Big upside

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Ewing, Mutombo, Mourning ... Hibbert.

It's been 15 years since Georgetown featured an old-school center with the size and skills to dominate at any level. But if the quantum developmental leap exhibited thus far this season by 7-foot-2 sophomore Roy Hibbert is merely the first of several growth spurts, Hibbert is well on his way to returning high-profile, low-post prestige to Big Man U.

"One day, Roy is going to be one of the best players in the world," said Georgetown coach John Thompson III earlier this week. "One day, he's going to have a chance to be in the class of some of the guys who have come through here. It's our job to take steps to expedite that 'one day.'"

The recent annals of Hoyas hoops are loaded with players who had hopes of joining the school's great triumvirate. Othella Harrington and Mike Sweetney had the skills but lacked the size. Jahidi White, Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje and Wesley Wilson had the size but respectively lacked the skills, drive and commitment.

Hibbert, though still raw in many respects, seems to have the total package, the tantalizing unteachable holy trinity of size (7-2, 283 pounds), touch (he shoots better than 80 percent from the free-throw line) and desire (nobody on the roster worked harder in the offseason).

The size comes from his mother, a 6-2 native of Trinidad with a set of sisters who run even taller. Perhaps the touch comes from his Jamaican father, who grew up in the same neighborhood in Kingston as Patrick Ewing. The desire is pure Roy. And according to the 19-year-old sophomore from Adelphi, Md., this last crucial piece of the puzzle fell into place during an early morning run around the campus last summer.

"It's a funny story actually," said Hibbert, who averaged just 5.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 15.8 minutes as an awkward, foul-plagued freshman carrying a somewhat soft 270 pounds. "I'm running my loop -- it's like a two- or three-mile loop around campus. And as I'm running, somebody in a car yells, 'Roy, run faster. You know you want to play this year.' It sounds made up, but I swear that happened, just some random guy. And I said, 'You know, I'm going to push myself.' So, I started waking up early in the morning before class and running and lifting. It was like a little thing just clicked, and that was it."

The results of that commitment have been almost as outrageous as its inspiration.

Hibbert's early morning runs improved his speed and endurance, making him far less foul prone this season. And his work in the weight room alongside lifting partners Jeff Green and Tyler Crawford, reputedly the team's drill sergeant of desire, allowed him to drastically reduce his body fat while he added 15 pounds of pure muscle.

Consequently, he showed up for preseason practice looking like a different player, allowing Thompson and assistant coach Robert Burke to accelerate his technical training.