Next Out: Ryan Mutombo Georgetown's player exodus continues with the announcement of a transfer from junior center Ryan Mutombo, per reports.The son of former Georgetown All-American Dikembe Mutombo (I'91), Ryan chose Georgetown over offers at Arizona and Georgia in the fall of 2020. A backup to Qudus Wahab as a freshman, Mutombo scored a season high 15 points as a freshman against UMBC but saw his playing time diminish over the next two seasons. A throwback to the stationary centers of Georgetown's heyday, Mutombo saw even less time in Ed Cooley's first season at the Hilltop, scoring just 11 points over 15 games, and did not see any action in the final eight games of the season.Though a junior athletically, Mutombo expects to graduate in 2024. In a statement on Instagram, Mutombo remarked, "For three years now, I have had the great pleasure of being a student-athlete here at Georgetown University. This experience has been formative - a sentiment which I am sure to further reflect on in a longer format. As I cross the milestone of graduation, albeit in an abridged manner, I leave the many of you with my thanks. This community is special, and it is one which I have experienced the privilege of calling home for many years." Mutombo's departure leaves just two scholarship players remaining from 2023-24 who saw any time last season. Second Walk-On Signs For 2024 As Georgetown fans wait for news on its scholarship lineup, a commitment was announced for a second walk-on to join the 2024-25 team.New to the discussion is Mason Moses, a 6-5 guard from New York, who announced he is joining the Hoyas following a grad year at Brewster Prep (NH). Moses came to Brewster from the Fieldston School, where he averaged 10 points per game as a senior."Moses is a sharpshooter from beyond the arc, showcasing a diverse range of shot-making skills," writes the New England Recruiting Report. "Additionally, he excels as a lockdown defender, capable of guarding multiple positions." Assuming the return of walk-ons Austin Montgomery and Hashem Asadallah, Moses joins fellow freshman Michael Van Raaphorst as one of four walk-ons for the 2024-25 season, though Georgetown's walk-ons in 2023-24 saw a combined total of just 29 minutes of on-court time last season. Next Out: Supreme Cook One step forward, one step back.Senior forward Supreme Cook will transfer for his final year of college eligibility, per an online report.A transfer from Fairfield, Cook started all 32 games last season for the Hoyas, averaging 10.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. Cook finished third on the team in scoring and his 123 offensive rebounds were the most since the 1994-95 season. The move leaves Georgetown with one returning starter and just four scholarship returnees from the 2023-24 season. Big East-Big 12 Challenge A pair of 9-23 teams meet next November in the final round of the Big East-Big 12 challenge series.Georgetown will travel to West Virginia in the sixth and final meeting of the inter-conference series, with both teams having finished near the bottom of their respective conferences in 2023-24. WVU finished tied for 13th in the Big 12 last year under interim coach Josh Eilert, and return just two players for new coach Darian DeVries as its roster is currently constructed.The series is not being renewed past 2024-25 due to expansion for the Big 12, which will grow to 16 schools with the departures of Texas and Oklahoma and the additions of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah. Of Georgetown six games in the series, four were essentially home and away games with West Virginia and TCU, with road games versus Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. The Hoyas are 1-4 in the series , with a December 2019 win at Oklahoma State its only victory to date. The two teams last played in the 2020-21 season, an 80-71 West Virginia win in a closed McDonough Gymnasium. Georgetown has not played at the WVU Coliseum since Jan. 7, 2012, a game won by the Mountaineers 74-62 in its last season in Big East play.
As for other schedule news, early returns offer concern. Georgetown is not listed with any of the major pre-conference holiday tournaments, and where schools like UConn will get its share of marquee opponents (the Huskies already have games signed with Baylor, Gonzaga, Texas, and the Maui Invitational), Georgetown has not been linked with any appearances beyond the second of a two game series with Notre Dame (13-20) and a return game at Syracuse (20-12). Outside of the Syracuse game, attendance for the other 2023-24 nonconference games drew an average of just 5,508 per game to Capital One Arena. Head coach Ed Cooley offered some hope earlier this month about the return of a series with Maryland, but there has been no further word. "There's some great news that's going to come out in the next...week," Cooley said on April 4. "I think there will be some great news coming out shortly." Not This Again... The names may change but it's still business as usual at the basketball office, which has chosen not to present a current roster for the 2024-25 season.The disclaimer was last seen in the 2022-23 off-season following the departure of Patrick Ewing as head coach. At present, the roster page lists only staff members.Two recent signees, Malik Mack and Micah Peavy, appeared on the Field of 68 podcast last evening-- find the interview at the 1:00 mark.
