Georgetown
October 13, 2003 04:43 PM | General
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2002-03 Record: 19-15
Postseason: NIT Runner-up
Big East Repeat Opponents: Miami; St. John’s; Virginia Tech
Non-Conference Schedule: Grambling; Penn State; Coastal Carolina; Delaware State; Norfolk State; Davidson; Elon; Howard; The Citadel; Duke; Temple
Head Coach: Craig Esherick (90-59, 5 years)
Players to Watch: F, Gerald Riley (14.1 ppg.)
Bob Gibbons Top 300 Newcomers: Rayshawn Reed (#138); Matthew Causey (#154)
Preseason Capsule
Forward Gerald Riley is one of three experienced frontcourt players returning for Georgetown
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Massive turnover has clouded the outlook at Georgetown this season. First, starting guard Tony Bethel chose to leave the Hoyas and transfer to N.C. State, and then right before the start of the fall semester Drew Hall left school for the College of Charleston. If that weren’t enough, Georgetown coach Craig Esherick had to hire two new assistant coaches.
That leaves Georgetown searching for the right combination when preseason practice begins. Three holdovers will help the transition in 6-foot-6 forward Gerald Riley, 6-foot-9 center Courtland Freeman and 6-foot-8 forward Brandon Bowman. And while those three are formidable players, they don’t give opponents that feeling of awe like Georgetown teams of the past did when they walked out on the floor.
Riley averaged 14.1 points per game last season and shot 41.5 percent from three-point range. Freeman is Georgetown’s most experienced inside performer averaging 6.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game and must take up the void left by Mike Sweetney’s early departure to the NBA.
The inside player with the biggest upside is Bowman, who was a finalist this summer for the U.S. Junior World Championship team.
Esherick will have to dig deep to come up with a viable backcourt that could include sophomore Ashanti Cook, junior Darrell Owens and either recruits Rayshwan Reed or Matthew Causey.
However, once again Georgetown will have its usual assortment of non-conference cupcakes to help ease the transition before assuming conference combat. That should give Esherick some time to come up with the right combination.
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