Big East Basketball Power Rankings: Butler, DePaul keep rising

Welcome to the Mac McClung Show, everyone.

Georgetown announced during this past week that highly-regarded sophomores James Akinjo and Josh LeBlanc both entered the transfer portal. Considering their respective talent and roles on the team, their losses will really hurt the Hoyas moving forward. There should’ve been no question about that. Yet, in Georgetown’s first game without them, the team went on the road and took down a fringe top-25 opponent in undefeated Oklahoma State.

The lone key sophomore left on the roster following the aforementioned departures is now Mac McClung, and he showed up in a big way against the Cowboys. Despite mostly being known for his highlight-reel dunks and inefficient scoring, McClung was electric in this contest. He dropped in 33 total points on the night while shooting 12-for-21 from the field. If he continues to play at an All-Big East level like he did in that game, Georgetown will be just fine.

With that said, though, that would be a major leap for the sophomore and it is safer to temper expectations a bit. Prior to the announcements that Akinjo and Leblanc were leaving the team, the Hoyas had already been struggling to begin the season. That won’t get easier without them on the team.

Georgetown, though, now sits at 5-3 with all of the losses coming to top-100 teams – not a bad thing. They also hold a pair of away-from-home top-50 wins. It is not yet time to give up hope on the Hoyas, but a lot of that hope rests on the shoulders of McClung and Omer Yurtseven.