Owens makes his mark

Georgetown’s Darrel Owens showed a glimpse of his vast potential last season in the most intimidating environment in all of college basketball.

In the Hoyas’ first trip to Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium, Owens more than held his own against a plethora of McDonald’s All-Americans when he scored a career-high 11 points in 20 minutes off the bench.

On one possession, the 6-foot-6 Owens blew past Duke small forward Dahntay Jones and threw down a thunderous one-handed dunk in traffic. Owens’ lightning-quick explosion off the right wing momentarily silenced the Cameron Crazies. It was a bold statement from an anonymous Georgetown freshman against the nation’s No.1 team.

“It was a big confidence booster,” Owens said. “Mike [Sweetney] went out [because of foul trouble], and I had an opportunity to play, and I showed what I’m capable of doing. It came at the right time. It was on national TV and in front of the Cameron Crazies. I just stepped up.”

So far this season, Owens is playing that way nearly every game. He is Georgetown’s third-leading scorer at 11.7 points and has averaged 17 points in two Big East contests. The Louisiana native had a career-high 20 points in Tuesday’s 72-64 loss to Boston College, when the Hoyas’ top two scorers, guard Gerald Riley (nine points) and forward Brandon Bowman (11 points), had off nights.

Today when the Hoyas (10-1, 1-1 Big East) take on West Virginia (7-4, 0-1) at WVU Coliseum, Owens will present a matchup problem for the Mountaineers, who yesterday suspended leading scorer Drew Schifino (17.6 points) indefinitely for violating team rules.

The lanky Owens is Georgetown’s best long-distance shooter, making 57.6 percent (19 of 33) of his 3-pointers. He has the second fewest turnovers (18) of Georgetown’s starters, is second on the team in assists (27), leads in steals (30) and is shooting 62.5 percent overall. There have been only two games this season in which Owens didn’t score in double figures, and they were both easy wins in which his services weren’t needed.

Owens’ play this season doesn’t come as that much of a surprise after what he did last year at Duke. What is surprising, though, is Owens’ marksmanship.

“I didn’t predict he was going to play this well,” coach Craig Esherick said. “He’s shooting the ball better than I ever thought. I did not think that Darrel Owens was going to be shooting the ball this well from the 3-point line.”

Owens gives the Hoyas yet another perimeter threat. But his Georgetown career got off to a rocky start when he sat out his freshman season because of NCAA Clearinghouse issues and knee surgery.

Despite his impressive game at Duke, Owens averaged just 13.2 minutes last season. According to Esherick, Owens’ limited time was because of defense and lack of effort.

All that changed in the offseason. Owens worked tirelessly on his shot and conditioning, and that translated into better defense. His 2.7 steals a game rank 25th in the nation.

Owens grew up in Napoleonville, La., watching the Shaquille O’Neal and Stanley Roberts show at LSU. Owens dreamed of attending LSU and was approached by the Tigers on numerous occasions after averaging 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Assumption High School.

Georgetown has a history of getting players from Louisiana, and Owens kept that pipeline open. Owens said he was sold on the nation’s capital after his first visit. Next season Owens will have a chance of playing against LSU if the brackets hold up in the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu.

“I’m not really looking forward to it, but if that happens, I want to beat them,” Owens said.

The emergence of Owens this season makes Georgetown’s impending loss of Riley, a four-year starter and shooting guard, much easier. Owens probably will slide over to Riley’s offguard spot, and the 6-8 Bowman likely will move into Owens’ small forward position when immense freshman size rolls onto the Hilltop next season. Owens said shooting guard is his best position.

“This program brings in good players, and Darrel is a great player,” Riley said. “It’s all about time. You’ve got to put in your time, and that’s what he did.”

Meanwhile, Georgetown’s Jan.24 game against No.2 Duke at MCI Center is a sellout, the first for the Hoyas there. Georgetown’s last sellout was March2, 1996, against Villanova at Capital Centre.