Georgetown Basketball: 2019-20 season review of the Hoyas

Georgetown Basketball endured unexpected losses to a promising roster that turned a season of progress into one of mere survival.

For Georgetown Basketball, the 2019-20 season began with potential, took a sharp turn into turmoil, and included some silver linings despite a losing record and second-to-last place finish in the Big East.

Going into head coach Patrick Ewing’s third season, momentum for the Hoyas program was trending upward.

In his first year, Ewing guided his alma mater to a 15-15 record. In Year 2, Ewing led Georgetown to a 19-14 record and an NIT berth, its first winning record and postseason appearance in four years.

Year 3 promised at least an outside shot at the NCAA Tournament.

Georgetown was bringing back its sophomore backcourt tandem of point guard James Akinjo and shooting guard Mac McClung, along with sophomore forward Josh LeBlanc. All three had made the Big East All-Freshman Team in 2018-19, while Akinjo was named Big East Rookie of the Year.

To that trio, the Hoyas were adding 7’0″ center Omer Yurtseven, a transfer from NC State who could fill the void left by former All-Big East center Jessie Govan.

On Dec. 2, however, seven games into the 2019-20 season, Georgetown announced that Akinjo and LeBlanc were no longer on the team.

LeBlanc, junior forward Galen Alexander and freshman forward Myron Gardner were being investigated by university and local police for multiple criminal accusations including assault, burglary and making threats.

Akinjo wasn’t involved in any of that; his decision to leave Georgetown was unrelated. He wound up transferring to Arizona. LeBlanc, Alexander and Gardner were cleared of any charges, but they also transferred. LeBlanc landed at LSU, Alexander went to Texas Southern, and Gardner is at South Plains College.

The Hoyas, meanwhile, were left without two of their four best players as well as two useful rotation players.

Ewing’s team responded admirably, going on a six-game win streak immediately following the unexpected roster upheaval, including wins over Oklahoma State and rival Syracuse.

But the lack of depth caught up to Georgetown in the Big East schedule, and some key injuries made things worse.

McClung missed 11 games. Yurtseven missed six games. Georgetown went 5-13 in the conference, losing their last six regular-season games.

The Hoyas needed a miracle run in the Big East tournament to extend their season, but since neither Kemba Walker nor Gerry McNamara was available, that didn’t happen. Georgetown lost its opening-round game to St. John’s to finish 15-17.

At least they weren’t one of the teams to have their season suddenly cut short by coronavirus.

Here’s a recap of the 2019-20 season and what lies ahead for Georgetown.