Transfer Portal In Review The arrival of summer offers an opportunity to look back on a busy spring of movement in college basketball.Through Monday, 1,705 players in Division I had exercised an option to transfer, just slightly behind the 1,723 that did so last season. Georgetown was especially hard hit, of course, losing half its 14 man roster from 2021-22. And while there is no exact correlation between success and transfers, national champion Kansas had no transfer portal exits, while Villanova and Gonzaga had just one each. On the other side of the ledger, seven schools had 10 or more transfers, led by Prairie View A&M (8-19 in 2021-22) with 12 players exited.Here are the totals from each Big East school. Of the 32 transfers, seven have yet to land with a team, including Georgetown junior walk-on Chuma Azinge.
Robert Kirby To Ole MissFormer Georgetown assistant coach Robert Kirby has been hired at Mississippi."Robert brings an unbelievable amount of energy and recruiting experience to our staff, and he has a great understanding of SEC basketball," said Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis. "I think he is an outstanding fit for Ole Miss."Kirby, 62, was on the Georgetown staff for portions of seven seasons, including two years under John Thompson III (2020-12) and five under Patrick Ewing (2017-22). Michael Graham Talks About GeorgetownSome frank comments from former Georgetown forward Michael Graham were posted to a podcast Thursday evening.Graham, who will begin master's degree studies this year at Georgetown, told host Julian Brown that a dispute within the basketball office led to his transfer after the 1983-84 season. "Some things within the basketball team and the front office, some things were done that I didn't like, that I didn't approve of," he said. "Some things were said to me and Reggie [Williams] as freshmen that I didn't approve of. Me coming from the inner city, me personally, I wasn't going to have a Caucasian woman tell me things that I thought were really uncalled for [to] me and Reggie as freshmen. I had made up mind once the championship game was over, I wasn't coming back." Graham averaged 4.7 points in 35 games for the Hoyas. A book on his life story is in development. A Second Act
Georgetown's seventh transfer and ninth newcomer for the 2022-23 season comes with a twist, as head coach Patrick Ewing has signed former center Qudus Wahab to the roster.
ADDITIONAL COVERAGE
While not unprecedented (see below), a returning transfer is rare."I'm happy to see Qudus Wahab back on the Hilltop," said Ewing in a media release. "I'm looking forward to him helping us get to where we want to be as a team and for our staff to help in his development and his growth." Wahab averaged 8.7 points and 6.1 rebounds in two seasons at Georgetown from 2019 through 2021, with a career high 20 in the 2021 first round game versus Colorado. He surprised many by transferring out of Georgetown a month later, relocating to Maryland, where 247Sports.com declared him the #6 most impactful transfer of the off-season. The 2021-22 season was a protracted disappointment for Wahab and for Maryland. After an opening two games where Wahab scored a combined 35 points and 21 rebounds, he settled into a run of ineffective play, averaging 7.7 points per game over the season and 6.7 points in Big Ten play. Wahab, who started 31 of 32 games, ended the season with just 23 points in his final five games of the season for the Terrapins, who finished 15-17 under interim coach Danny Manning. Wahab entered the transfer portal nine days after Kevin Willard was hired at Maryland on March 22. Wahab's return comes with a risk, however. Because he previously exercised a one-time transfer to Maryland without sitting two semesters, he will need an NCAA waiver to play this fall. Ewing and his staff may be confident that the coaching change proves sufficient cause for the NCAA to give Wahab a second free pass, but Wahab left on his own from Maryland and was not forced out an changes made by Willard or his staff. Were a waiver not granted, Wahab would have two years eligibility beginning in the 2023-24 season. (Georgetown will also request a second waiver for junior guard Jay Heath, who previously transferred from Boston College to Arizona State.) The question marks on Wahab are intriguing. Just prior to his transfer, Ewing remarked that Wahab "could be the best big in the country a year from now," but was anything but in his tenure at College Park. Will he meet this lofty expectation a second time in blue and gray? Depending on when we learn on a waiver, we'll find out. As noted above, a back-to-school transfer is rare but not unprecedented in Georgetown annuals. In 1943, following suspension of the men's basketball program for World War II, freshman forward Henry Hyde transferred to Duke, averaging 2.1 points in 25 games for the Blue Devils in 1943-44 before he joined the U.S. Navy. Upon the completion of his tour of duty, Hyde returned to Georgetown in 1946, and saw action in one game in the 1946-47 season, earning his AB degree later that spring. For 2022, Georgetown returns one starter and four lettermen from last season's 6-25 team. Is Ewing Over-Recruiting?
