After a lot of going nowhere fast in year one, Georgetown basketball’s Ed Cooley era may have found some juice going into year two.
On one hand, last season’s 9-23 overall record with two conference wins and a second to last place conference finish certainly wasn’t the debut season that coach Ed Cooley and the Hoya faithful hoped for. Take that with a projected ninth place finish in this year’s preseason BIG EAST coaches’ poll, and it’s reasonable to see why some are worried about the direction of Georgetown basketball.
On the other hand, there are things to like about where this program is headed, both on and off the court. Coach Ed Cooley and staff are now in year two, and the additions to this year’s roster are exciting.
Returning from last year is the Hoyas’ leading scorer, junior guard Jayden Epps, as well as promising sophomore forward Drew Fielder and redshirt freshman forward Drew McKenna. While the returners are small in number, they cannot be small in impact if this year’s team is to be successful.
Given the large roster turnover characteristic of the transfer portal era, many teams nationally have to build team chemistry from scratch, and this year’s Hoyas are no exception.
With 10 brand new scholarship players, there will be a period of adjustment for everyone in the program. Georgetown will be rolling out, on paper, one of the least experienced teams in all of Division I this season. Per the Barttorvik.com computer rankings, the Hoyas rank 358th out of 364 in projected effective experience. This number, unsurprisingly, is dead last among power conference teams.
While this edition of Georgetown men’s basketball may be undoubtedly young, they are also undeniably talented, with high recruiting pedigree being a theme among many of this offseason’s additions. Freshman forward Thomas Sorber was a near five-star recruit according to many outlets, and others like center Julius Halaifonua, guard Kayvaun Mulready, and forward Caleb Williams were all national-level recruits.
If you’re looking for players who could outperform expectations, though, look no further than the only senior on this roster, guard Micah Peavy. Coming to Georgetown from a 2023–24 tournament team in TCU, Peavy is known primarily for his defensive prowess as well as his connective ability to be a “glue guy” on offense. If the staff, and Peavy himself, are to be believed, it would not be surprising to see Peavy take his game to the next level in his final season at the collegiate level. In addition to his traditional role as a wing stopper, Peavy is expected to see backup minutes at point guard behind sophomore guard Malik Mack. “You’re going to see some things that you haven’t seen on clips,” Peavy said in an interview with the Voice at Georgetown basketball’s media day.
One of the biggest pitfalls of last season’s team was that it did not have enough shot creation besides Epps, allowing defenses to key in on him and force others to try to make plays they couldn’t make. This is where Peavy and Mack, a Harvard transfer, come in. After being named Ivy League Rookie of the Year a season ago, averaging over 17 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists per game, Mack returns home to the DMV to suit up for the Hoyas. There are high expectations, both internally and nationally, for his performance in his first season playing high-major basketball.
Mack’s ability to control the offense should be a major boost for this year’s roster, as it should allow Epps to play his more natural role of a scoring guard and create more scoring opportunities for off-ball scorers like Fielder, Sorber, and sophomore forward Jordan Burks. Overall, offense, particularly individual scoring acumen, will be one of the strengths of this season’s team; even so, Cooley wants players to embrace the idea of contributing beyond the scoring column, asking, “What can they do to impact winning without scoring?”
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, though. Gone from last year’s team are double-figure scorers Dontrez Styles (transferred to NC State) and Supreme Cook (transferred to Oregon). In a landscape where continuity comes at a premium, Georgetown has next to none.
While it is fair to question the value of continuity for a team that struggled as much as Georgetown last year, it is also true that teams as young and inexperienced as this one rarely find major success. This team does not have an all-world prospect like Duke freshman forward Cooper Flagg, or a projected top-5 NBA draft pick with European professional experience like Illinois guard Kasparas Jakučionis, who can carry the load for other similarly inexperienced teams. As such, it will be an uphill battle for Georgetown to even sniff the NCAA tournament this season. Despite it feeling like the last four or so years have been nothing but “rebuilding years,” this may be yet another.
That being said, who knows? Maybe this year’s team will surprise everyone and make a run. After all, sometimes raw talent and abilities just win out, especially given the Hoyas’ weak non-conference schedule. At the end of the day, every player on this roster is either already considered a very good college basketball player (Peavy, Epps, Mack), has shown flashes of becoming one (Burks, Fielder, sophomore guard Curtis Williams), or comes in with the reputation of someone who could get there sooner (Sorber, Halaifonua, Mulready) or later (Caleb Williams, freshman forward Seal Diouf, freshman forward Jayden Fort).
“Now our feet are firmly on the ground,” Cooley said at BIG EAST Media Day. “I can’t tell you how much I love our team. I’m excited about our team.” Whether or not you believe in their ability to put it all together this year, it looks like there are good times ahead for Georgetown basketball.
