Here are Georgetown men’s basketball’s regular season records from the four years since their last tournament appearance and the coach at the time:
2021-22: 6-24 (0-19 BIG EAST) – Ewing
2022-23: 7-24 (2-18 BIG EAST) – Ewing
2023-24: 9-22 (2-18 BIG EAST) – Cooley
2024-25: 17-15 (8-12 BIG EAST) – Cooley
One of those is not like the others.
Coming into Ed Cooley’s second year on the Hilltop, fans did not have high expectations for this Georgetown basketball season. The BIG EAST preseason coaches poll ranked the Hoyas ninth (of 11), ahead of only Seton Hall and DePaul. Thirty-two games later, the Hoyas finished seventh. For a team that won only four games in conference the previous three years combined, eight conference wins in a season is massive progress. A lot of those flowers, of course, go to the coaching staff for recruiting an almost entirely new cast of players before the season, but also to the players themselves.
Before the season at Georgetown’s media day, graduate guard Micah Peavy said, “ You’re going to see some things that you haven’t seen on clips.” He did just that: setting new statistical career highs across the board, averaging 17 points, six rebounds, four assists, and two steals per game. His performance would be enough to garner him first team all-conference honors—the first time he’s made any all-conference team.
At that same media day, junior guard Jayden Epps said, “ I just want to improve my percentages, my leadership, and overall I just want to win.” Epps proceeded to shoot the ball more efficiently and play better defense than he has his entire career, no doubt leading the Hoyas to additional wins. For the season, Epps averaged 13 points per game, shooting a career best 35% from three despite being hampered by an ankle injury for most of the latter half of the season.
And who could forget freshman forward Thomas Sorber, who didn’t make any grand proclamations to the media, yet nevertheless played fantastically for the Hoyas all season long. Sorber earned third team honors, as well as BIG EAST all-freshman honors. He was one of the best freshmen in the country, averaging 15 points, nine rebounds, two blocks, and nearly two steals per game.
While those three led the show for the Hoyas, other players had moments of their own. Take sophomore guard Malik Mack, who joined the trio in averaging double figures, having key outings such as his 27-point showing in a close win at home over Xavier, or sophomore forward Drew Fielder, who had 17 points and nine rebounds in a win over Providence.
While many players had great offensive showings, this year’s team showed the most growth on the defensive side of the ball. After ranking 228th, 240th, and 321st in competition-adjusted defensive efficiency over the previous three years according to kenpom.com, Georgetown was the 54th best unit in the country this year. That helped Georgetown crack the top-150 in overall efficiency at 84th, a 108 spot improvement from a year ago.
After starting the year with a couple scares versus mid-majors Lehigh and Fairfield and a blowout home loss to Notre Dame—stop me if you’ve heard this talking point before—this young Georgetown team started to find their feet as the games went by. The non-conference part of their schedule now punctuated with a road win over rival Syracuse Orange. Despite suffering from freshman forward Julius Halaifonua’s season-ending injury, the Hoyas managed to start hot in conference play, sitting at 12-2 (3-0 BIG EAST) on Jan. 3.
From there, though, the injuries started to pile on for the Hoyas. Epps struggled with his ankle, and Sorber was lost for the season in February as the Hoyas skidded to a 5-12 finish. However, Georgetown still had some positive moments during that stretch. They showed great fight on the road against Marquette and the BIG EAST champion St. John’s Red Storm, nearly stealing each of those games.
The Hoyas swept their arch-rivals, the Villanova Wildcats, using a pair of inspired late-game comebacks to storm their way to victory in the final 18 games. During this run, the Hoyas stood victorious against their coach’s former team, the Providence Friars. A trio of losses to Depaul, including elimination in the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament (with the closing shot an air ball by Epps) put a damper on the team’s success. Yet, overall, fans cannot miss the great strides this program has made over the last 12 months.
The key for Georgetown will be keeping the momentum going into an off-season where they will lose Peavy (graduation) and perhaps Sorber (NBA draft), as they served as both the defensive linchpins and the primary offensive engines. Given that Georgetown came into this season with only one senior and one junior on its entire roster, improvement feels more than doable given this coaching staff’s penchant for developing talent. As an outgoing senior, I can assuredly say that this was the best, and most fun to watch, year of men’s basketball we’ve had in my time here. The program is on its way back up and, for the first time in a while, it feels like much more of a “when” and not an “if” that Georgetown basketball will return to prominence and take its rightful spot back among the top of the BIG EAST.
