Fox Sports has the Hoyas a #5, but Andy Katz has us all the way down at #19. I think that may be more realistic, but it is worth pointing out that he does not take into account players leaving for the draft. For instance, he has Cuse at #18 thanks to the play of Donte Green, who announced for the draft yesterday.
From Fox:
5) Georgetown
2007-08 Resume: 28-6, lost to Davidson in 2nd round of NCAA
Likely Early Departure: None
The Hoyas lose plenty of experience with the departure of four seniors, including starting point guard Jonathan Wallace and 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert. However, John Thompson III will likely have Dajuan Summers back, and he'll have a far more athletic group. Jessie Sapp and Austin Freeman return in the backcourt, and look for Chris Wright to take the reins from Wallace as the starting point guard. The Hoyas also add a strong recruiting class led by the consensus No. 1 player in skilled big man Greg Monroe.
http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/8003338/A-very-early-look-at-next-year
Andy Katz:
19. Georgetown
Why? John Thompson III has kept the Hoyas winning, regardless of personnel losses (like Jeff Green) that might have otherwise dropped them out of the Top 25. Georgetown still has a core group of players that can run the Hoyas' system, like Jessie Sapp, DaJaun Summers, Chris Wright, Austin Freeman and Jeremiah Rivers around one of the top big man recruits in the country in Greg Monroe.
Why not? Losing Roy Hibbert and adding Monroe won't be a crusher. Not having Patrick Ewing Jr. takes away an athletic finisher. But, perhaps, the biggest loss will be not having point guard Jonathan Wallace. There are not many glue-guy point guards in the country that had as much to do with his team winning a conference championship like Wallace.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=3337602
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3 comments:
Gary Parrish has the 2008-09 Hoyas at No. 6 over at CBS Sportsline. I was a bit surprised by this high rating, as Mr. Parrish was down on the Hoyas all year.
6. Georgetown
Who has announced a desire to leave early: Nobody
Who I think will ultimately leave early: Nobody
Comment: Yes, Roy Hibbert, Patrick Ewing Jr. and Jonathan Wallace are all gone. But the Hoyas should return DaJuan Summers, Austin Freeman and a nice core to go with a stellar recruiting class led by Greg Monroe, otherwise known as the No. 1 incoming freshman in the nation.
http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/10769385
I think this all really comes down to the front line. If Monroe is as good as advertised and Vernon continues his upward swing, we will be excellent. But those are two big ifs and there isn't much of a fall back option. Henry Sims looks nice, but he is a freshman. And it appears that Chris Braswell's academic status is still up in the air. Even if, as I assume he will, JTIII switches Monroe between the 4 and 5 and Summers between the 3 and 4, we are still not too deep and Lord help us if someone gets hurt!
i think the # 5 or 6 range may be a bit ambitious given the manner in which the season ended and the fact that it's bolstered by a front line featuring a guy who's most recent games were played against 16 & 17 year olds.
while i'm sure that monroe is going to be an impressive addition and will create a nice addition to the 1-2 punch of Summers & Freeman. all in all, i think next year will be a solid year, but don't think we'll be everyone's pick to win the big east. due to the young age of most of the team, it's probably not a bad thing to not have the spotlight shining on them and the target on their back all season.
i generally agree with the #19 that katz has given us; what surprises me is the #14 ranking shown for davidson. although there weren't definitely underrated by the tourney committee, not sure i put much stock in that given their conference. do we really think davidson is a stronger team than l'ville? sure they had great tourney success and deserve much credit for this, but 4 tourney wins in 39 years doesn't convince me that all of a sudden they can play on the national stage for an entire season.
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