Mohammed Forgoes Team TrialsCiting an undisclosed setback, freshman guard Aminu Mohammed (C'25) will not be participating in the Nigerian national team trials, per a tweet below.— Shawn Harmon (@Harmon64S) June 20, 2021 Tagliabue Discusses "Fixed" 1961 Game In an interview with USA Today discussing the growing ties between sports and gambling interests, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue (C'62) referenced a 1961 basketball game that was part of a wide ranging criminal investigation."I played in a college basketball game that was fixed," Tagliabue told USA Today's Jarrett Bell, referencing a 1961 game at Madison Square Garden against NYU. "We beat the hell out of NYU. It was the biggest victory in my three years of basketball at Georgetown. Turns out that guys at NYU were taking money to shave points."A guard on that NYU team, Ray Paprocky, was charged in 1961 with accepting $1,300 to affect the outcomes of four games in the 1960-61 season. The Hoyas, who had lost to NYU by 22 the season before, trounced the Violets 92-69 at Madison Square Garden. A look back on that game is available in this link to the Georgetown Basketball History Project. Tagliabue is concerned that technology by itself cannot solve the lure of easy money. "The thing that bothers me, fast-forward, when the Supreme Court ruling came down, there were television people and others who told me that with the technology that's available now, with computers and the ability to sort data to see where the money is going, it would be easier now to spot point-shaving than it was previously," Tagliabue said. "I still worry about some young guy...and someone says to him, take the money," Tagliabue added. "With banners and ads all over stadiums and TV broadcasts glorifying gambling, one could easily imagine a player thinking nothing of affecting the game illegally in exchange for money," wrote Ron Borges at Sports Illustrated. "Not tanking the game, just making sure the spread is not covered or fantasy points are piled up, or denied, some highly productive player. Far-fetched? Perhaps so, but in 1961 Paul Tagliabue felt the same way about a basketball game in which his team trounced a good NYU team only to learn later the fix was in. If one minimizes the damage of such a moment, you miss the warning Tagliabue gave this week." Schedule Update A two game series between Georgetown and South Carolina was announced Tuesday.The Hoyas will travel to Columbia, SC to meet the Gamecocks (6-15 in 2020-21) on Dec. 5, with a return game at Capital One Arena in the 2022-23 season. It's an opportunity for two Georgetown players, junior Malcolm Wilson and grad transfer Kaiden Rice, to play in their home town."I can't express how excited I am to be able to play a game against a program like Georgetown, led by one of the great people in the game of basketball in Patrick Ewing," USC coach Frank Martin said in a news release. "Georgetown is coming off of a great run last year, an NCAA Tournament run, and it's one of the historic programs that in my lifetime, we all grew up respecting. Coach Thompson, even though he's not with us in person anymore, the spirit and the strength that he built the Georgetown program on, we all still look to his example in college basketball as we try to grow the game and grow the people who play the game. Being able to start this series is going to be great for our program, for basketball and for everyone who will be a part of it." Georgetown holds a 4-1 lead in the series, last playing the Gamecocks in the third round of the 2005 NIT. The two schools played a home and away series 20 years ago during the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. Pickett Featured In Georgetown Voice At semester's end, the Georgetown Voice has published a feature on the road traveled by graduating senior Jamorko Pickett (C'21) to Georgetown.The article, featuring quotes from Pickett and extended thoughts from his former coach at Eastern HS, Emmanuel Kakulu, offers a view into the journey a high school player finds before he enters the college experience."It's letting every single young person know, boy or girl, you can do it too," Kakulu said. "This is something you can have. And so if you ever, even for a second, had a dream, or wanted to, oh man, I want to be a champion, I want to play college basketball, I want to go and graduate from a school like Georgetown, or Maryland or any of these great schools that are in our area, it's telling these young people, you can do it, and you can do it right from where you are." Readers have pointed out some open issues in the story, however. While the article suggests that "Pickett himself said that he had zero offers from college programs" as a senior, other reports suggested he had offers from Kansas State, James Madison, and Morgan State and chose Massanutten Military Academy as a prep year. The article does not reference his verbal commitment to the University of Mississippi in 2017, and his subsequent decommit which opened the door for Georgetown to recruit him later that summer. "To be able to represent a lot of other kids coming up after me, it's huge to me," said Pickett, who is expected to be on the final list of eligible seniors for the 2021 NBA Draft completed this week. "I know a lot of kids look up to me and what I'm doing right now." Richard E. Hall (1971-2021) Rick Hall (B'93), a member of the Georgetown Athletics family for nearly a quarter century, died suddenly this weekend at the age of 49.Hall, who served as assistant director of Hoyas Unlimited from 2001-2005 and a gameday manager for Georgetown athletics from 2005-2015, was a regular presence at the scorer's table at Capital One Arena for over 20 years, handling crew support, clock operations, and public address issues for games involving Georgetown basketball and various NCAA tournament games held at the downtown arena.A logistics project manager by trade, Hall also served as an NCAA basketball referee for 28 years, primarily with Division II and Division III games scheduled in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Revolving DoorJamari Sibley marks the 11th transfer in the Patrick Ewing era in four seasons.
