This past weekend Austin Freeman, Chris Wright, Henry Sims, and Jason Clark found themselves on the same team for the first time since their unceremonious exit from the 2011 NCAA Tournament. The Georgetown reunion was made possible by the Basketball Alumni Legends League (The-BALL).

The fledgling professional league held its inaugural games this weekend, with the four Hoyas suiting up for Washington, D.C., against a group of former college standouts from the Philadelphia area. The-BALL, which plans to fully launch next summer, also unveiled a few rule quirks, like a four-point line from 25 feet out.

“It was cool,” Clark said after the first game in D.C. on Saturday. “It added some fun to the game, some excitement. I couldn’t hit one, but I’ll try tomorrow.”

The D.C. team won both exhibitions, with Clark leading the way with 20 and 21 points. Freeman displayed his familiar shooting touch, while Wright took over down the stretch in Sunday’s game. Sims fouled out in both contests, but he was a formidable presence in the paint (and on the solo fast break) when he did play.

For Sims and Clark, the games represented the next step in their transition from their time at Georgetown to their professional careers. Both played in the NBA Summer League last month, with Clark suiting up for the Miami Heat and Sims receiving playing time with the Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls. Neither player has parlayed the experience into an NBA contract as of yet.

“It was good to get out there and learn from those older guys, gave me a chance to show what I got,” Clark said. “It was a really fun trip.”

Read the rest of this entry »

On Senior Day at the Verizon Center and in what was arguably the biggest game of the season, the Hoyas were without their most important player. With guard Chris Wright watching from the bench because of a broken hand, Georgetown fell to Syracuse 58-51. With their second straight loss, the Hoyas are now 10-7 in the Big East and sit in eighth place in the conference.

Turnovers

This was the most telling stat of the game. The Hoyas committed 16 turnovers, while the Orange had only nine. Syracuse made Georgetown pay for their mistakes too, scoring 21 of their 58 points off of miscues. With Wright out, Jason Clark struggled to replace the senior’s production from the point, by turning the ball over five times while only dishing out one assist. Earlier in the month, Wright was the key to breaking down Syracuse’s vaunted two-three zone in a win, and today no other Hoya possessed the ability to attack the zone quite like Wright. Read the rest of this entry »

Chris Wright spoke to the media this afternoon for the first time since breaking his left hand against Cincinnati on Wednesday. The senior point guard, who had surgery on the hand yesterday, was in a positive mood after beginning his rehabilitation this morning. But he declined to comment on the specifics of his rehab or the timetable for his recovery.

“Whenever I can come back is the goal, regardless if that’s NCAA Tournament, Big East Tournament, whenever it is,” he said. “I’m not rushing anything, because obviously I have a future playing after this year. I’m just going to take it as I can. There’s no point in me being sad or dwelling on anything.”

His teammates don’t have time to dwell on the injury either with a game against archrival Syracuse scheduled for noon tomorrow. Coming off a 58-46 loss that was dispiriting enough before Wright went down, the Hoyas know that they’ll have to make adjustments if they want to beat the Orange.

“You can’t replace Chris. He’s a special player and a special player in every aspect of the game,” junior guard Jason Clark said. “Everybody just has to step up. Everybody has to be there for each other.” Read the rest of this entry »

This week, the Basketball Hall of Fame announced the nominees for the 2011 Bob Cousy Award for the best point guard in college basketball.

Hoyas point guard Chris Wright—who at the time was averaging 13 points and six assists a game—was nowhere to be found on the list of 66 nominees.

Basketball analysts around the country began scratching their heads when they saw the list of nominees. Along with Wright, Syracuse’s Scoop Jardine and Cal State Fullerton’s Perry Webster were noticeably absent from the list. ESPN’s Eamonn Brennan pointed out that, despite these absences, the nominees still included Cleveland State’s Norris Cole and Cole Norris (even though Cole Norris does not exist).

Following the outcry against the glaring omission, order has been slightly restored to the list of nominees. Wright is now a part of 69 nominees for the award—along with the imaginary Cole Norris.

Picture and h/t: Casual Hoya

After its eighth-straight win, Georgetown men’s basketball team rose to top-ten rankings on Monday morning.

The Hoyas are ranked ninth by the AP poll and tenth in the Division I coaches poll.

Senior guard Chris Wright also earned Big East Player of the Week honors this morning, thanks to his last-second heroics against Missouri and season-high 21 points against Utah State. Wright’s 6.8 assists per game is the second best in the Big East, while his 14.8 points per game are the third-highest average on Georgetown’s guard-heavy squad.

The Big East is well-represented in this week’s rankings, with Pittsburgh (No. 3), Connecticut (No. 6), and Syracuse (No. 7/8) joining the Hoyas in the top ten. Duke is still the nation’s top-ranked team.

