Better Know a Team: Georgetown Hoyas

Last Year’s Record: 9-23 (2-18)

Preseason Metrics (last season final):
Torvik: 103 (173)
KenPom: 88 (192)

“I wonder what Rosie is up to right now?”

Coach: Ed Cooley, 2nd Season
What can we say about Ed Cooley? Guy had an eventful year+. At this blog, we believe the rumors. The man got busted in an affair and his wife forced him outta Providence. From there he wound up at Georgetown, claiming it was a better job than Providence, which is news to any college basketball fan under the age of 30. I mean look at that image, and tell me that’s not a man who checked out.

“Man this team sucks!”

When not looking like he’d rather be back in the Dunk, or at least anywhere but Cap One arena, Cooley was lecturing other athletics coaches with far more success than he’s had, recycling lines from his PC introductory presser, getting into it with Seton Hall fans reminding them he’s “rich as a mother fucker,” lecturing a student reporter in a press conference, and probably getting to know the local news and weather folks socially. He’s been busy, unfortunately, the Hoyas were also busy on the Court last year…busy LOSING! Burn!

Whatever the case may be, Cooley has recruited decently, and the team should be more competitive this year, It will be really telling to keep on eye on Cooley and his body language this season. He has a respectable young team that can grow into a pretty good team in years to come if Cooley remains engaged and develops the quality freshmen he’s bringing in. Hopefully for Georgetown that anticipation helps put more butts in the seats, because look at the back of that Cooley picture. That is DEPRESSING. Thousands of empty seats in the lower bowl. Upper tiers not even open. This is not your father’s Georgetown Hoya’s.

What all of this adds up to for Cooley and Georgetown’s intertwined futures remains to be seen. I will say this, much to the chagrin of Georgetown fans everywhere, but I see A LOT of Mike Anderson in Ed Cooley at this point in his career:

Ed Cooley in Happier times

• both run outdated systems

• both are far better motivational speakers than basketball coaches

• each coach’s best days are behind them

• the “best days” for each were objectively mediocre (a BET Title, a Regular Season title and a Sweet 16for Cooley; a Sweet 16, Elite 8 and an SEC tournament championship for MA)

• each came from their dream job (Cooley the local guy made good in Provy; MA at the school where he came up as an assistant under the legendary Nolan Richardson)

• both are well-liked personally among the CBB cognoscenti

• neither move made any sense: Cooley had PC on cruise control, and coulda coached a few more years and retired to the cushy TV gig he’s always longed for, and PC clearly the better job, and Cooley clearly doesn’t seem to have the same zest for reviving the program that he did at PC; MA because he was so out-of-left-field for St. John’s, and was a very odd fit and a fish out of water from day 1.

• both were billed as program saviors, there to pick the program outta the doldrums

• both seem completely checked out at their new gigs, as if they’re just collecting a retirement check, just peep the image…

Don’t at me.

Rotation:

PG: Malik Mack (So.), 6’1” 170lbs.
SG: Jayden Epps (Jr.), 6’2” 187 lbs.
SF: Micah Peavy (Gr.), 6’8” 215 lbs.
PF: Jordan Burks (So.) 6’6” 202 lbs.
C: Thomas Sorber (Fr.) 6’9” 250 lbs.

Bench:
Curtis Williams (So.), 6’5” 205 lbs. (G)
Drew Fielder (So.), 6’10” 216 lbs. (C)
Drew McKenna (R-Fr.), 6’8” 200 lbs. (F)
Caleb Williams (Fr.), 6’7” 215 lbs. (F)
Kayvvaun Mulready (Fr.), 6’4” 210 lbs. (G)
Jayden Fort (R-Fr.), 6’8” 195 lbs. (F)
Julius Halaifouna (Fr.), 7’0” 291 lbs. (C)
Seal Diouf (R-Fr.), 6’9” 215 lbs (C)

Big Non-Conference Games:

11/16, 1pm, NBC - vs. Notre Dame
12/6, 7pm, ESPN2 - at WVU
12/14, 2:30pm, ACCN - at Syracuse

Realistically, these are not “big” games, as it would be surprising if any of these 3 opponents make the NCAAT, but the league needs Georgetown to go at least 1-2 in these games to keep it respectable.

What’s Old: Most importantly, junior Jayden Epps. The star guard played his freshman year at Illinois, averaging just 9.5 points in 24.6 mins on a talented Illinois team. He transferred to Georgetown last off-season and Ed handed him the keys to the kingdom. Epps responded in a big way, posting 18.5 pts. and 4 assists (up from 1.5 at Illinois) in 35 minutes. He was named to the Preseason All-Big East Third Team.

On the downside, Epps was very turnover prone at PG, posting 3.4 turnovers per game. His defense was even worse, posting a D-Rating of 118.1 and a DBPM of -1.7. The eye test wasn’t much better.

