Georgetown Team Report

GETTING INSIDE

With no seniors on the roster, it’s no secret who coach John Thompson III will be leaning on as he looks to recover from the disappointing NIT trip in 2008-09.

Center Greg Monroe was good enough as a freshman that there was talk of him declaring for the NBA Draft. When he decided to stay, it helped make up for the disappointment of DaJuan Summers’ surprising decision to skip his senior season and turn pro.

The loss of the Hoyas’ leading scorer leaves a void that Monroe won’t be able to fill by himself. Fortunately, a solid group of returning players and a strong recruiting class should give Thompson a nice rotation by the time the Big East season starts.

Chris Wright and Austin Freeman give the Hoyas a high-octane backcourt. Wright appears completely recovered from the injuries that sidelined him for much of his freshman season, and he was good enough as a sophomore to boot senior Jessie Sapp to the bench.

Freeman is a scoring guard who should take over much of Summers’ production, though more of it will come from the perimeter and less from the paint.

There are a host of choices for the two forward slots. Thompson can go small and use some combination of Nikita Mescheriakov and freshman Hollis Thompson. He could go big and pick Henry Sims and Julian Vaughn to provide more help to Monroe in the paint.

Or he could just go with a three-guard set and bring in Jason Clark, the quick sophomore guard who provided a burst of energy off the bench in his freshman season.

The 16-15 finish a year ago was the worst for Thompson in his five years at the school. He’s counting on a trip back to the Big Dance, and Monroe is a big reason for that optimism.

NOTES, QUOTES

• The Hoyas are determined to improve their performance on the boards. In many losses, Georgetown was dominated in the rebounding column, with the nadir coming when the Hoyas allowed 20 offensive rebounds in a home loss to Pittsburgh in January. Improvement from Henry Sims and Julian Vaughn could allow the Hoyas to go bigger and alleviate some of those concerns.

•  SF Nikita Mescheriakov was buried on the end of the bench at the start of last season, but finished as a starter. He does a little bit of everything, and will be more dangerous if he can raise his 3-point shooting percentage above the 26.2 percent it was a year ago.

• SF Hollis Thompson gave himself every advantage in winning playing time as a freshman this season by graduating from high school early and enrolling at Georgetown in time for the second semester in the 2008-2009 school year.

Last Year:   16-15 overall, 7-11 in the Big East; lost in first round of the NIT.

Head Coach:   John Thompson III (career 184-93); sixth year at Georgetown (116-51).

Quote To Note:   “We’re not going to forget last year. We went through that. We have to learn lessons from that. The taste is in our mouth. We can’t forget that; that has to be a part of growing. But at the same time, it’s not like we’re going to come in here and slam the door and beat ‘em up with it. They experienced it. They hurt just like I did.”—Coach John Thompson III, in The Washington Post.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

Scouting The Newcomers:   Hollis Thompson looks like the latest top recruit to contend for a starting spot from the opening game. He enrolled at school for the second semester a year ago, so he is familiar with the campus, the system, and the academic requirements. Another forward, Jerelle Benimon, averaged 21 points per game in high school and will look to translate that scoring success at the next level. Combo guard Vee Sanford might challenge to make the nine-man rotation.

Key Early-season Games:   The Hoyas open the season with a trip to New Orleans to face Tulane, then come back to play an always-dangerous Temple squad. Georgetown also heads to New York to play Butler as part of the Jimmy V Classic, and then heads to Anaheim, Calif., to face defending Pac-10 champ Washington in the Wooden Classic.

Program Direction:   The Hoyas looked to be on the upswing in January 2009, but were firmly in the gutter by March. With Greg Monroe and Chris Wright leading the way, Georgetown is looking to head back in the right direction in 2009-10.

Probable Starting Lineup:   PG Chris Wright, SG Jason Clark, G/F Austin Freeman, SF Nikita Mescheriakov, C Greg Monroe.

Roster Report:  

• G Chris Wright missed most of his freshman season, but showed a lot of durability in leading the team as a sophomore point guard. He averaged nearly 33 minutes a game in 2008-09.

• F Henry Sims was a heralded recruit a year ago, but spent most of the season battling Greg Monroe in practice. He’s talented enough to play a lot if coach John Thompson III goes with a bigger lineup.

• G/F Omar Wattad went from starter to little-used benchwarmer a year ago, and elected to transfer to Chattanooga.