(12-03-2019 08:38 AM)stever20 Wrote: (12-03-2019 07:48 AM)GoldenWarrior11 Wrote: (12-03-2019 01:00 AM)stever20 Wrote: but yeah, this is the kind of thing that could really hurt Georgetown for a long time.
Same thing was said when the Hausers bolted. No program should endure players that don't want to be there. A ton, and I do mean a ton, of available minutes have now opened up for Georgetown moving forward. The most valuable asset a coach can offer to new recruits is the opportunity to play.
Georgetown will need to weather the storm this season, but long term this is clearly best for all parties.
FWIW, both Akinjo and LeBlanc were recruits that were flipped. Their choice to leave (or in a case, dismissed) says more about them than it does Georgetown.
The Akinjo one is not bad. It seems like it's a garden variety transfer- something you see all the time..
There is just something weird about the others though. There were 3 players with restraining orders on the Hoyas and all 3 of them played on Saturday. It's at best a bad look. And at worst, who knows?
Also you just can not compare Marquette who was very established- having made the tourney 2 of the 3 prior years with Georgetown- who has missed the tourney the last 5 of the last 6 years. This year was looking like it was going to get the Hoyas back in the tourney. Totally stunts all the momentum Ewing had built up in his first 2 years.
Yes and no. No two programs are exactly alike, nor are the conditions of transfers. However, where all transfers are universally similar is that it opens up opportunities for current players and potential recruits. What was clearly evident in the Hausers transfer was that other programs (UW especially) tried to use that as an example that Marquette was a dumpster fire and that it was in a downward spiral. Players are replaceable, and as long as you are recruiting high character, hard working and talent student-athletes, it all balances out in the end.
Georgetown is in a unique situation, definitely. Ewing, not a traditional college coach or recruiter, really needed Akinjo and LaBlanc (and McClung, others) to help build his classes up in order to create a sustained winning program. This is definitely a step back and could delay that process for a year, if not longer. What will be interesting to see with this scandal, and I will not speculate, but how deep does the rabbit hole go, and whether any coach or administrator will ultimately be held responsible as well.
The big wild card is if Ewing, much like Mullin, decides that the recruiting aspect of coaching is just too much, and willingly chooses to return to the NBA as an assistant coach or executive after the season. IMO, I think the relationship with Thompson is too strong for him to bolt after just three years, but perhaps the university will decide to make a clean break altogether. Who knows.
The positive effect is that between Providence, St. John's and, now, Georgetown, the top of the league will be able to get that many more wins. From those three, I think St. John's will be the best of that group by the end of the season, based off of Mike Anderson's track record at prior stops (his teams are always better at the end of the season than at the start, and he has some talent to work with now).