However, in an off-season that saw starters Dontrez Styles, Supreme Cook and Rowan Brumbaugh transfer to NC St., Oregon and Tulane, respectively, and saw the Hoyas lose starting G Jay Heath and spot starters Ish Massoud, and Wayne Bristol to graduation, Epps elected to stay the course with Cooley and the Hoyas. While the graduations don’t hurt too much, the defections cost Georgetown its 2nd, 3rd and 4th leading scorers, its top-2 rebounders, and 2 of its top 3-point shooters.

The second biggest returner of note is Drew Fielder. Fielder was lightly used last year, garnering just 2 spot starts, and playing just 14.6 minutes per game, putting up 5 points and 3 boards. While that seems paltry, the Per-40 numbers provide a slightly more encouraging story, as Fielder was the 2nd leading rebounder on the team with 8.4 boards per-40 minutes, behind only Supreme Cook (min. 100 minutes played). Fielder was a top-150 4* recruit per the 247 Sports Composite, who Cooley thought highly enough to bring with him from his 2023 PC recruiting class. They’re definitely hoping for a big jump from Fielder.

The Hoyas also return Drew McKenna. McKenna is a 4* top-150 small forward who joined the Hoyas in late December after reclassifying from 2024 to 2023. He redshirted the rest of the season. McKenna is an interesting prospect out of Maryland. He has the handle of a guard in a forward’s frame, and averaged a double-double for Glenelg Country Day in his last season of prep school. He’s long and can clog passing lanes on defense and figures to be a decent shooter. It will be interesting to see what he looks like this year following a half-season of red-shirting. If there’s one off-the-court thing to love about the terroristic Hoyas, it’s that McKenna was locked in on joining the Big East, naming a top-3 for his recruitment of Butler, Xavier and Georgetown, before choosing the Hoyas.

What’s New: A lot. Georgetown has 4 transfers and 5 freshmen in the mix. Cooley’s senior class is headlined by Harvard transfer and reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Malik Mack. Mack is a bucket, scoring 17.2 for the Crimson on a fairly efficient 41/34/81 shooting percentages, and adding 5 assists and 1.3 steals. By most accounts, Mack was a top-50 player in the portal.

The knocks on Mack would be—like backcourt mate Jayden Epps—his defense, putting in a D-Rating of 107.4 and a DBPM of -0.4. Additionally, you have to have a little concern if your a Hoya that maybe his game doesn’t translate at this level. As a St. John’s fan, we watched two highly-touted Ivy League transfers struggle for most of the year. Mack’s numbers in 7 games versus tier A & B competition per KenPom do not help matters much. His eFG drops from 47.9 overall to 42.0 vs. Tier A+B competition, and his O-Rating drops from 106.5 to 90.7.

Worse still is that this disparity exists between his conference only play and his overall play as well: in other words, Mack feasted on competition weaker than the Ivy League. Here are the games he had over his 17 ppg average:

• 20 at Rice (W) (KenPom 229)

• 22 vs. Northeastern (W) (250)

• 32 at UMass (W-OT) (92)

• 18 at Boston College (L) (71)

• 27 at Indiana (L) (91)

• 26 at American (W) 296)

• 18 vs. Brown (L) (191)

• 20 vs. Yale (L) (90)

• 18 vs. Columbia (W) (232)

• 19 vs. Cornell (L) (103)

• 18 vs. Dartmouth (W) (336)

• 21 vs. Columbia (W) (232)

• 20 at Brown (L-OT) (191)

Firstly, Mack did suffer from Mononucleosis mid-season, missed 3 games, and went from 20 ppg on 57% eFG to 15 ppg on 42% eFG. It is entirely possible that the mono nagged him all year. Having had it during my misspent youth, I can attest that the fatigue lasts awhile after you’ve “recovered.”

Be that as it may, Mack hasn’t even played a team in the top-68 of KenPom. Harvard’s best opponent last year was 69th-ranked Princeton. In 2 games vs. Princeton Mack averaged just 8.5 ppg on 7-21 shooting.

Do I think Mack is incapable of playing at the high major level? No. Do I think he‘ll need some time? Absolutely. Jordan Dingle took most of the season to get adjusted last year coming from Penn. I would expect similar from Mack this year. The bonus is that Mack still has 2-more years of eligibility in DC should he choose to stay. If he does, he could have a monster year…next year.

The Hoyas also added grad student forward Micah Peavy from TCU. Peavy adds some much needed experience to this roster, and high-end experience, having played in the tournament all four years, starting as a freshman under Chris Beard at Texas Tech, and all 3 of his seasons at TCU. For such a young team, Peavy should be a stabilizing presence. He put up 10.9 points, 5 boards and 2.6 assists last season for the Horned Frogs.

