Welcome to The Sports Bank’s second annual college basketball season preview series. Last year we looked at 99 teams in 99 days. This year, we are being slightly more aggressive and expanding to 111 teams in 111 days. We will rank the 74 power conference teams and top 37 mid-majors in reverse power ranking order. We’ll break down rosters, non-conference schedules, and pick a player to watch for each team.
The Georgetown Hoyas nearly caused an international incident when they got into a brawl with a Chinese team on their summer trip. Talk about an auspicious start to a season in which the Hoyas have to replace three starters and will likely finish in the lower half of the Big East.
GEORGETOWN HOYAS
Last Season: 8th, 10-8 in Big East, 21-11 overall
Predicted Big East Finish: 11th
Projected Depth Chart
C: Henry Sims (Sr)/Moses Ayegba (So)/Tyler Adams (Fr)
PF: Nate Lubick (So)/Mikael Hopkins (Fr)/George Whittington (Fr)
G/F: Hollis Thompson (Jr)/Otto Porter (Fr)
SG: Jason Clark (Sr)/Aaron Bowen (Fr)/Jabril Trawick (Fr)
PG: Markel Starks (So)
Gone: PG-Chris Wright, SG-Austin Freeman, C-Julian Vaughn, PG-Vee Sanford (transfer-Dayton), PF-Jerrelle Benimon (transfer-Townson)
2011-2012 Outlook:
The past couple of seasons, Georgetown has relied on their experienced guard play to lead the way. With Austin Freeman and Chris Wright moving on with their basketball careers and Vee Sanford transferring, Jason Clark will shoulder the load in a young and thin backcourt. It will be integral for Clark to take on the leadership role and also emerge as a go-to player after being a third or fourth option the past two years.
Clark will start at the two while sophomore Markel Starks is expected to run the point. Starks played sparingly as a freshman but will have to quickly adapt to a bigger role since he is the only true ball handler on the Hoya roster. That means that Clark will likely see some time at the point. Redshirt freshman Aaron Bowen and true freshman Jabril Trawick are lengthy wings who will hope to provide depth at the two.
After shockingly flirting with the NBA Draft this summer, Hollis Thompson wisely chose to return for his junior season. He began last year as a starter but ultimately ended up as the team’s sixth man since John Thompson III wanted to go with a bigger starting five. Thompson could be poised for a breakout season as Georgetown will need him to emerge as a 15 point per night scorer to have any chance of being a tourney team. Otto Porter is regarded as the best of the five Hoya freshmen and should immediately be a solid contributor. He is a versatile weapon on offense due to his mid-range game and ability to play above the rim.
The Hoyas have been traditionally strong with their inside play but that was not the case last season and will be a concern again for JT3. The physical, energetic Nate Lubick will return his role as starting power forward. He will have to elevate his game from a role player to someone who can provide an inside scoring presence. After Lubick, there is a ton of uncertainty.
6-10 senior Henry Sims has been a huge disappointment since arriving at Georgetown and has one last chance to live up to the hype he had coming out of high school. Moses Ayegba and Tyler Adams are big bodies inside who will provide physicality but are far from finished products on the offensive end.
Freshmen Mikael Hopkins and George Whittington will also battle it out for minutes off the bench. Hopkins is an athletic big who runs the floor well and can also protect the rim as a shot blocker. Whittington is 6-8 but versatile enough to play on the wing due to his ability to shoot the ball. I would not be surprised either if JT3 goes with a smaller frontcourt using Lubick at center with Porter and Thompson at forward since Porter could probably play some four.
Fans are a bit on edge since Georgetown has won just one NCAA Tournament game the past four seasons. They have underachieved in recent years but with not much expected this season, simply earning a trip to the tourney would be considered a success. A trip to Hawaii with a loaded Maui Invitational field will be a great test to see how competitive the Hoyas will be this season.
Player to Watch: Hollis Thompson
The talent is certainly there. For a 6-7 wing, Thompson can stroke it from the outside, connecting on 45.7% of his three-pointers last season. If he can become more dangerous off the bounce to compliment his outside stroke, Thompson will take his game to the next level. Then, he can maybe think about being a true NBA prospect.
Key Non-Conference Games:
11/21 vs. Kansas (Maui Invitational)
11/22 vs. UCLA/Chaminade (Maui Invitational)
11/23 vs. Duke/Tennessee/Memphis/Michigan (Maui Invitational)
12/1 at Alabama
12/22 vs. Memphis
OTHER 111 IN 111’S:
#56 Miami Hurricanes
#57 Nevada Wolfpack
#58 Detroit Titans
#59 UCF Knights
#60 Long Beach State 49ers
#61 Virginia Tech Hokies
#62 Clemson Tigers
#63 New Mexico State Aggies
#64 Tennessee Volunteers
#65 Iona Gaels
#66 Murray State Racers
#67 N.C. State Wolfpack
#68 Fairfield Stags
#69 George Washingon Colonials
#70 Indiana State Sycamores
#71 Oklahoma State Cowboys
#72 Indiana Hoosiers
#73 UAB Blazers
#74 Iowa State Cyclones
#75 Creighton Bluejays
#76 USC Trojans
#77 Weber State Wildcats
#78 Maryland Terrapins
#79 Tulsa Golden Hurricane
#80 Minnesota Golden Gophers
#81 Western Michigan Broncos
#82 Dayton Flyers
#83 Stanford Cardinal
#84 Yale Bulldogs
#85 Georgia Bulldogs
#86 Rutgers Scarlet Knights
#87 Richmond Spiders
#88 Ball State Cardinals
#89 Utah State Aggies
#90 Arizona State Sun Devils
#91 Marshall Thundering Herd
#92 Oregon State Beavers
#93 Washington State Cougars
#94 Iowa Hawkeyes
#95 Ole Miss Rebels
#96 Nebraska Cornhuskers
#97 Oklahoma Sooners
#98 South Florida Bulls
#99 LSU Tigers
#100 Colorado Buffaloes
#101 DePaul Blue Demons
#102 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
#103 Wake Forest Demon Deacons
#104 Seton Hall Pirates
#105 Providence Friars
#106 Auburn Tigers
#107 South Carolina Gamecocks
#108 Texas Tech Red Raiders
#109 Penn State Nittany Lions
#110 Boston College Eagles
#111 Utah Utes
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft on the web.
You can follow him on Twitter at DavidKay_TSB.