Photo: Hilary Nakasone

After a nail biter of a win to start their season last Friday against Old Dominion, Georgetown’s men’s basketball team returned to the Verizon Center. Hoya fans could breathe easier tonight as the Hoyas (2-0) beat Tulane (1-1) 69-53 in their home opener.

Once again, it was a story of the guards, as seniors Austin Freeman and Chris Wright along with junior Jason Clark led the way with 47 of the team’s 69 points. They had to carry more of the load since the Hoyas’ front court was thinner than usual, with senior big man Julian Vaughn missing the game due to an illness.

“Yesterday, at practice, Julian Vaughn complained he wasn’t feeling well,” Coach John Thompson III said. “The doctors have not cleared him to play and until they do he will not be suiting up. We do not know when this will happen and at this point we do not have enough data to speculate.”

Vaughn’s absence didn’t hurt the team though, as the rest of the squad stepped up, especially Jason Clark. Clark had 17 points, a career high 11 rebounds and five steals, which was even more impressive with the passing of his grandmother Janetta Clarke earlier today. Clark knew it was the right decision to play.

“I think the biggest decision was speaking to her the last couple of weeks she wanted [me] to stay at school…she wanted me to keep playing basketball,” Clark said. “She said when this day comes, she wanted me to continue this and she wanted me to succeed, so I knew she would want me to play today.”

Playing with a heavy heart, Clark seemed to be everywhere on the floor, chasing every loose ball. Wright, who tied a career high with eight assists, knew it was important to get Clark the ball early on.

“My role is bigger than just scoring the ball. I have to get people involved and Jason was shooting the ball really well,” Wright said.

With the win, the Hoyas improve to 2-0 before they head to Charleston, S.C. this weekend for the Charleston Classic. Georgetown will face Coastal Carolina Thursday afternoon in the first game of a three game round robin.

Photo: Jackson Perry

This morning, senior guard Austin Freeman was named the Big East Preseason Player of the Year at the conference’s media day in New York City.

Freeman, who averaged 16.5 points per game last season, was chosen through a vote of Big East men’s basketball coaches. Senior point guard Chris Wright was also selected to the preseason All-Big East second team.

This is the sixth time a Georgetown basketball player has earned the preseason award; Roy Hibbert and Alonzo Mourning each won it once, while Patrick Ewing won it three times in the mid-1980s.

Georgetown was picked to finish fourth in the Big East by a vote of conference coaches. Syracuse, Villanova, and Pittsburgh are expected to finish above the Hoyas. The men’s team will kick off its 2010-2011 season on November 12 at Old Dominion. (The first home game will be November 15 against Tulane at 7 p.m.)

We’ll check in with the women’s basketball team tomorrow during part two of Big East media day.

Read the rest of this entry »

The annual Kenner Summer League is an early opportunity to see Georgetown basketball. While we shared our thoughts about some of Georgetown’s lesser-known players on Monday, today we tackle the big names (except for Jason Clark, who didn’t play on Saturday or Sunday).

Chris Wright

Wright, who is possibly the streakiest shooter on JTIII’s squad, put on a show last Saturday to the tune of 40 points, six rebounds, five assists, and three steals. What surprised me—aside from the eye-popping stats—was how Wright used his size and strength to get to the rim when his jump shot wouldn’t fall. (And, I have to add, without pulling his goofy, oft-used “spin, then crash into the paint” move.) While Kenner League is historically a poor barometer for Big East performance, one thing was clear: Wright was easily the best player on the court.

Although he played on Sunday, Wright essentially took the day off. And I can’t blame him—he was matched up against a guard that shares my dimensions. Wright didn’t take the scrimmage too seriously, but you know what? As long as he stays healthy, I don’t mind.

Read the rest of this entry »

Freshman Greg Monroe in the Kenner Summer League

Georgetown held its annual basketball Media Day on yesterday afternoon. Coach John Thompson III, as well as senior guard Jessie Sapp, junior forward DaJuan Summers, and sophomore guards Austin Freeman and Chris Wright talked about the freshmen, last year’s seniors, this season’s schedule, fitness, goals, Jon Wallace’s facial expressions, and  more. Below are some highlights:

John Thompson III—

On last year’s seniors (Hibbert, Wallace, Ewing, Crawford):

Everyone who has followed us and been around knows how special that group is to me. But they are gone. So, love them, and I think they love me, but they are gone. We’re not going to dwell on who’s not here, we are going to dwell on the guys who are here. The way this group is going to have success is probably going to be a little different than the way that group had success.

What we’re not going to do, I think what the fans and maybe [the media] tend to do, is say ‘okay, we’re going to take Greg Monroe, Henry Simms, Julian Vaughn, and we are going to put them into Roy’s hole’. I have never done that, the year starts and you start over and those guys make their own holes.

After the jump, just what kind of facial expressions does Jonathan Wallace have?

Read the rest of this entry »