Louisville Transfer Joins Hoyas Louisville transfer Curtis Williams announced a transfer to Georgetown late last week.A former Top 125 recruit from Brother Rice HS in Detroit, the 6-5 wing struggled from the field as a freshman, averaging 5.2 points per game and shooting just 31 percent from the field in 32 games, with a combined 14 points in his last nine games for the Cardinals. With a coaching change at Louisville following its 8-24 season, Williams had previously been recruited by Georgetown coach Ed Cooley while at Providence College, and can be expected to be given a fresh start to return to the form he showed at Rice, averaging 16.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game as a junior.Williams has three years of eligibility remaining. Georgetown Lands Top Guard Transfer One of the most highly sought after guards of the 2024 transfer portal has signed with Georgetown, according to reports. Former Harvard guard Malik Mack, the Ivy League Rookie of the Year by way of St. John's HS in Washington, committed to Georgetown on April 18, following a strong freshman season at Harvard, scoring in double figures in 23 of 27 games last season, with a high of 32 points and six assists against UMass. His 413 points on the season was a school record for a freshman. "Leading the Crimson in assists, points, free throw percentage, minutes per game, and steals, the freshman was awarded First-Team and Rookie of the Year ECAC honors. Mack also ended the season with the Ivy League Rookie of the Year accolade," wrote the Harvard Crimson. The Crimson also reported that "[Mack's] departure was the subject of speculation for months as Mack was expected to explore Name, Image, and Likeness deals at another school. Mack and his family have previously spoken about weighing the benefits of a Harvard degree against the financial pressures of not having an athletic scholarship or the potential to make money through an NIL collective, an independent group funded by donors that pays players. Harvard, and other Ivy League schools, currently has no NIL collectives, unlike Georgetown." Mack is expected to contribute immediately at point guard, where the Hoyas have no returning starter following the transfer of Rowan Brumbaugh. He is the first Georgetown signee from St. John's since Tre Campbell in 2014. Next Out: Dontrez Styles Junior forward Dontrez Styles is the second Georgetown starter from 2023-24 to enter the transfer portal, per reports.It was a mere 53 weeks since Styles committed to Georgetown on April 8, 2023. A two year reserve at North Carolina, Styles started all 32 games at Georgetown last season, leading the team in scoring six times and finishing second on the team in scoring with a 12.8 points per game average. A 26 point game versus Mt. St. Mary's was a season high, along with 23 in a February home game versus Connecticut.Styles has one season of eligibility remaining and has committed to North Carolina State. Later in the afternoon, the basketball office announced the addition of Kenny Johnson as an assistant coach. Johnson, who grew up in Oxon Hill, MD, comes to Georgetown following two seasons as an assistant at Rhode Island. First Inbound Transfer For 2024 A 6-8 forward from TCU is Georgetown's first inbound transfer for the 2024-25 season, according to reports.On3.com reported Saturday evening the arrival of Micah Peavy, a 6-8 forward from Cibolo, TX with stops at Texas Tech (2020-21) and TCU (2021-24). Peavy averaged 8.1 points and 4.1 rebounds in 98 games for the Horned Frogs, with 20 double figure games last season, mostly from inside the three point arc. He selected Georgetown over offers from Creighton, Houston, Kansas, and Kansas State.Peavy is a graduate transfer, having earned a degree in general studies from TCU in December 2023. Big East-Big 12 Series To End In 2025 The second of the Big East's inter-conference challenge series will not be renewed after next season, according to reports.Following the demise of the Big East-Big 10 Gavitt Games this season, the Big East's series with the Big 12 will also be retired, reports Jon Rothstein, and for much the same reason: expansion. Where the Big 12 was, well, 12 schools, the opportunity to offer its teams a quality non-conference game with Big East schools was well received. The Big 12 grows to 16 next year with the addition of former Pac-12 teams Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah, which will drive other scheduling needs going forward.The original four years of the series was extended in 2022. The final year of the series will take place