Georgetown Basketball: What to expect from the Hoyas for the future?

After undergoing one of the worst off-seasons in all of college basketball, the Georgetown Hoyas will be forced to rebuild in 2020-21.  Despite the frustrations, the future is bright for Patrick Ewing and his squad heading forward.

In my trek through the bottom programs in each conference, I have trudged through teams that have made unusual coaching hires, had the worst record in Division I college basketball last season, endured the program’s worst season in 25 years, and have been trapped in mediocrity for a decade.  None of those teams, however, have had nearly the tumultuous season that Patrick Ewing and Georgetown Basketball experienced in 2019-20.

For the Hoyas, the 2019-20 season was meant to be a breakthrough into the national spotlight.  Their 2018-19 season was a step in the right direction: they finished 19-14 overall with a 9-9 mark in the Big East, finishing sixth while knocking off four of the five teams above them in the regular season.

They also experienced some disappointing losses against teams with worse records, but optimism was still high.  Leading scorer Jessie Govan graduated, but James Akinjo, Mac McClung, and Josh LeBlanc – the second, third, and fourth leading scorers for the Hoyas – were all set to return.  In addition, NC State transfer Omer Yurtseven was slated to serve as the replacement for Govan.

2019-20 was meant to be the season for Georgetown to potentially return to the NCAA tournament, where they have not made an appearance since 2015 under John Thompson III.

Except, that is not how any of the 2019-20 season played out for Ewing and his program.

Georgetown’s non-conference schedule went reasonably well for them – they won 10 games, including victories over solid Texas, Oklahoma State, SMU, and Syracuse teams.  They had a loss to a historically good Penn State squad and were competitive against the then-number one ranked team in the nation in Duke.  Their only misstep came in a narrow loss to UNC Greensboro.

Come the start of the Big East regular season, all went downhill for the Hoyas.  At the start of December, Akinjo and LeBlanc were mysteriously no longer with the team and decided to transfer out.  Nearly two weeks later, two more players followed suit and left.

A 5-13 stretch throughout the Big East ensued.  Much like the previous season, the Hoyas pulled off some miraculous victories despite their roster issues – they knocked off both Creighton and Butler while sweeping St. John’s – but were unable to string together any consistent success.

Despite close losses to DePaul, Xavier, and Villanova, injuries to McClung and Yurtseven undermined any opportunity for success.  The Hoyas would proceed to end the regular season with six straight losses, capped off by an asinine loss to St. John’s in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals where the Hoyas – leading by 10 with six and a half minutes left – proceeded to not score the rest of the game as the Red Storm embarked on a 23-0 run.

What was a disappointing season only continued into the offseason.  Yurtseven announced his intention to enter the NBA draft, signing an agent, and ending his collegiate career.  Furthermore, McClung – after an erratic news cycle of him entering the NBA draft, Ewing stating he would return to Georgetown, and McClung’s agent remaining adamant about McClung’s decision – withdrew from the draft and declared he would transfer to Texas Tech.

To add to the rollercoaster of an offseason, the Hoyas have had to endure personal adversities, as well.  Back in May, Ewing became one of the first head coaches to publicly disclose that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and received treatment at the hospital.  In late August, the legendary John Thompson, the greatest coach in Georgetown basketball history, tragically passed away.

The Hoyas have been through the wringer and back, and suffice to say, Georgetown fans have understandably been split on Ewing and the future of Georgetown basketball.  It does not get any easier for the Hoyas from here on out, either – they have a solid recruiting class for next season, but it will obviously take a lot to replace what they have lost.

Georgetown Basketball’s future

Georgetown will bring in the 53rd best recruiting class in the nation, highlighted by four-star forward Jamari Sibley.  With Georgetown’s roster woes, much will not be immediately expected of the Oak Hill Academy graduate, especially as he recovers from a broken arm that occurred back in January.  The Hoyas are also gaining a quality pick-up in Arkansas graduate transfer Jalen Harris.

Sibley and Harris most likely will not be enough to make noise by themselves, but for Sibley, this is an opportunity to cement himself as a cog for future success.  And, thankfully for him, he will have help coming in 2021.

While it is obviously early to make calls on the 2021 class, Ewing and his staff have already landed one of the best incoming groups in college basketball.  Ranked 16th in the nation and fourth in the Big East, Georgetown’s 2021 class is headlined by its most recent commitment: Hoya alumnus Dikembe Mutombo’s son, Ryan.

Ryan Mutombo, a 6-11 center, is already a force to be reckoned with in the paint, weighing around 235 pounds with an additional mid-range shot.  If Sibley can recover fully from his broken arm, he and Mutombo will be a terrifying duo to encounter in the Big East in the future.

For Ewing, this past season was a test of endurance, patience, and commitment.  It is easy to figure a name like Patrick Ewing – one of the all-time greats at both the collegiate and professional levels – would bolt once things got rough.  Chris Mullin’s pathing at St. John’s was similar, although his departure has now been attributed to a death in his family.

But instead, Ewing remained and stood firm when the season went downhill, and he deserves credit for that.  While being severely undermanned in, arguably, the best conference in college basketball from top-to-bottom, his leadership and coaching led Georgetown to a few marquee victories.

And, while the close losses still do not reflect well on the win-loss record, a few of those losses – namely, the regular season closer against Villanova – will serve as moral victories and growing pains for the remaining Hoyas.

Those growing pains will undeniably be the theme of the 2020-21 season, as well.  Again, the Hoyas are still shorthanded, particularly in a conference that is expected to be dominated by Villanova and Creighton this coming season.

However, those pains will also prep Sibley and his teammates for the future, and when Mutombo enters the fray in 2021, the Hoyas should be ready to reenter the national spotlight.

Georgetown fans should not expect much this coming season, as difficult as that may be to swallow after the disappointing showing last year.  But if Ewing’s commitment to his program is any indication, however, one thing can be guaranteed for Hoya fans: his team will continue to claw and compete, and it is only a matter of time before the future is here.