Georgetown Basketball: Paul White opts to transfer

Georgetown basketball is losing a stretch four who sat out the majority of last season.

The Georgetown Hoyas are a perennial NCAA Tournament team.

But last season they completely whiffed on their expectations.

Not only did they miss the NCAA Tournament, but they finished 15-18 overall, completed conference play with a 7-11 record and did not receive an invite to the NIT.

To say that the Hoyas weren’t successful because of one role player would be false. However, forward Paul White played a key role in 2014-15 and could have certainly helped John Thompson III as a bench player who provides versatility.

Instead, he battled a hip injury and played in just seven games.

White could’ve rebounded in 2016-17 but the school announced on Thursday that the rising junior is transferring with two years of eligibility remaining.

The 6’8″ Chicago native is a former 4-star recruit who was ranked 42nd in ESPN’s top 100. White had offers from Miami, DePaul, UConn, Arizona and Minnesota (in addition to the Hoyas) out of Whitney Young High School.

In his freshman campaign, White played 33 games, averaging 5.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. He shot 40 percent from the field and was able to extend the defense by shooting 38 percent from long range.

More from Busting Brackets

The forward has experience playing in the NCAA Tournament as well. He scored 10 points, grabbed three rebounds and dished out two assists in a win over Eastern Washington in the first round of the 2015 Big Dance.

Georgetown has a loaded roster in 2016-17 and a stacked rotation, which may be the main reason for White’s departure.

The Hoyas could feature a 10-to-11 man rotation with Bradley Hayes, Tre Campbell, L.J. Peak, Isaac Copeland, Jessie Govan, Marcus Derrickson and Kaleb Johnson returning.

The program also adds JUCO guard Jonathan Mulmore, Robert Morris graduate transfer Rodney Pryor, Louisville transfer Akoy Agou (who suffered an injury in the preseason last year) and freshman Jagan Mosely.

If White did indeed return to Washington D.C. for his senior season, he would’ve likely found himself behind Agou, Hayes, Copeland, Govan and Derrickson.

Coming off a serious injury while battling multiple other returning players is a recipe for disaster for a player who deserves quality minutes.

Ultimately, it looks like White made the proper choice for his career moving forward. The forward is capable of playing high major basketball and could opt to transfer to a program closer to home.

Due to NCAA transfer rules, White also can fully recover from his hip surgery and improve his game while sitting out a season.

Given that he has only played 40 college games in two years and has upside as a stretch four, Georgetown would’ve liked to keep White around.

must read: Projecting Georgia Tech's rotation

However, this won’t greatly impact the team’s success in 2016-17.

Home/Big East