early in the 2024-25 season, with Georgetown expected to play a road game. The Hoyas are 1-4 all-time in the series, with a 2019 win at Oklahoma State and losses to West Virginia at home (2020), TCU at home (2021), at Texas Tech (2022) and a second home loss to TCU (2023). The Conference Of Champions With apologies to Bill Walton, the Big East has become college basketball's conference of champions.Following Connecticut's win over Purdue in the NCAA final and Seton Hall defeating Indiana State last week in the NIT, the Big East becomes the first conference that has won both the NCAA and NIT championships in the same year.UConn's 75-60 win over Purdue was its seventh consecutive win by double digits dating back to its 73-57 win over Marquette in the Big East tournament final, and 12 consecutive double digit wins in NCAA tournament play over the past two seasons. The last team to hold UConn under 13? St. John's, in the Big East semifinal.
The title is UConn's sixth all time, surpassing the five of Duke and Indiana and tying North Carolina for third all time: only UCLA (11) and Kentucky (8) have more. National champions since 2001:
New Post-Season Option Announced As reported in September, Fox Sports has announced a new post-season tournament in 2025 which will include two autobids for Big East teams that did not qualify for the NCAA tournament."Discussions are ongoing, but the current vision is for the event to include 16 teams that would play at T-Mobile Arena during the final week of March following the NCAA tournament's Elite Eight games," said Seth Davis in September, and Wednesday confirmed the plans."The inaugural College Basketball Crown is set to feature schools from the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East, with additional at-large participants," said the release posted to Fox Sports.com. The College Basketball Crown will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas from Monday, March 31 to Sunday, April 6, 2025, with all the action airing on FOX and FS1. Teams that did not qualify for the NCAA tournament will be eligible for the College Basketball Crown, with two automatic qualifiers coming from each participating conference and [10] additional teams chosen by a committee." According to Variety, "AEG Global Partnerships will have exclusive rights to all commercial sales and sponsorship activations for the College Basketball Crown with Fox Sports overseeing media rights and broadcast sales." The Fox release did not say how the automatic qualifiers would be chosen nor if teams were precluded from selecting the NIT, whose semifinals and finals would be concurrent the same week. In a statement, "We are honored to participate in the inaugural College Basketball Crown, which will be an exciting and innovative addition to the college basketball calendar," said Big East commissioner Val Ackerman. (The Big East is presently negotiating an extension to its media rights with Fox which expires after the 2024-25 season.) Peter D. Wilk (1965-2024)
Pete Wilk (S'13), the longest serving baseball coach in Georgetown history, died Tuesday from a malignant brain tumor at the age of 58."For more than 20 years, he was a mentor to the members of our baseball program teaching them lessons on the field and in life," said athletic director Lee Reed in a statement. "His courage and strength in the face of adversity has never wavered and he will be remembered as a fighter. Pete made a lasting impact both on this program and within our Georgetown community which will never be forgotten."A native of Barrington, RI and a 1987 graduate of Rollins College who was a relief pitcher over three seasons, Wilk was a former assistant at Harvard and Boston University before joining Kirk Mason's staff at Georgetown in 1997, and was elevated to head coach in July 1999 upon Mason's resignation. He served as head coach for 21 seasons until the 2020 season was halted due to COVID-19, and resigned later that year with a record of 423-665. He received a master's degree in sports management from the University in 2013. At the outset, Wilk inherited a difficult and, to skeptics, an impossible situation. Georgetown had dropped men's baseball scholarships in 1978, and its play in the early years of Big East reflected it. In 1997, its baseball field was converted to a parking lot in preparation for its future use as the site for the business school. By 1999, Georgetown was the only non-scholarship program in the Big East and it struggled to compete against the likes of Notre Dame, Rutgers, and West Virginia, leading an ad-hoc faculty