Georgetown Basketball: Matter of Trust ($)
Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley and his staff held a luncheon where the gloves were taken off about the state of the program.
Cooley spoke candidly about where the program currently sits along with where they hope to take the program on a timeline that will require a level of patience.
Cooley isn’t lying. To be frank, Georgetown’s roster isn’t very good and that’s putting it nicely.
Georgetown’s roster has hit rock bottom and when I say, rock bottom, I mean rock bottom.
The damage done by Patrick Ewing is hard to undo in today’s climate.
Georgetown allowing Ewing to keep his job ensures that no matter who was hired, it would probably take more than one recruiting cycle to rebuild the program.
Today’s generation doesn’t care about history.
It’s about now. Where is the program now? What type of players has the program produced on the professional level? What’s the program’s NIL look like?
For too long Georgetown has thought that recruits care about 1984-1985. A time that seems like something that they would read in a history book.
That’s what Cooley is fighting. He’s fighting six years’ worth of mistakes.
That forces Cooley into a position he doesn’t want to be in.
The uneducated would say the transfer portal will help cut time off a rebuild but that’s not the case.
The portal usually produces mainly one-year players, at most, two years. That’s not enough to fix a program that looks like it could be sitting in Fred Sanford’s front yard.
That’s why the most important thing can gain in his first three years is trust.
It’s his currency to buy patience. That means being honest about this season. Something he’s done on several occasions.
It also means that he needs to do something his processor stopped doing after year one… give the young guys room to fail. Play the guys with the stars beside their name and let them make mistakes and then trust your staff to make them better.
That trust card goes both ways. Cooley needs fans to trust him, in turn, he needs to trust the kids he and his staff bring to The Hilltop.
The 2024 class is a good start.
Center Thomas Sorber could get minutes on the current team. Add local star, Caleb Williams (Sidwell Friends) and that would be enough to say that the program is off to a solid start but there’s more.
Cooley’s staff has two more four-stars coming in. Drew McKenna and Kayvaun Mulready round out a successful first recruiting cycle for the Hoyas.
In the 24 class Cooley has accomplished something Ewing couldn’t… getting in Big East worthy wings. He’s bringing in three which should be enough to cover if you whiff on one.
But, because of the program, one recruiting class will not be enough. With the COVID exemptions close to expiring, there will be more competition on the recruiting trail as the recruiting of high school prospects will pick back up.
That means Cooley and the Hoyas will have to hit on both the 2025 and 2026 classes. He cannot get either one wrong.
That means Cooley will be entering year four before there’s a true evaluation of his impact on the program.
That’s a long time in today’s college landscape for fans, recruits, and coaches.
It’s why trusting the process is the only way to get through the process.