Different eras, perhaps, but the corrosive effect of constantly rotating newcomers in and out has an effect. At the start of the 2021-22 season, just two scholarship players (Timothy Ighoefe and Malcolm Wilson) will have more than a single season of experience on the team. As noted at the social media feed of Hilltop Hoops, "The departure of Jamari Sibley now means that Patrick Ewing has lost the top-ranked recruit of his last three recruiting classes to the transfer portal (Akinjo, Wahab, Sibley). Context is key, but that is not how a winning program is built and sustained over the long run." (The figures above do not count the status of grad transfer Jalen Harris, who has three semesters of eligibility remaining but has not been heard from since leaving the team on Dec. 18.) Next Out: Jamari Sibley To Transfer Freshman forward Jamari Sibley is the latest departure from the Georgetown men's basketball team.An all-state selection from Milwaukee, WI, the 6-8 Sibley averaged 19.6 points and 7.6 rebounds his senior season at Oak Hill Academy, and was the third highest ranked recruit signed by Ewing to date when he committed in November 2019, behind James Akinjo and Qudus Wahab. Widely expected to take the role of a scoring forward in a position that had once shown promise under Josh LeBlanc, Sibley saw no action in the first three games of the season.When asked by NBC Sports Washington in December if there was an update on Sibley, head coach Patrick Ewing responded that "There's no update. When I think he's ready to play, that's when he'll play." "The biggest attributes of Sibley's game that could have an immediate impact are his scoring ability and athleticism," wrote NBC's Tyler Byrum. "But until Ewing deems Sibley ready to hit the hardwood, he seems to have a spot reserved on the bench." If there was a doghouse for Sibley, he took residence there most of the season, as Ewing opted for extended minutes from 6-7 grad transfer Chudier Bile instead. Sibley averaged just 1.2 points per game in 21 appearances. A seven point effort in eight minutes versus his Marquette was a season high on Jan. 2. He played in just one minute of Georgetown's 96-73 loss to Colorado. With Ewing's subsequent recruitment of two more grad transfers at the forward position (Tre King, Kaiden Rice), Sibley's departure was not altogether unexpected. He removed the Georgetown title from his Instagram feed two weeks ago, and his only post on Twitter since the end of the season was a retweet of the decision of forward Patrick Baldwin to play at nearby Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The announcement was not posted to the school's official web site, GUHoyas.com. Its most recent post for basketball is its loss to Colorado on March 20. Musical Chairs: Getting to 13 Scholarships With Jamari Sibley's exit, here's a possible depth chart of the current roster. Newcomers are in gray, walk-ons in blue:
Pickett: No Fifth Year As expected, senior Jamorko Pickett will not pursue a fifth year of college eligibility and will pursue a pro career, per an Instagram post. Thursday.While Pickett could have stayed for a fifth year or joined the transfer portal, a previous statement by Georgetown indicated he was not expected back for 2021-22."While playing for Georgetown has been incredible," Pickett wrote, "my ultimate dream has always been to play in the NBA so I've decided to enter the 2021 NBA Draft and hire an agent. Pickett finished his Georgetown career 38th all time in scoring with 1,124 points, and 22nd in rebounding at 618. At present, he is not projected within the first two rounds of candidates for the draft, which last selected a Georgetown player in 2013. A similar statement may be pending from Chudier Bile, also previously listed by the basketball office as not returning for 2021-22. Michael Graham To Coach Pro Team Former Georgetown forward Michael Graham was named head coach of the Prince George's Valor, an entrant in the far flung American Basketball Association.Unrelated to the ABA that played from 1967-1975, today's ABA consists of as many as 170 franchises in what the league calls "America's largest and most diversified professional sports league". The only barrier to entry is a $10,000 franchise fee, made famous when former Sports Illustrated writer Alexander Wolff paid the fee and his team, the Vermont Frost Heaves, actually won the 2013 ABA title. Salaries range from as little as $30 a game to as much as $300 