rick Walker and offer thoughts on Thompson from a number of former players, and also included words from former president Barack Obama."What made Coach Thompson special, what compelled us to celebrate his life today, is what he did to build young men," Obama said. Other guests in the broadcast included basketball coaches Jim Boeheim, Ed Cooley, and Nolan Richardson, Nike Inc. founder Phil Knight, and a personal remembrance from Tiffany Thompson, his daughter. "He demanded the best of us and brought out the best of us. He held us true," said University president Jack DeGioia (C'79), who first met Thompson as an undergraduate in 1975. "We were privileged to be at Georgetown at the same time that John Thompson was here. We are the university that we are today because of John Thompson." A public ceremony is expected sometime in the future at the conclusion of COVID-19 restrictions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||