Today may only be the first official day of practice in college basketball (the season starts in 42 days), but Big East Twitter is already taking on a mid-season appearance. On Monday, Providence Friars head coach Kim English attempted to imitate Allen Iverson’s famous practice quote at the X and was quickly surrounded by Georgetown Hoyas fans. Things got so bad that he desperately lied and claimed he didn’t know Iverson was a Hoyas until 2011. Stupid hockey!
Hoyas fans, noticing something was amiss, were quick to point out that English “would have crawled up from Baltimore to be a Hoyas,” to which the Providence coach joked back, “And that shows how empty the game is.” Hilarious. Good joke from the former George Mason coach!
It made a nice splash, but it’s complete bullshit that supposed DMV-area basketball players had no idea about Iverson and Georgetown, let alone the solid rankings and attendance during the early JT3 era.
A native of Baltimore, English played high school at Randallstown, Maryland, then did a graduate year at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, before attending the University of Missouri in 2007. Back then, the phone booths were busy.
Which is funnier: (a) a Big East head coach admitting he was inadequate when it came to conference history, or (b) a guy who was supposedly born in Baltimore in 1988 not knowing Allen Iverson’s history? Insane.
The most likely truth is that English knows Georgetown history well and is stirring up chaos for a little fun. As Ed Cooley would say, “Get us now. Beat us while you can.”
To cap off a wild day on X/Twitter, GUHoyas has posted the official Georgetown University Hoyas men’s basketball roster.
Not that anyone is unexpectedly missing, but Thomas Solver’s name is spelled incorrectly. I think it’s silly to expect perfection.
The roster is as follows:
0 Jayden Fort 6-9 200 F From Washington DC / Jackson Reed 2 Malik Mack 6-2 175 G From Oxon Hill, Maryland / St. John’s College High School [D.C.] Harvard 4 Caleb Williams 6-7 230 F Female Washington, DC / Sidwell Friends 5 Micah Peavy 6-8 220 G/F Female Cibolo, Texas / Duncanville TCU 7 Drew McKenna 6-8 220 F Female Laurel, Maryland / Glenelg Country School 10 Jayden Epps 6-2 190 G Female Norfolk, Virginia / Combine Academy [N.C.] Illinois 11 Curtis Williams Jr. 6-6 205 G Sophomore Detroit, MI / Brother Rice Louisville 14 Austin Montgomery 6-6 205 F Sophomore New Orleans, LA / Newman LSU 15 Hashem Assadallah 6-2 189 G Sophomore Jabriya, Kuwait / Kuwait American School 20 Drew Fielder 6-11 235 F/C Sophomore Boise, ID / Southern California Academy [Calif.]
22 Mason Moses 6-6 202 G Fr. New York, NY / Brewster Academy [N.H.]
23 Jordan Burks 6-9 205 F Sophomore Decatur, Alabama / Hillcrest Prep (with University of Kentucky OE) 25 Julius Haleifonua 7-0 270 C Freshman Auckland, New Zealand / NBA Global Academy [Australia]
30 Michael van Raabhorst 6-2 210 G Chatham, New Jersey / Father Delbarton 34 Sires Diouf 6-9 255 C Gouda, Netherlands / Father The Dan School [Calif.]
35 Thomas Solver 6-10 255 F/C Father Trenton, NJ / Archbishop Ryan [Pa.]
45 Kayvan Mulready 6-4 220 G Fr. Worcester, Massachusetts / Worcester Academy
Cooley and the Hoyas have a lot of work to do to turn the program around, but that will happen soon, and now that the roster is official, setting expectations for an identity might be a good next step.
Further links and news:
Today is a great day for some of us. It’s the start of college basketball practice. It’s the day we start to believe this is our year, the day we prepare for a long regular season, but the day the NCAA Tournament will rip our hearts out. Kim English imitated Allen Iverson because Iverson loves to say quotes at practice. The only problem is that the Providence coach is talking about Georgetown players, something no school in the Big East can do. Not to mention the last year when Ed Cooley left + the infighting between Georgetown and Providence…
Georgetown is known for its empty arenas. No one comes to their games, especially when it’s bad. This is part of the Georgetown story and, frankly, I love that their head coach does this on the first day of practice. This is what makes the Big East the best conference in college basketball. We need the Big East. We need the silly fights, the hatred, and the history, even if it’s not the Big East of old. I want some ridiculous story where Big East Twitterers force Marquette to make a statement that Tyler Kollek can actually read. I want coaches in this league to make fun of other programs. I want Rick Pitino to talk about killing himself if he loses by one point in a press conference. That’s the beauty of college basketball, that people love to complain that the sport is being ruined.
Today is Big East Day!
A full preview has now been released on Burner’s website.
Join now to get access to all 364 Team Previews coming soon!https://t.co/yWxyuwbEwA
— Three Man Weave (@3MW_CBB) September 23, 2024
Big East Preview | The Weave | Burner Exclusive
Jayden Epps is back, but it’s a double-edged sword. Epps is a dynamite scorer who, while inefficient at times, can create opportunities for himself and others. He wasted a lot of balls last season with the Hoyas, but he led the team’s offense. But defensively, he’s like a bullfighter in a red cape.
Cooley added three freshmen through the portal to help boost the upside: Harvard transfer Malik Mack, Kentucky transfer Jordan Burks and Louisville transfer Curtis Williams, all with untapped potential. Mack was the Ivy League Rookie of the Year and led the conference in assists and ranked third in points. His talent is unquestionable, but he’ll need to step up and prove himself quickly if Georgetown is to make a mark this season.
CBSSN will get some games, roughly the same amount as they get from the Big East. The Big East sublicense ends after this season. https://t.co/LSBOkxDAV1
— Matt Sarzniak (@mattsarz) September 23, 2024
“That’s not an accurate report.”
Gonzaga University athletic director Chris Standiford spoke about Brett McMurphy’s report on the X that Gonzaga will leave the WCC and move to the Pac-12.
— Jim Meehan (@SRJimm) September 23, 2024
Source: Contrary to reports, Gonzaga is not currently under contract to leave the WCC and move to the Pac-12.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) September 23, 2024
TP Stats: Final numbers for the 2024 NCAA college basketball transfer portal.
D1: 22% Undecided
D2: 61% Undecided
Total: 35% Undecided
D1: Over 1,595 of 2,035 committed
D2: 395+ of 1,020 committed
Total: 1,990+ out of 3,055#TP4PT #TransferPortal pic.twitter.com/Gfjp3Jjb2f
— Playtime Transfer Portal (@TP4PT) September 23, 2024
Georgetown University Athletics Mourns Passing of Rory Michel | GUHoyas
The Georgetown University athletic community is mourning the passing of Rory Michel, a member of the Georgetown University athletic department since 1977. Michel passed away on Tuesday, September 17, at the age of 71 after a long battle with cancer. Michel, who was inducted into the Georgetown University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013, was a long-time men’s basketball athletic trainer and also served as an athletic trainer at international competitions, including the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games.
Michelle began her career at Georgetown University in 1977 as an assistant trainer, mentoring all student-athletes. Four years later, she became the head men’s basketball trainer at the request of head coach John Thompson Jr. In Michelle’s first four years in her new position, the Hoyas advanced to the national championship title game three times, winning the championship trophy in 1984. For more than three decades, she worked tirelessly every day to ensure all Hoya men’s basketball players were healthy and ready to compete.