A lot of heads turned when Ed Cooley announced he was leaving Providence for Big East rival Georgetown back in 2023. The results quite simply haven’t materialized yet for a Hoyas program that has been stuck in irrelevance for over a decade. Georgetown finished at the bottom of the league standings in a tough Big East last season and Cooley is certainly looking to change something heading into year four.
If it’s change you’re looking for then you’ve come to the right place, as Georgetown had quite the exodus of talent in the offseason. Nearly a dozen Hoyas from last season inevitably entered the transfer portal, with many of them finding new homes like KJ Lewis and Malik Mack. Not everyone is gone thankfully, as forward Caleb Williams is back for an important junior year while backups like Seal Diouf could be thrust into bigger roles.
Even though we’re nearing the end of June, the Georgetown roster is still in something of a flux. The Hoyas have added a number of players already but we don’t know what the final roster will look like. For example, they’ve grabbed 3-star forward Justin Caldwell and some notable transfers. Jaland Lowe hopes to bounce back in a major way after recent injuries at Kentucky while Vyctorious Miller averaged double-figures at Oklahoma State last season.
Whether or not he’s the best player, you could certainly make a compelling argument that Chol Machot is the most important addition among the bunch. A 7-footer originally from Melbourne, Australia, Machot played high school ball in North Carolina and did some pretty good work at the JUCO level. His first D1 experience came last year at Charleston, averaging 8.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and a CAA-best 2.5 blocks per game for the Cougars, starting around half the games on a 21-win team.
Relatively speaking, Machot is still a raw frontcourt prospect but there’s a lot of potential with his size. He wasn’t just a great shot blocker in the CAA; he finished ninth in the nation in blocks per game with his efforts. He’s not going to be the leading scorer for the Hoyas moving forward but you have to look at the rest of the frontcourt. Diouf barely saw the court and was the only returning center and the Hoyas really didn’t add this kind of size or strength in the transfer portal.
It’s important to keep realistic expectations as Machot continues to develop and adjusts to life in the Big East. Nobody is expecting that kind of production off the bat but he can definitely be a nightmare defensive matchup at some point very soon. Cooley might still need a win or two this offseason to put this team together but he at least got some great potential in his frontcourt with Machot.
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