The names have certainly changed on the Hoyas' depth chart over the past two seasons. And with 14 scholarships signed for 13 spaces, questions follow for a practice Georgetown has historically avoided.The addition of Qudus Wahab is leading to speculation in the fan base that one of the five returning players from 2021-22 has been asked to leave the roster to accommodate this addition; presumably, any other incoming transfers Ewing and his staff have planned would require the same approach.Because the roster was removed from public view at GUHoyas.com, there is no confirmation who is returning over than checking the ever present NCAA transfer portal. The lack of transparency regarding the roster appears to be a step the basketball office is comfortable taking. A high level view of recent depth charts entering the 2022-23 season looks like this, with newcomers in bold:
Big East-Big 12 Series
The last season of the Big East-Big 12 challenge series sends Georgetown to a game at Texas Tech, per a report.
Texas Tech was 27-10 in 2021-22, advancing to the the Round of 16 for the third time in the past four years. The two schools have met twice before, most recently a 98-90 Georgetown win in the 1996 NCAA regional semifinal in Atlanta, GA. This will be Georgetown's first visit to Texas Tech, where the Red Raiders were 18-0 last season. Timothy Ighoefe to Cal-Baptist
The migration off the Hilltop continues, with junior center Timothy Ighoefe heading out west.The destination is California Baptist University in Riverside, CA, in its fourth season in Division I. The Lancers were 18-16 (7-11 in the Western Athletic Conference) last season but were ineligible for the NCAA tournament in its final year moving up from Division II.The 7-0 Ighoefe averaged 2.8 points in 24 games this season, 20 as a starter. Owing to the COVID-19 waiver year in 2020-21, he will have two years eligibility. Collin Holloway to Tulane
Transferring sophomore Collin Holloway is headed to Tulane, per reports.
ADDITIONAL COVERAGE
Holloway averaged 9.2 points in 28 games this season, 20 as a starter, leading the Hoyas in scoring in four of those games with a career high 25 versus Villanova.Owing to the COVID-19 waiver year in 2020-21, Holloway will have three years eligibility at Tulane (14-15 in 2021-22). Report: Hoyas Add Grad Transfer
An eighth recruit fills the last open scholarship on Georgetown's 2022-23 roster, according to reports.The recruiting site ON3.com reported Sunday night the addition of Bryson Mozone, a 6-6, 200 lb. forward from South Carolina-Upstate, who will play as a grad transfer in the 2022-23 season. As of Sunday evening Georgetown had not confirmed the commitment.A unranked high school recruit from North Augusta, SC, Mozone averaged 16 points, nine rebounds and four blocks per game and committed to USC-Upstate upon his offer. "He just continued to work and got better and better and better," high school coach Michael Rose told the Aiken (SC) Standard in 2018. "The thing about Bryson is, he's so young that he's only going to get better. He was just great to coach, always willing to take criticism, and he became a better leader for it, and a better player." Mozone averaged 5.1 points as a freshman but steadily improved in each of his four seasons at the Spartanburg, SC school, starting in 51 games over a 105 game college career. Mozone averaged 15.3 points and 4.3 rebounds for USC-Upstate (15-17 in 2021-22) last season, was third in his conference in shooting attempts, and earned second team all-Big South honors. His 29 points in the season finale versus South Alabama was a career high. As a graduating senior, Mozone, 21, had previously listed himself as a candidate for the NBA Draft, but has apparently withdrawn. Mozone had listed interest from a number of schools in his grad transfer search, including South Carolina, Clemson, and Georgia Tech. As with fellow South Carolinian Kaiden Rice from last season, Mozone will have one year eligibility remaining. Carey Transfers To Maryland
Former team captain Donald Carey is transferring to Maryland, per various reports.The graduate student announced on April 29 he would not return to Georgetown for his final year of eligibility. Carey scored 587 points (10.8 ppg) in 58 games over two seasons at Georgetown, and 1,215 points overall with previous stops at Mt. St. Mary's and Siena.Carey is the fourth of Georgetown's seven 2022 transfers which has announced a new school for 2022-23. Still awaiting a new destination are juniors Timothy Ighoefe and Chuma Azinge, and sophomore Collin Holloway. Mohammed Invited To NBA Draft Combine
Freshman guard Aminu Mohammed continues his drive toward the pros, having been invited to the NBA Draft Combine next week.