Georgetown also added former 3* forward recruit Jordan Burks out of Kentucky. He was VERY lightly used by the Wildcats, appearing just 20 times for 7 mpg. Burks can shoot, I guess (he was 2-5, 40% last year). He runs the pick-and-roll pretty well, he cuts to the hoop off-the-ball, but he’s not the kinda wing who will break a defender down off the dribble or get to the rim. His per-40 numbers are “meh”: 10.3 points per 40, 9 rebounds per 40, 1 block per 40.

Ultimately, there’s a reason this inexplicably 3:18 long YouTube highlight reel is mostly cupcakes and blowouts…I also love that some of them are him collecting the rebound on his own poor layup attempt at the rim. If THAT’S one of the best highlights you can include…oh boy. But for some reason, the Burner Ball depth charts have him penciled in as the starting 4, which is why I penciled him in as the starting 4 above. Is that accurate? I don’t know. Do I care? No.

Rounding out the transfers, 6’5” guard Curtis Williams from Louisville. We all know what a debacle Louisville was last year, and Williams was no exception. Sporting an atrocious O-Rating of 86.4, a hideous D-Rating of 117.3, an abysmal combined BPM of -3.8, and a student-in-a-commercial-break-contest worthy 31.7/28.7/71, for an eFG of 41%. My guess is this is a bit of a lotto ticket for Cooley. I don’t think this is someone Hoyas fans should expect much of off-the-bat, but he certainly has the pedigree, having entered Louisville as a 4*, top-150 recruit.

Georgetown also brings in the 12th rated freshmen class in the country. That class is headlined by 4* Thomas Sorber out of Philadelphia. Sorber is a BIG BOY, coming in at a stout 6’9”, 250 lbs. Per the Burner Ball depth charts, Sorber is likely to be the starting center. While I definitely expect him to be the long-term answer at center for Georgetown, asking a true freshman to come in and battle a roster of experienced Big East bigs like Ryan Cockbrenner, Eric Dixon, Samson Johnson, and Zuby Ejiofor, and experienced newcomers like Christ Essandoko and Tarris Reed is a tall ask. At no. 43 in the 247 Sports Composite Sorber, sits right on that line where it’s unclear if he will wind up being a major contributor, or being a piece that needs a year of seasoning and development.

Kayvaun Mulready feels like the most likely to get significant minutes this year given the shortage of depth at guard, he’ll be battling for the first guard off the bench role with Curtis Williams. Mulready is a 4* top-100 recruit.

Caleb Williams may also see time this year at the 4. Burner Ball depth chart has him listed as the no. 2 PF on the roster behind the aforementioned Burks, who is far from a sure thing to pan out. Williams clocks in at 6’7”, 215 lbs., rating 3 stars and ranking 199th in 247 Sports’ Composite Ranking.

Rounding out the recruiting class are a trio of front court players, starting with Julius Halaifonua, a 7’0” center from Australia, out of the NBA Global Academy. Definitely an quality piece given his size and pedigree, but he will be buried on the depth chart in a loaded front court. A year of seasoning will probably also help.

Rounding out the high school recruits are 6’8” center Seal Diouf, a 3* out of California and 6’9” forward Jayden Fort, a local prospect out of Jackson-Reed High School in DC. Diouf is expected to take a red shirt this season. Given the logjam in the front court—Sorber, Fielder, Burks, Caleb Williams & Halaifonua all likely ahead of Fort & Diouf on the depth chart—both Fort and Diouf are expected to red shirt this season.

The Optimist’s Take: Ed Cooley did a masterful job of identifying talent that was interested (Mack and Peavy) and under-utilized and under-appreciated gems (Curtis Williams & Burks), all of whom seamlessly integrate. Mack and Epps co-exist beautifully in the backcourt. They get what they need from Freshmen Sorber and Mulready, redshirt freshmen Drew McKenna and sophomore Drew Fielder.

I think Ed is more of a brunette man, but this already took more time than it should have

What we saw from Cooley off-the-court (figuratively speaking) last season (clapping back at hecklers; skipping TO huddles; generally looking like he’d rather be anywhere else) are all distant memories; the old, motivational, upbeat Cooley has returned. Perhaps he’s even found a new paramour…might I suggest Jacqueline Matter of Fox 5 DC?

The Hater’s Take: The team is just way too young, and they make too many young mistakes. Mack and Epps are unable to find a rhythm together. Guys like Curtis Williams and Jordan Burks are what they’ve shown to date in their careers. Drew Fielder fails to take a sophomore leap. The freshmen simply aren’t ready to contribute at this level. The defense looks like swiss cheese.

Fan Pulse:

Deep-rooted fear that Cooley might bolt for UVa. Buyer’s remorse. A bizarre level of confidence in a roster that only includes 1 proven high-major player.

Bottom Line: I think this Georgetown roster is set up for the future. But from where I’m sitting now, it doesn’t look likely to be this year for them. Too many question marks. Wayyyyy too young. Keep the core together, and they could be a tournament team next year with the right portal additions.

Prediction: 13-18 (4-16), 11th Place