Georgetown Basketball Took a Step Forward This Year—How Quickly Can It Take Another?

An open letter to Coach Cooley.

Dear Ed Cooley,

Congrats! You just finished a successful second season as Georgetown’s head coach.

After a brutal first year where not much went right (9-23 overall, 2-18 in Big East play—yikes!), this season was a step in the right direction. An 18-16 record isn’t the ultimate goal, but an 8-12 record in conference play? Compared to last year? That’s a significant improvement that shows the arrow is pointing upward with this program.

There were certainly some struggles this season, with a number of them tied to a relentless injury bug that hung around your team all season long. But there were positives too that gave this fan base genuine reason for excitement and optimism for the first time in a long time.

That mid-December stretch? That was a blast. Beating Syracuse at the Carrier Dome, then coming home to dismantle a really good Creighton team by 24? Those were some of the best vibes this program and its fan base has felt in years.

Your team was riding a five-game win streak heading into that road game against Marquette, and it felt like a real breakthrough moment was coming for this program. Your team was thisclose to grabbing a marquee road win, but unfortunately your young team couldn’t hold the lead in the second half.

Then there were the individual campaigns some of your players put together.

Micah Peavy just put together one of the best individual seasons by a Georgetown men’s basketball player since Otto Porter wore the Blue & Gray. After averaging 17.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game this year, Peavy was named to the All-Big East First Team—the first Hoya to earn this recognition since Jessie Govan in 2018-19.

Peavy’s month of February was especially incredible to watch. The man averaged 24.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game, shooting 49.6% from the field and 47.1% from three-point range. He was unbelievable.

And then there was the freshman phenom, Thomas (sorry, Thomnas) Sorber.

Expectations were high for Sorber heading into this year, thanks in large part to the hype you helped generate with the lavish praise you heaped on Tommy Boy during multiple preseason interviews.

But it turns out that you know ball, and you were right.

Sorber was robbed of the Big East Freshman of the Year Award, but he was spectacular all season long, until he suffered that damn foot injury at Butler on February 15 that ended his season early.

That injury seemed to take the wind out of the sails for you guys at that point in the season, but that didn’t mean your players stopped fighting.

This past week reminded fans of what you’ve built so far, and the culture that is taking shape in your program. To see a half-depleted roster grind out a win against Washington State was an inspiring thing to watch as a Georgetown fan.

Seeing Malik Mack score 37 points in that game (and 25 points in the next one against Nebraska) was a blast. It was an up-and-down season for Malik, but there is clearly a lot to work with there with some improved decision-making in Year Two at Georgetown for Malik.

All of this was really fun to watch! Thanks for engineering this turnaround.

Now here’s the hard part: You have to start from scratch and do it all over again.

Actually, you have to do even better. Because next year, this team needs to take another step, which means improving on this year’s record AND making the NCAA Tournament. No pressure!

That’s just the unfortunate reality of college basketball today. Rosters flip overnight. Players commit to programs on a year-to-year basis, not for four years.

Next year’s team will already be without Micah Peavy. Sorber has a decision to make about going pro or returning to school.

You have a tall enough task in front of you as is trying to replace an All-Big East First Team player like Peavy. But you’ve really got a lot of work to do if you have to replace Peavy AND Sorber.

More player departures are coming. It already started with Drew Fielder. There will be at least three more players who will announce their transfer from the program in the coming days too.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean you’ll be working with a pretty different roster again next season.

You will have your work cut out for you in the preseason to get everyone on the same page quickly to ensure you get off to a successful start in non-conference play next season.

I have to be honest with you too, Coach. Although this season was ultimately a successful one, there is going to be some pressure to win next season. For a coach making nearly $6 million per season, it’s fair to expect a tournament team by Year Three, especially in this era of college basketball where program turnarounds can be engineered a lot faster.

I believe in what you’re building, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous about how next season could go if things don’t click early. Fans are going to get antsy.

But let’s focus on the positives.

This summer should be exciting.

The addition of Langston Love is a good start in building next year’s team.

And people around the DMV are talking about how close former UConn wing and Paul VI star Isaiah Abraham is to committing to your program too.

That’s a good start, but I hope you swing for the fence with another star in the portal before you turn to other options. Losing out on Bryce Hopkins hurt, but at least you didn’t have to wait too long before knowing you had to turn your attention elsewhere.

You did good work this season, and there is plenty of reason to believe that you’re the right man for the job. But the state of college basketball is an unforgiving one right now. Every offseason is essentially a rebuild, not a gradual progression of a core group over the course of several years together. That makes your job harder—just like it does for every coach in the sport.

Looking forward to seeing what Year Three brings!

Hoya Saxa.

-HH