Calm After the Storm: Looking Back on St. John's-Georgetown; Looking Ahead at What's to Come
The Hoyas have a week off after an exhilarating 97-94 OT victory, before they take on the St. John's Red Storm once again.
I’m still not sure my heart rate has settled after Sunday night’s thrilling 97-94 overtime win at home against St. John’s. That game had everything: thrilling plays, impressive individual performances, and infuriating lapses of concentration. And yet, despite Georgetown almost giving the game away late, the Hoyas emerged victorious, behind 22 points from freshman point guard Dante Harris, as well as 17 points, 10 rebounds, and nine (9!) blocks from sophomore center Qudus Wahab.
Now at 3-3, the Hoyas have a week off until their next game this coming Sunday, when they face…the St. John’s Red Storm! Surprise!
The status of Jalen Harris will be something to monitor this week, as the graduate transfer point guard, who has struggled to start this season, missed Sunday’s game due to back spasms. If he is set to return for Round 2 against the Johnnies, it will be interesting to see whether he reclaims his starting spot from Dante Harris, who dazzled in his first career start.
What We Learned
Young Talent Emerges
Even with Kobe Clark being out for this game due to his ankle injury, the kids still managed to shine for Georgetown against St. John’s.
Not only was it Dante Harris excelling in his first career start, scoring 22 points on 6-of-14 shooting, along with three rebounds and two assists, but it was also freshman shooting guard T.J. Berger who saw his first real game action of the season, and made the most of it, scoring 7 points and knocking down two of his three three-point attempts.
Continued play like that from the future of the program should give Hoyas fans great hope for the seasons to come, especially with how Harris and Berger looked on Sunday.
Wahab Draws Lofty Comparison from Ewing
After the game, Ewing was asked about the nine-block performance from Qudus Wahab, and said, “That’s Mutombo, Ewing, Mourning numbers he put up there.”
Wahab has been solid to start the season, and has been one of the most efficient players for Georgetown, as he is third on the team in Player Efficiency Rating, behind T.J. Berger and Malcolm Wilson, who don’t have as big of a sample size as Wahab.
Wahab gives the Hoyas a major size advantage in the paint on both ends, and his ability to score over the top of most opponents is a critical part of the Georgetown offense.
Clutch Play from Blair
Not to be lost in the strong play by the freshman guards, Jahvon Blair, the elder statesman of Georgetown’s backcourt at this stage of his career, was massive late for the Hoyas. Blair’s three-pointer with 45 seconds left in regulation put the Hoyas ahead 86-85, his 20 points on the evening were second-most on the team, behind Harris.
Blair is shooting 34% from three so far this season, which is a career-high for him currently, and has given this team just about as much as they could hope for this season.
Battle of the Point Guards
Georgetown and St. John’s fans alike got a preview of what the next four years will look like as the two teams’ freshmen point guards squared off against each other, with Harris winning this round over Red Storm freshman Posh Alexander, who was the top recruit for SJU in this year’s class. Both player showed promise though, and this should be a mini-rivalry that should add some flair to Georgetown-St. John’s games moving forward.
Top Tweets
Around the League
Marquette beat #9 Creighton on the road on Monday night, 89-84, behind 20 points from Ohio State transfer D.J. Carton, and 14 points off the bench from junior wing Greg Elliott. The Golden Eagles are 2-0 this season against Top-10 teams, with that win.
DePaul has postponed its season-opening game once again. The Blue Demons have yet to play a game this season because of COVID postponements, and now, at the minimum, will have its next two games, against Providence and Butler, pushed back.
Marquette received a commitment from 2021 four-star center Jonas Aidoo, which brings their 2021 recruiting class to top-30 nationally.
Recruiting Update
Georgetown’s top recruiting target in the Class of 2021, five-star wing Aminu Mohammed, announced that he will be making his college choice on Monday, December 21. Georgetown has been hot on the heels of Mohammed for well over a year, and a commitment from the Nigerian native would give Georgetown a top-10 recruiting class in the country.
Dan McDonald of Rivals put in a FutureCast for Mohammed to Georgia last week, but Mohammed’s guardian, Shawn Harmon, pushed back forcefully on that prediction, saying no decision has been made yet. Make of that what you will, but the Hoyas still have to feel good about where they stand with a week to go. They have put in a ton of work with Mohammed, and are right there with Indiana and Georgia for securing his commitment.
You can read my interview Mohammed and Shawn Harmon from last month here.
Jake Weingarten recently interviewed 2022 four-star guard Nick Smith Jr., a top-30 shooting guard from Arkansas who the Hoyas have been involved with. Smith Jr. named Georgetown as one of the schools that is “heavily involved” in his recruitment right now.
Jake Lieberman reports that Georgetown is showing interest in 2021 point guard Cyncier Harrison. The Hoyas have been in contact with Harrison since September, who is 5-foot-11 and 150 pounds. With Harrison being in the Class of 2021, I would not expect the Hoyas to be a big player here, especially if Mohammed commits to Georgetown and takes up their final spot (They technically don’t have an open spot currently, but that will change).