Patrick Ewing is Still Swinging For the Fences

The offseason got off to a bad start for Georgetown, but talk to enough people and it's clear: Patrick Ewing is working on something big for next year's team. Can he pull it off?

Patrick Ewing is up to something.

Frankly, he kind of has to be. He needs to keep this team moving in the right direction, and after losing his starting center to the transfer portal, Ewing has work to do, especially if he wants to build upon a season that saw his team win the Big East Tournament.

But this isn’t all just hope and conjecture coming from a Georgetown fan. Talk to enough people around the program, and you’ll hear several people say the same thing:

Ewing and Georgetown are working on something major.

What is it? Well, that depends on who you talk to.

There are two names that are coming up the most with Georgetown right now: Chris Lykes, the former Miami point guard (and Gonzaga College High School graduate), and Patrick Baldwin Jr., the fourth-ranked player in the Class of 2021 according to 247Sports.

Lykes, one of the great players in WCAC history at Gonzaga, has been heavily linked to Georgetown for the last month, and after initially declaring his intention to turn pro, Lykes reversed course last week and announced he would enter the transfer portal, after four seasons at Miami.

It doesn’t seem to be a great fit for Lykes or for Georgetown, because of the presence of rising sophomore point guard Dante Harris at Georgetown, but that hasn’t quieted loud chatter about Lykes coming to Georgetown.

And then the noise reached a new level this week, when Leader Johnson of 247Sports tweeted the following.

Leader Johnson @WriterLeader247

I expect Chris Lykes to hit Georgetown

How would he fit with Harris at the point guard position? No clue.

It’s unlikely that you would be able to start the two of them together in the backcourt, and it’s hard to see either one of those guys being willing to come off the bench.

For Lykes, this will be his last year of college, why would he want to come off the bench now?

For Harris, he just won Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player and showed that he can run this team, as a freshman. Could he come off the bench for one year? Sure. But in this day and age of college basketball…be careful with moving your star freshman point guard to the bench after a season in which he played a major part in the team’s success. That could backfire, and quickly.

But…the possibility of adding a WCAC legend, someone who is an elite scorer and would bring some much-needed offensive creativity to the Hilltop, is a very tantalizing scenario to consider.

If you could make it work with Harris for one year, that would give the Hoyas an incredible 1-2 punch at the point guard spot with Lykes and Harris. It would be an embarrassment of riches.

And, speaking of embarrassment of riches, there is Baldwin Jr., the second-best uncommitted recruit left in the Class of 2021, right behind Chet Holmgren. Bringing in Baldwin would give Georgetown not one, but two five-star recruits in the Class of 2021.

For a while, it seemed to be Duke vs. Milwaukee for Baldwin’s commitment.

Milwaukee?! Why would he go to MILWAUKEE?! Do you mean the Milwaukee Bucks?

Well, his dad is the coach there. And that’s going to be the tough thing here for any team to beat. Milwaukee may not be a major blue blood basketball school, but blood trumps everything in this case.

One would think it would be hard to say no to your dad if he wanted you to come play for his college team.

But for the last couple months, Georgetown has pulled even with those two teams for Baldwin, by most accounts. From what these ears have heard, from several sources, the words “probable” and “likely” have been used in association with Georgetown’s shot at landing the five-star prospect from Sussex, Wisconsin.

Now, the caveat that you hear every time when you ask around about Baldwin is, “It’ll be tough to beat out his dad.” And, it will be. That’s why no one is quite sure when it comes to Baldwin. But historically, Georgetown does well with the recruitments that are quiet and more under-the-radar (see: Mohammed, Aminu). Could Baldwin be a similar situation?

If you want to talk about something MAJOR happening at Georgetown, it would be Patrick Ewing reeling in not one, but two five-star recruits in the Class of 2021. A duo of Aminu Mohammed and Patrick Baldwin Jr., even if only for one year, should make you a tournament team from Day One (starting center pending).

And Baldwin would fit a major need for the Hoyas, as a shot-making, versatile forward who you could plug and play at the stretch-4 position from Day One.

But, of course with Georgetown, nothing ever goes as planned. Maybe they only get one of Lykes/Baldwin, or, maybe they get neither! It’s certainly possible, maybe even probable.

Don’t fret Hoya fans, there is still plenty of talent out there in the transfer portal for Ewing and his coaching staff to rebound from the transfer of Qudus Wahab. But it may take some time, so be patient.

Georgetown is not one of the teams that is going to immediately reel in a top transfer a week after the player enters the portal. That’s not who this program is, and the players they go after usually take some time before committing.

But until the buzz subsides, and until Lykes and Baldwin make their decision, that’s who Georgetown fans should be watching for.

Ewing is working behind the scenes to take this program to another level this season, that much is clear. He is still swinging for the fences. Bringing in either of those two players would be a splashy move that would help accomplish that goal.