Georgetown Basketball: Will the Qudus Wahab reunion work out for both sides?

Both Qudus Wahab and Georgetown Basketball had a miserable last season. Now back together, can both sides rebound in 2023?

Although the team finished at just 13-13 (7-9 in Big East) overall for the 2020-21 season, Georgetown Basketball was able to claim success. They made a miracle run in March in the Big East Tournament to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015. Sophomore big man Qudus Wahab played a big part in the run, scoring double figures in each postseason game and had a double-double in the Big East title game win over Creighton to get the autobid.

On the season that year, Wahab posted career-high numbers of 12.7 ppg and 8.2 rpg and looked like a future Big East star in the making. However, a rather surprising decision from him last offseason saw him enter the transfer portal and end up with the Maryland Terrapins. On paper, it looked like an upgrade for the 6’11 center, going from an under .500 program to one that consistently makes the NCAA Tournament. And after landing transfer point guard Fatts Russell and keeping both Eric Ayala and Donta Scott, Maryland looked like a contender for the 2021-22 campaign.

However, that proved to be anything but. Not only did the Terrapins miss out on the NCAA Tournament, but they also finished .500 as well. And head coach Mark Turgeon only made it eight games before leaving the team. As for Wahab, his numbers drastically dropped compared to the year prior.

Things started well for the big man, scoring 35 points in the first two games and going for 18 points and 15 rebounds against George Washington. That proved to be the height of his success there, as he only scored more than 12 points twice for the next 30 games and only had double-digit rebounds twice. Wahab’s season stats were just 7.7 ppg and 5.6 rpg in just under 20 mpg. It just wasn’t a good fit and after the season, he entered the transfer portal.

Since then, it was quiet recruitment for the big man, in an offseason where any center with high-major potential was getting scooped up quickly. But it took longer than expected Wahab, until the start of this week.

While somewhat rare, reunions between former players and teams have occurred, especially for mid-majors. But after what looked like not a nice departure between the sides, this scenario had always appeared unlikely. Yet honestly, it makes sense for both sides. For Wahab, his success came with head coach Patrick Ewing and the Hoyas definitely have an open starting spot at center.

As for the Hoyas, they’re coming off one of the worst seasons in program history, going 6-25 overall and winless in Big East play. Part of that had to do with the lack of production at the center position. Malcolm Wilson and Timothy Ighoefe started most of the games there and went for 2.8 and 2.5 ppg respectively. Wahab, assuming that he looks like he did in the first go-around for the Hoyas, will be a massive upgrade there.

The roster overall has improved, even if star freshman Aminu Mohammed elects to stay in the NBA Draft. Georgetown was able to land several transfers this offseason, including Primo Spears (Duquesne), Jay Heath (Boston College), Brandon Murray (LSU), Bryson Mozone (USC Upstate), Wayne Bristol (Howard) in the backcourt.

Bradley Ezewiro (LSU) and Akok Akok (UConn) each were former top-100 talent out of high school and if Coach Ewing can help max out their potential, Georgetown’s frontcourt will be much better on paper as well.

There are a lot of new pieces for the roster and there will certainly be an adjustment period. But it certainly helps that one of them is already familiar with the program in Qudus Wahab, who certainly needs a bounce-back season to get back as a solid pro option. And if that happens, Coach Ewing will be able to keep his job, as he’s currently on one of the hottest seats in the country.