committee to recommend that the program be dropped. The team continued, but the losses followed: in Wilk's first season, the Hoyas were just 1-24 in conference play, 13-43 overall, sharing locker room space at McDonough Gymnasium and playing its home games in Bethesda. Over his first four seasons, Georgetown was a combined 14-89 against Big East teams. Wilk's teams never reached .500 in conference play or overall, but it did not deter a generation of players from spirited competition, some of whom went on to success at the minor and major league levels. A total of 16 players over his 21 seasons were selected in the MLB Draft, including Tim Adelman, who pitched two seasons for the Cincinnati Reds and became only the second Georgetown alumnus to play in the major leagues since 1960. Georgetown's best season under Wilk's leadership came in 2017, finishing 27-28 on the season. The tenure of Pete Wilk also included the only NCAA violations ever levied upon the University. In September 2009, the NCAA placed Georgetown on three years probation for a lack of institutional control in the baseball program. At issue was assistant coaches instructing work-study players to post up to 20 hours weekly for various groundskeeping tasks, but the work itself was not verifiable. "The student-athletes did not focus on tracking the specific times they worked, and did not believe or understand that was something they needed to do," said the NCAA. The University was fined $61,552 for the amount of unverified work-study awarded over nine seasons and was limited to five of 11.7 baseball scholarships for the next three seasons; however, since GU did not offer any baseball scholarships, the second penalty was moot. Wilk was found to have no knowledge of the violations and kept his position. "Had these student-athletes simply been given the money in the form of a scholarship, there would have been no problem," said interim athletic director Dan Porterfield (C'83) at the time. "The problem is that they were supposed to be earning the money through a work-study program, and that has to be carried out." In 2021, Wilk returned to New England and coached in a summer collegiate baseball league in Vermont. In early 2023, he was diagnosed with glioblastoma. A statement from the Georgetown baseball alumni in a GoFundMe solicitation for the family read as follows: "For over 25 years, Pete has recruited, coached, and mentored hundreds of student-athletes. He has been a safeguard and trusted guardian for parents sending their child away from home for the first time. He is a humble and uncommonly loyal human being who is deeply passionate about the game of baseball and building teams that bond with an enduring fabric. Over 20 years, he became the patriarch and one great common denominator of an incredible Georgetown baseball alumni family that will last for generations to come." Pete Wilk is survived by his wife and two daughters. Services are pending. Bristol: Grad Transfer To Hampton
Who's the real HU? For Wayne Bristol, it's Hampton.Georgetown senior Wayne Bristol will exercise a grad transfer option to Hampton University, according to a post on social media Sunday. He follows former Georgetown coach Ivan Thomas, who took over the Hampton program earlier this month.Bristol played two seasons following a year at Howard in 2020-21 where he was MEAC Rookie of the Year. He gained eligibility at Georgetown for the spring portion of the 2021-22 schedule but sat out the remainder of the season. As a junior, he started in three games, with a season's high of 16 points versus Marquette. As a senior, Bristol saw reserve duty as a defensive specialist, finishing second on the team in steals and averaging 3.7 points per game with 10 starts over 32 games.
First Walk-On Signs For 2024
On the weekend which provided admissions results for the Class of 2028, a freshman has announced he is joining the 2024-25 Hoyas.Michael Van Raaphorst, a 6-4 guard from Delbarton (NJ) Prep, made the announcement via social media Saturday."I'm excited to announce my commitment to Georgetown University as a Preferred Walk On," he announced Saturday on Instagram. I would like to thank my family, friends, coaches, teammates, and most of all God for helping me along this journey. Special thanks to Coach Cooley and the rest of the Georgetown Basketball staff for giving me this opportunity. Can't wait for the next chapter!" A two sport athlete with a 4.1 GPA, Van Raaphorst led Delbarton with a 15.8 points per game average over 27 games in 2023-24 and a career average of 10.8 points over three seasons. |