Fifth Transfer Added For 2022-23
After having missed on a number of name recruits in the past two weeks, Georgetown added a transfer with less recognition, but some potential.Joining the Hoyas in 2022-23 is 6-8 Bradley Ezewiro, who played in only 26 minutes last season as a freshman at LSU, scoring 11 points in six games. In a news release at GUHoyas.com, head coach Patrick Ewing said that "In this offseason, we have focused on bringing in physicality and athleticism in the post and Brad definitely fits the bill."Although listed as a forward at LSU, Ezewiro may well be slotted as a center behind Ryan Mutombo and Malcolm Wilson given his bulk (246 lbs.) and a lack of an outside shot. Ezewiro averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds as a center at Bishop Montgomery HS in Torrance, CA before moving to Oak Hill Academy in 2019-20, where he played as a reserve alongside former Georgetown forward Jamari Sibley. Though his LSU bio did not list a school in 2020-21 (leading some stories to report he did not play anywhere that season), Ezewiro first committed to IMG Academy and eventually completed a fifth year at Hillcrest Prep in 2019-20, having previously signed with LSU while at Oak Hill. Ezewiro was ranked #269th nationally among the 2021 recruiting class. As one of nine exits from the LSU program following Will Wade's departure, Ezewiro kept in touch with new Georgetown coach Kevin Nickelberry, and eventually selected Georgetown over offers from Oregon State, UAB and Nevada. Ezewiro, who joins fellow LSU transfer Brandon Murray on the Ewing roster, will have three years eligibility remaining upon his enrollment. NCAA Sharpens NIL Rules
In an attempt to address what has been called a "Wild West" of pre-admissions payments to top athletes under the premise of "name, image, and likeness", the NCAA announced new guidelines to allow schools to enforce existing rules on the matter.Per NCAA policy, a representative of athletics interests (commonly referred to as a "booster") is "defined as an individual, independent agency, corporate entity (e.g., apparel or equipment manufacturer) or other organization who is known (or who should have been known) by a member of the institution's executive or athletics administration to have participated in or to be a member of an agency or organization promoting the institution's intercollegiate athletics program or to assist or to have assisted in providing benefits to enrolled student-athletes or their family members.""It appears that the overall mission of many, if not all, of the above-referenced third party entities is to promote and support a specific NCAA institution by making available NIL opportunities to prospective student-athletes (PSA) and student-athletes (SAs) of a particular institution, thereby triggering the definition of a booster." "While the NCAA may pursue the most outrageous violations that were clearly contrary to the interim policy adopted last summer, our focus is on the future...the board expects all Division I institutions to follow our recruiting rules and operate within these reasonable expectations," said Jere Morehead, president at the University of Georgia. There are skeptics, however. "I think everyone is pushing the envelope as much as you can, and some are just obliterating the line between good and evil here," said SEC analyst and ESPN host Paul Finebaum. There's nobody in charge. That's why the NCAA saying they're going to crack down on somebody is so comical." "If you're trying to get a player right now, like [Pittsburgh WR Jordan Addison], you have to cheat," Finebaum said. "You're not just going to call that guy up and say, 'Mr. Addison, I would love for you to come visit our school. We want to show you around, show you the academic center, show you the library, show you the research and development.' You basically have to do one thing: you have to show him the money. That's where we are right now." The NIL issue was also in the news today when guard Antoine Davis (23.9 ppg) announced a six figure deal with a Chinese basketball manufacturing company and will be returning to the University of Detroit, where he averaged 23.9 points per game as a senior. According to the Detroit News, Davis' father (who is also the Titans' head coach) said that the transfer "was largely because of an opportunity to earn a sizable Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deal at a larger school." In the end, the deal returned him back to the school. Georgetown was among Davis' five finalists for a transfer. In an unrelated story, Georgetown announced it is engaging an outside consulting company, Altius Sports, to strengthen its NIL program, which has largely been out of public view. "Georgetown is committed to providing the most progressive framework possible in this evolving NIL landscape," said athletic director Lee Reed in the news release. "We believe this alliance...will present our student-athletes with comprehensive tools and resources to develop their name, image and likeness in an impactful way." Akok Akok Adds To Inbound Transfer List
