Calmly weathering the losses

Turnover doesn’t always equal turbulence.

Over the past two months, a Georgetown basketball program that has made three straight NCAA tournament appearances and won back-to-back Big East regular-season titles has absorbed some painful losses.

First, one of the most successful seasons in school history ended with two losses in the team’s final three games. The sting of the squad’s loss to Pittsburgh in the Big East tournament final was at least tripled by the season-ending defeat Davidson handed the Hoyas in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

That upset loss forced the program to bid a premature farewell to the senior class that arrived on the Hilltop with coach John Thompson III before the 2004-05 season and proceeded to compile a 100-36 record to complete a remarkable revival.

Replacing a class that included an All-American center (Roy Hibbert) and the most seasoned player in the college game (Jon Wallace with 136 straight starts) qualified as a major task before the surprising developments of the last three weeks. First came transfer announcements from key sophomore reserves Vernon Macklin and Jeremiah Rivers. Then came confirmation that recruit Chris Braswell, a much-needed frontcourt player, would not be joining the Hoyas next season because of ongoing academic issues.

Down to just nine available scholarship players and only one returning frontcourt player with any experience, the Hoyas aren’t likely to earn any three-peat votes in what perhaps will be the deepest conference in America.

“Obviously, we will not have the sheer number of bodies up front that we have had the past couple of years. But I have confidence in the people returning and in those arriving,” Thompson told The Washington Times last week. “We’ll be OK. We’ll figure it out. … That’s what we do.”

Outwardly, Thompson shows no signs of being frazzled by the events of the last couple of months. He still finds it somewhat difficult to discuss the Davidson game, proof of the emotion lurking beneath his mellow demeanor. But he has no trouble discussing the senior class he describes as the “most special group of young men [he has] ever had the privilege to coach.”

Nor does he have any problem discussing the issue of transfers; seven players have left the team during his four-year tenure: Ray Reed (2005), Cornelio Guibunda (2005), Josh Thornton (2005), Marc Egerson (2007), Tay Spann (2007), Macklin and Rivers. None of the seven were starters.

“Attrition is inevitable,” Thompson said. “Part of it is natural when you have a lot of extremely talented kids in an extremely competitive environment. Everybody wants to play. Everybody expects to play. In many respects, you want them to have that attitude. But there are only so many minutes available. I’m not going to make promises about playing time. That’s a fluid situation for every player on the roster, from seniors who have started before to freshmen who are just walking in the door. Those minutes are earned, not promised.

“Transfers are just part of the equation at this level. I’m not going to say they’re an unfortunate reality, because look at Patrick [Ewing]’s situation and how well that worked out. The bottom line is that Georgetown isn’t for everybody. We expect a lot on and off the floor.”

Given the team’s heavy personnel losses, Georgetown’s incoming recruiting class will have to adapt quickly to those demands, particularly coveted forwards Greg Monroe (6-foot-10, 226 pounds) and Henry Sims (6-11, 215). With the team gutted up front by the graduation of Hibbert and Ewing and the defection of Macklin, both Monroe and Sims will be expected to make an immediate impact on the boards as the two tallest members of the team.

“The freshman class does not have the luxury of time,” Thompson said of a recruiting crop ranked No. 3 in the nation by Rivals.com. That ranking will drop a few slots with Braswell’s loss, though he was the least decorated of the team’s four signees (also Bishop O’Connell guard Jason Clark).

“There are some similarities to my first year here,” Thompson continued. “The newcomers are going to be thrown into the fire and expected to produce.”

Actually, the young Hoyas won’t make it through November without a severe test. Georgetown committed to the Old Spice Classic, an eight-team, three-game tournament that will take place in Orlando, Fla., over the Thanksgiving weekend. Aside from Georgetown, the field will feature four other NCAA tournament teams from last season (Tennessee, Michigan State, Gonzaga and Siena) and a pair of NIT squads (Maryland and Oklahoma State).

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