Recruiting Updates From the Weekend for Georgetown

As everyone waits for Hunter Dickinson to make up his mind, Georgetown's coaching staff got on the road to recruit some high-end high school talent.

All is quiet on the Hunter Dickinson front for Georgetown as the Michigan big man milks his free agency for all its worth and tries to attract as many bidders as he can. While Georgetown continues to hold out hope that they can convince the All-American center to return home and play for the Hoyas, there was activity on the recruiting trail elsewhere for Georgetown this weekend, with members of the coaching staff spotted in Atlanta (EYBL Session 1) and Omaha (3SSB Chapter 1).

Here’s the latest updates on the recruiting front for Georgetown after a weekend that was heavy on offers to 2024 and 2025 kids by Georgetown.

Georgetown is not giving up on Hunter Dickinson

Hoya fans were dealt a blow in their hopes of Georgetown landing Hunter Dickinson when it was revealed that Dickinson was visiting Kentucky from April 23-25 and then Villanova the following weekend. After hosting Dickinson on the Hilltop last weekend, the Hoyas were unable to secure a fast commitment (not surprising) despite pushing hard to get Dickinson signed, sealed, and delivered as a Hoya before he went on his visit to Kansas on Thursday-Friday of last week.

Anyone telling you what Dickinson is going to decide right now, or which way he is leaning, are fooling themselves. He is being methodical and strategic in taking his visits and seeing what each school has to offer him, both in terms of roster talent…and NIL money. He hasn’t made a decision yet.

From Georgetown’s perspective, the staff felt that Dickinson’s visit to Georgetown went really well (but it’s rare that you hear that a visit DIDN’T go well). The relationship of Georgetown associate head coach Ivan Thomas to Dickinson’s older brothers, Ben and Grant, is a factor here, as Thomas coached Ben Dickinson when he was in high school.

When you factor in Dickinson’s close relationship with Ed Cooley, it’s hard to blame the new coaching staff for continuing to hold out hope that they can sway Dickinson and get him to choose Georgetown when it comes time to make a decision. Relationships matter in recruiting, and Georgetown’s coaching staff have some great relationships with Dickinson and his family.

While I don’t know what the exact number of Kansas and Kentucky’s NIL offers is for Dickinson, I would be surprised if they were much bigger than Georgetown’s massive number that they are heavily rumored to be ready to give Dickinson if he commits to Georgetown.

I do want to dive a little deeper into the NIL factor here at this point and explain why these things can be fickle.

The catch with NIL here is that, technically, schools cannot give “offers” to players while recruiting them. NIL is supposed to be separate from recruiting, so the idea is that the player commits to a school, and THEN gets NIL offers from third-party groups that want to sponsor these players, such as car dealerships, fast food chains, local mom-and-pop shops, etc. This can be facilitated through an NIL collective or just between business and player.

Of course, if you think that schools are following these rules to a T, you’d be silly to think that. NIL collectives, for example, can serve as unofficial intermediaries between recruits and coaching staffs, and can help recruits get a sense of what they can make if they commit to that collective’s school.

Georgetown sources insist they have not discussed specific numbers with Dickinson and are following the NIL guardrails that are in place. With Jack DeGioia at the head of this all still, I tend to believe these people, but the donors who would primarily fund the NIL package that Dickinson could or would receive if he went to Georgetown are not being shy about how much they would put up.

Ultimately, this race for Dickinson likely comes down to roster talent. If we are looking at this objectively, Georgetown doesn’t have a better roster, currently, than any of Kansas, Kentucky, Villanova, or Maryland (although Maryland’s isn’t that much better). That hurts their chances with Dickinson, but Georgetown has communicated to Dickinson the players it would target to add around him, if he were to become a Hoya. As a reminder, Georgetown still has five open scholarship spots on its roster for next year.

This helps explain why Georgetown’s activity in the transfer portal has slowed in the last week. The coaching staff is waiting for a decision from Dickinson, still, because they will look to target bigger names in the portal if Dickinson does become a Hoya. They also need to know if Dickinson is going to take up a large chunk of their NIL funds before they go after other players in the portal.

With Dickinson still set to visit Villanova, my recommendation to Hoyas fans would be to get comfortable, because this recruitment doesn’t look close to a finish right now. There looks to be at least another week to go in the Hunter Dickinson Sweepstakes.

Kayvaun Mulready stars at EYBL Session 1

Georgetown’s first commitment in the Class of 2024, Kayvaun Mulready, had a strong showing down in Atlanta this weekend for City Rocks EYBL. Mulready came in at #69 (nice) in the latest update of the ESPN Top 100 rankings for the Class of 2024, and after his weekend at the EYBL showcase, it’s not hard to see him rising up recruiting boards even further as the summer goes on.

Thomas Sorber picks up a crystal ball to Georgetown and earns high marks in Atlanta

Thomas Sorber, the 6-foot-9 center who plays for Team Final, just took a visit to Georgetown last week, and then came to Atlanta this weekend and asserted himself as one of the top big men in the Class of 2024.

https://twitter.com/RareFootageNews/status/1649963946428841984?s=20

Sorber also picked up a crystal ball to Georgetown, via Jeff Ermann of InsideMarylandSports.com, a 247Sports website. There appears to be a lot of positive momentum right now between Sorber and the new Georgetown staff.

Georgetown’s new staff enters the Cam Ward sweepstakes

If you’re not familiar with the name Cam Ward, get used to hearing that name for the next two years at least, as Ward, from Largo, Maryland, is the top prospect in the DMV in the Class of 2025.

At 6-foot-6 already, Ward, who plays for his father at Largo High School, and is a member of Team Durant, is receiving loads of interest from schools already, such as Oregon, Maryland, West Virginia, George Mason, Penn State, Arkansas, and Illinois.

Now, Georgetown’s new staff has jumped into the fray, offering Ward today. According to Colby Giacubeno, Georgetown had an assistant at every game of Ward’s this weekend down in Atlanta. That is notable.

Other offers handed out by Georgetown this weekend include…

• Austin Swartz, Guard

  • 6’4”, 180 lbs.

  • Cannon School / Boo Williams EYBL

• Isaiah Henry, Guard

  • 6’6”, 190 lbs.

  • Cannon School / Team CP3

• Jahki Howard, Wing

  • 6’7”, 185 lbs.

  • Overtime Elite / NH Lightning