per game."I trust Mike with this team-not because of what he says he can do-but because of what God has revealed to me that he has done in his own life," said owner LaDonna Smith. "PG Valor players will have an experienced basketball legend as well as those that he will be bringing on board to assist him, living in his purpose and goal of mentoring, teaching, encouraging, disciplining and imparting to them both on and off the court." The Valor enters its fifth season in 2020-21. Transfer Portal Passes 1,700 An update on the Division I transfer portal, which has passed 1,700 on the move across over 300 teams.For the past month we've identified who is leaving by school; now, also included are those arriving. Graduating or redshirt senior transfers are in italics
Jakobe Coles (6.3 ppg--signed with TCU) Campbell Donovan (0.8 ppg) Markeese Hastings (0.5 ppg-signed with Western Michigan) In (1) Ty Groce (Grad., Eastern Michigan, 11.5 ppg)
James Bouknight (18.5 ppg - will sign with agent for NBA draft) Brendan Adams (4.5 ppg--signed with George Washington) Josh Carlton (3.5 ppg-signed with Houston) Javonte Brown (2.0 ppg-signed with Texas A&M)
Marcus Zegarowski (15.8 ppg - will sign with agent for NBA draft) Denzel Mahoney (12.5 ppg - will sign with agent for NBA draft) Christian Bishop (11.0 ppg-signed with Texas) Antwann Jones (3.4 ppg-signed with Louisiana) Nic Zeil (0.6 ppg) Jett Canfield (0.1 ppg-signed with Drury) In (2) KeyShawn Fazell (Grad, McNeese St., 13.1 ppg) Ryan Hawkins (Grad., NW Missouri, 16.0 ppg)
Charlie Moore (14.4 ppg-signed with Miami) Oscar Lopez (8.8 ppg-signed with Salt Lake CC) Pauly Paulicap (7.2 ppg--signed with West Virginia) Ray Salnave (6.3 ppg-signed with UMBC) Kobe Elvis (5.2 ppg-signed with Dayton) Keon Edwards (1.8 ppg-signed with Nebraska) Darious Hall (4.9 ppg-signed with Central Arkansas) Jaylen Butz (DNP in 20-21-signed with Western Kentucky) Markese Jacobs (DNP in 20-21) In (4) Yor Anei (Jr., SMU, 6.6 ppg) Tyon Grant-Foster (Jr., Kansas, 3.0 ppg) Brandon Johnson (Sr., Minnesota, 8.9 ppg) Jalen Terry (Fr., Oregon, 2.9 ppg)
Qudus Wahab (12.7 ppg-signed with Maryland) T.J. Berger (1.7 ppg-signed with San Diego) Jamari Sibley (1.2 ppg--signed with UTEP) In (2) Tre King (Grad., E. Kentucky, 14.9 ppg) Kaiden Rice (Grad., Citadel, 17.6 ppg)
D.J. Carton (13.0 ppg - will sign with an agent for NBA draft) Dawson Garcia (13.0 ppg) Koby McEwen (10.2 ppg-signed with Weber St.) Jamal Cain (9.6 ppg--signed with Oakland) Theo John (8.0 ppg--signed with Duke) Jose Perez (3.1 ppg-signed with Manhattan) Symir Torrence (2.4 ppg-signed with Syracuse) Dexter Okanno (0.7 ppg-signed with Oregon St.) Luke Fizulich (0.1 ppg-signed with Albany) In (4) Tyler Kolek (Fr., George Mason, 10.8 ppg) Kur Kuath (Grad., Oklahoma, 5.1 ppg) Darryl Morsell (Grad., Maryland, 9.0 ppg) Olivier-Maxence Prosper (Fr., Clemson, 2.4 ppg)
David Duke (16.8 ppg - will sign with agent for NBA draft) Jimmy Nichols (6.1 ppg-signed with VCU) Greg Gantt (4.0 ppg-signed with NC State) Kris Monroe (1.1 ppg-signed with NC Central) Jyare Davis (DNP in 2020-21-signed with Delaware) In (3) Matteus Case (Fr., Pennsylvania, DNP in 20-21 Aljami Durham (Grad., Indiana, 11.3 ppg) Justin Minaya (Jr., South Carolina, 7.8 ppg)
Greg Williams (9.5 ppg-signed with SW Louisiana) Rasheem Dunn (9.4 ppg-signed with Robert Morris) Isaih Moore (9.2 ppg-signed with Southern Miss) Vince Cole (8.7 ppg-signed with Coastal Carolina) Marcellus Earlington (6.8 ppg-signed with San Diego) Josh Roberts (2.8 ppg-signed with Manhattan) Johnathan McGriff (0.7 ppg-signed with Binghamton) David Caraher (0.7 ppg-signed with High Point) In (4) Montez Mathis (Jr., Rutgers, 8.3 ppg) Stef Smith (Grad., Vermont, 13.6 ppg) Joel Soriano (So., Fordham, 10.4 ppg) Aaron Wheeler (Jr., Purdue, 3.9 ppg)
Shavar Reynolds (7.7 ppg--signed with Monmouth) Takal Molson (5.3 ppg-signed with James Madison) Dimingus Stevens (0.7 ppg-signed with Florida A&M) Jeff Ngandu (DNP in 20-21) In (3) Jamir Harris (Jr., American, 20.5 ppg) Kadary Richmond (Fr., Syracuse, 6.3 ppg) Alexis Yetna (Jr., South Florida, 9.5 ppg)
Villanova (2): Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (15.7 ppg - will sign with agent for NBA draft) Cole Swider (5.7 ppg--signed with Syracuse)
Jason Carter (5.5 ppg--signed with Ohio) Daniel Ramsey (4.0 ppg--signed with Tennessee Tech) C.J. Wilcher (3.3 ppg--signed with Nebraska) In (2) Jerome Hunter (So., Indiana, 6.3 ppg) Jack Yunge (So., Iowa, 7.1 ppg) |