Roster Crunch Upcoming for Georgetown
Some moves will need to be made with Georgetown's roster in the coming months once the season ends. Who could stay or go?
As Georgetown enters the home stretch of its regular season schedule, it’s not too early to start thinking about the roles that this year’s players could play on next year’s team, especially promising young guys like Dante Harris and Jamari Sibley. And it’s especially important in light of the looming roster crunch that Georgetown is facing for next season’s team already.
When Aminu Mohammed committed to Georgetown, that put next year’s roster at 14 scholarship players, one scholarship over the NCAA limit of 13. Here’s what that looks like, visualized:
So Georgetown is going to need at least one player to transfer or go pro early as things currently stand. And that’s without considering the chances that any of Jahvon Blair, Jamorko Pickett, Chudier Bile, Jalen Harris come back for another year, thanks to the NCAA granting all winter athletes an additional year of eligibility after this year. (Note: The NCAA is considering increasing roster sizes to make room for players who want to take their additional year, so it might not be a huge issue if any of Georgetown’s vets return).
Georgetown has also already begun kicking the tires on several transfer candidates, both guards and forwards alike. If they’re doing that, that means that at least two players on the 2021-22 Georgetown roster would need to depart in some form or fashion.
Before we get into what position makes the most sense for the Hoyas to look at for bringing in a transfer, let’s first look at potential candidates who could leave Georgetown after this season.
Don Carey
Carey is by far the easiest projection to make here, and is widely expected to move on to the professional level after this season. The expectation when Carey transferred to Georgetown, despite having two years of eligibility left, was that he would be one-and-done at Georgetown.
While plans can always change, it does not appear, at this time, that his plans have taken a different turn since the season began. Losing his starting spot midway through the season probably doesn’t give him any further incentive to return, anyways.
Collin Holloway
Holloway, a 6-foot-6 freshman wing from Port Allen, Louisiana, has played a whopping 18 total minutes this season, and has only seen minutes in five of Georgetown’s 18 games this season.
Holloway missed a month earlier this season with a knee injury, and hasn’t seen the floor since the Hoyas’ February 9th loss against Creighton.
With Mohammed, Jordan Riley, and Jalin Billingsley all coming in next year, Holloway has little chance at cracking the rotation as a sophomore, and will likely get buried under players that are younger than him.
With little chance at increased playing time next season, it would not be shocking to see Holloway transfer after this season.
Malcolm Wilson
Wilson is one of the most well-regarded players on his team and is truly a high-quality individual, but he has had issues earning minutes over his two fellow sophomore centers, Qudus Wahab and Timothy Ighoefe.
With both Wahab and Ighoefe likely to return next year, and Ewing seemingly preferring Ighoefe over Wilson as Wahab’s backup, it’s hard to see Wilson having an increased role next season, especially with four-star 2021 center Ryan Mutombo joining the team.
Kobe Clark
While the official stance here is that Clark comes back next season, would it be the craziest thing to see him look for more opportunity elsewhere? After playing 12 minutes against UMBC in the season opener and seven minutes against Navy six days later, Clark has played just 14 total minutes in the next 16 games, and has only played in five of those 16 games.
In the brief time we have seen Clark on the court, his defense and rebounding have stood out, as well as his overall basketball acumen. While the offense is hit or miss at this stage of his career, Clark is still a player who can help this Georgetown team in the future as he continues to develop, but the severe lack of playing time may not sit well with him.
The bigger debate that has popped up among Georgetown fans is what kind of player should Georgetown look to bring in if they are active in the transfer market this summer.
Before Dante Harris’ recent stretch of strong play, the thinking was that Georgetown would look to bring in a veteran point guard to compete with Harris for the starting point guard spot next season, or at least provided much-needed depth.
But with Harris impressing since Georgetown’s COVID pause, bringing in a player such as, say, Miami’s Chris Lykes, is looking like less of a priority. But still, if Georgetown passes on bringing in a transfer point guard, there is risk there.
If Georgetown doesn’t bring in an experienced ballhandler, and Blair and/or Carey don’t return, that would mean incoming freshman guard Tyler Beard would be Harris’ backup, unless T.J. Berger, who was a point guard in high school, were to take on some point guard duties when Harris was off the floor.
Beard, from Whitney Young High in Chicago, was initially a combo guard, but has been working on his point guard skills during his postgrad year at Hargrave Military Academy. Still, that’s a risky proposition, trusting a freshman who isn’t a natural point guard to be your backup to your sophomore starting point guard, in Harris.
So maybe Georgetown does decide to bring in a transfer at the point guard position to backup Harris and mitigate that risk. Then the question is, what caliber of point guard could the Hoyas bring in— that is worth having on your team— with a not-so-enticing sales pitch of just being a backup?
It’s a fine line to walk. We’ll see if the Hoyas decide to go there.
If they don’t, they could instead elect to bring in an experienced stretch-4. If Pickett does not return next season, which is the guess here, the Hoyas will have a gaping hole in their starting lineup, and will need to find a player who can replace Pickett’s outside shooting and defensive versatility.
With Harris establishing himself as the team’s starter moving forward into next season, Georgetown would likely be better off recruiting a stretch-4 who can shoot from the perimeter. With Qudus Wahab needing shooters around him, and Aminu Mohammed likely starting from Day One, Patrick Ewing will need shooters at the other three spots in the starting lineup.