Hoyas attend summer school at McDonough

Officially, college basketball begins with Midnight Madness in the fall and ends after March Madness. But in reality, the sport runs year-round. There’s recruiting, transfers, scheduling, and, best of all, summer league. 

Chris Wright is envisioning big things for the Hoyas this season. (Photo by Jackson Perry)

For over 20 years the storied Nike Pro City Jabbo Kenner League  has been the summer home to Georgetown players, where they are split up (NCAA rules limit teams to two players from the same school) along with players from other area schools and other local players.  They compete against one another on weekends in July and August. 

Kenner League, which is open to the public, offers die-hards a dose of college basketball in the middle of the off-season, but also provides an intriguing stand-alone spectacle: What if Jason Clark faced off against Vee Sanford? Or how would Chris Wright fare running the point alongside 42-year-old former Hoya Mark Tillmon? 

There’s also a chance to see Julian Vaughn post up DeMarcus Cousins, and to catch a glimpse of what could have been as Jeff Green plays alongside Austin Freeman. Yes, even the pros come to Kenner League. 

“If they’re in town working out, they want to come down and get a little run in, and get some bump and keep on rolling,” Kenner League Director Van Johnson said. 

Cousins and Green only stopped by for guest appearances, but some pros stick around all summer long. It makes for a competitive atmosphere that gives the youngest players a crash course in what they can expect from college basketball. 

“Not only do college kids play in the Kenner League, pro athletes play in the Kenner League,” Eric White, who coaches the Tombs team, said. “It’s a faster game, it’s a rougher pace. It’s a different type of transition from high school to college basketball.” 

Of the coaches of the league’s 12 teams, White may be the most well-versed in guiding young players through that transition. The Tombs-sponsored team traditionally features all the Hoya freshmen (incoming students are not included in the NCAA player limit). White has been its coach since the beginning of head coach John Thompson III’s tenure at Georgetown. 

This year White had to manage four newcomers—Nate Lubick, Markel Starks, Moses Abraham, and Aaron Bowen—along with two Georgetown veterans, senior Austin Freeman and sophomore Hollis Thompson. 

The freshmen impressed White, to say the least. 

“I think these four guys are probably as good as the first group of freshmen John [Thompson III] had,” White said. 

That would be the class of 2008, the linchpin of Georgetown’s Final Four run and back-to-back Big East titles. He’s serious. 

“I’m talking about Roy Hibbert, Jeff Green, Jon Wallace, and those guys,” he said. “I think these guys are just as talented. I think they can do just as much basketball-wise as the four other guys.” 

The two freshmen most likely to make an impact right away are Starks and Lubick. Starks, a local product from Georgetown Prep, is a speedy guard who impressed this summer with more than a few lightning-fast drives to the basket. Lubick is an entirely different kind of player: a beefy 6-foot-9 power forward that should be a force to be reckoned with down low. 

“I think Nate Lubick is going to surprise a lot of people,” Johnson said. “He’s going to bring a toughness to Georgetown, because he doesn’t back down from anyone.” 

Abraham may one day partner with Lubick in the Hoyas’ frontcourt, but for now he fills the role of Roy Hibbert in the class of 2008 analogy—a tall, physical specimen with raw skills. At times during Kenner League play Abraham would look lost on the court, but he has a lot of potential. 

“Moses, he needs some work offensively,” White said. “But he’s one tenacious rebounder. And that’s something [Georgetown] could use.” 

The final recruit, Bowen, a Florida native, adds a soft shooting touch and extra backcourt depth. 

The summer league is also the first opportunity to see the returning players in competition since March. 

Some standouts included sophomore Vee Sanford, running the point for Clyde’s, and his teammate senior Julian Vaughn, who Johnson said he saw “get better every game.” But perhaps the most meaningful Kenner performance came from Freeman, not so much in his game, but as the leader of the young Tombs squad. 

“I would talk to him when things were rough out there to get the other guys to get going,” White said. “He was able to relay the message in a way in which the kids didn’t feel like he was big-timing them or being very forceful or demanding. And every time I asked him, we would go on a spurt or a run. I think he has an idea of exactly what a captain does and what they need from him as a captain.” 

The Hoyas still have a long way to go before Midnight Madness, let alone the Big East season or the NCAA tournament. Freeman and the Tombs, for all their talent, still got eliminated in their first Kenner playoff game. 

Still, the Hoyas’ early exits shouldn’t concern them. It’s not until November that the games start to matter. But thanks to Kenner League, Georgetown should be a little stronger, a little faster, and a little more cohesive come the opening tip.

Correction: The original version of this article stated that Aaron Bowen is from the D.C. area. Bowen is originally from Jacksonville, Florida, and spent his senior year of high school in North Carolina.