In the wake of forward Jalin Billingsley finding a new home via transfer, Georgetown has added what could well be his replacement.Akok Akok (pronounced a-cook), a 6-9, 215 lb. forward from Portsmouth, NH, and late of the University of Connecticut, becomes Georgetown's first transfer from another Big East school as announced Monday evening. But Akok isn't new to Georgetown, having been offer by Patrick Ewing's staff in the spring of 2018 and finishing as a finalist when Akok chose UConn in the fall of that year.Ranked as high as 92nd nationally in a fifth year prep program at Putnam Science Academy, Akok averaged 4.2 points 3.9 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks in three seasons at UConn. Akok lost much of his sophomore season to a torn Achilles muscle and did not play in ten games last season because of a recurring foot injury. Akok finished ninth in scoring for the Huskies last season. In two games versus the Hoyas, he had five points and three rebounds in a combined 20 minutes of action off the bench. Having enrolled early as a student at UConn in the spring of 2019, Akok arrives as a senior at Georgetown and has two years eligibility remaining. Jalin Billingsley To Eastern Michigan
Freshman forward Jalin Billingsley has announced a transfer to Eastern Michigan University.Billingsley, ranked 147th as a high school recruit, chose Georgetown over Arizona State in the summer of 2020 and averaged 2.1 points a game in 30 games as a freshman. He will have three years eligibility with the Eagles (10-21 in 2021-22).Hoyas Gain Additional Guard Depth
The transfer portal continued to spin this weekend, with Georgetown picking up a commitment from Arizona State guard Jay Heath.In a busy weekend for fans scouring social media, Heath's transfer proved good news after a number of other recruits committed elsewhere. As many as three leading candidates tied to Georgetown committed instead to LSU, Georgia, and Gonzaga, respectively. Heath arrives to the Hilltop with some familiarity, however.A 6-3 guard from Arlington VA who played at DC's Wilson HS, Heath took a visit to Georgetown as early as 2016, but opted for Boston College as the starting guard on Wilson's 2019 DCIAA championship team, which earned him first team All-Met honors alongside former Georgetown center Qudus Wahab, Villanova's Justin Moore, and former Georgetown verbal commit Terrance Williams, now at Michigan. Heath started 49 of 50 games at BC, averaging 13.6 points per game from 2019 to 2021. Much like Amir Spears, Heath was a volume shooter with the Eagles, averaging 12 attempts per game. With a 4-16 record at BC in 2020-21 and a change in coaching, Heath exercised his immediate transfer option in the fall of 2021 to Arizona State, averaging 10.7 points in 28 games (17 starts) for the Sun Devils (14-17 in 2021-22) with improved play from outside, including a 43 percent mark from three point range. Heath adds "versatility and scoring," said head coach Patrick Ewing in a news release. Although Heath is not eligible for the automatic transfer and awaits an NCAA waiver, Ewing is hopeful he can be available for the upcoming season. "His experience and toughness will make him a key part of our team next season," Ewing added. "More than anything, I wanted to get back home to DC and Georgetown and the coaching staff gave me the opportunity to do that," Heath said. I'm part of a close family and it means a lot to me that I can see them more and be closer to my support system." Heath has two years eligibility remaining. With three scholarships still open for the 2022-23 season, Georgetown now as many as seven candidates for backcourt duty: joining Heath are returning players Dante Harris, Jordan Riley, and Wayne Bristol, plus freshmen Denver Anglin and transfers Brandon Murray and Amir Spears. The Revolving Door
In 1973, John Thompson made it clear what the expectation of playing basketball at Georgetown University was all about.
Such is not the motto of the current era.With the one-two punch of one winning season in the past five years and the relative ease of the NCAA transfer portal, the unrest at the Thompson Center is unlike anything the program has ever seen. Of 36 scholarship recruits recruited by head coach Patrick Ewing since 2017, half of them (18 of 36) have transferred, all but one within two years of their admission to Georgetown University.
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