The Georgetown Hoyas are potentially looking at a season without a single junior on the team after head coach John Thompson III announced forward Jerrelle Benimon would be transferring yesterday. Benimon follows in the footsteps of classmates Vee Sanford, who decided to transfer last month, and Hollis Thompson, who declared for the NBA draft two weeks ago.

Benimon, a local product from Fauquier High School in Warrenton, Va., appeared in all 32 games for the Hoyas this season, averaging 10.3 minutes. The sophomore posted averages of  1.3 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.

“Jerrelle is transferring and although he has not announced where he will go, wherever it is, we wish him all of the best,” Coach Thompson said in a statement.

Benimon marks the sixth transfer from Georgetown since the end of the 2008 season. This spring’s sophomore exodus is somewhat reminiscent of the Class of 2010, which saw Jeremiah Rivers and Vernon Macklin transfer in 2008 and lost DaJuan Summers to the draft in 2009. Their exits left Georgetown without a senior on the roster for the 2009-2010 season.

All eyes now turn to Hollis Thompson, who has until May 8 to withdraw his name from the draft and return to school. With Thompson scheduled to participate in the NBA draft combine on Saturday, don’t expect a decision until the last minute, but for what it’s worth, some “NBA decision-makers” reportedly expect him to return to school.

For the second time in as many days, Thompson has received a commitment from a new Hoya. This time, it’s 6-8 forward Jerrelle Benimon from Fauquier High School, Virginia.

The power forward had a monster senior season, averaging 21 points, 17 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 blocks a game, according from the “Live from the Park” blog.

Benimon—unlike yesterday’s recruit, Vee Sanford—came out of relative obscurity to the doorsteps of the Big East Conference. Georgetown was the only school in the conference to offer Benimon a scholarship. In fact, the only other Division I schools to offer him one were Old Dominion and Longwood. The reason for his major D-1 conference obscurity is that Benimon didn’t have a chance to play AAU basketball-basketball’s main recruiting circuit this summer because of injuries.

The most important aspect of Benimon’s game is it’s similarity to the Georgetown game style. Benimon is a team player who possesses the ability to make his teammates better (note his seven assists a game above). A player like Benimon can easily be molded to fit the Princeton offense.

During the season his coach Wayne Brizzi said about Benimon: “”He’s just a hard matchup. He’s a tall young man, he can handle the ball, he sees the floor so well. He scores a lot, but it’s the other things he’s done that have meant so much for us.”

The University has not confirmed either the Sanford or Benimon commitments yet, but Benimon is waiting on Georgetown to send over the Letter of Intent to make his commitment official.

Photo from the Fauquier Times.