The 2001-02 season was a wild ride for Georgtown basketball fans. Unfortunately for them, the season that begin with high expectations came crashing to an end in early March as the Hoyas missed the NCAA Tournament and declined an NIT bid. In the ensuing off-season, the Hoyas have gained some and lost some. The most notable gain was Ashanti Cook, a 6-foot-3 point guard from Westchester High School in Los Angeles. This was coupled, however, with the transfer of rising sophomore forward Harvey Thomas, who left Georgetown for Daytona Beach Community College.

Incoming Freshmen

Cook was a teammate of fellow incoming freshman basketball player Brandon Bowman, who signed with Georgetown last November, at Westchester, which was ranked No. 1 in the country by USA Today. Cook averaged 13 points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals there. Esherick thinks Cook can make an immediate contribution.

“The thing that’s helpful about Ashanti is that he can play both positions [point guard and shooting guard],” Georgetown Head Coach Craig Esherick said. “He is a real good friend of Brandon. That’s probably one of the things that attracted him to Georgetown.”

Though Cook has been admitted to Georgetown and has enrolled, it is not yet certain whether he will be eligible to play in the 2002-03 season. Cook originally signed a National Letter of Intent to play at the University of New Mexico in November, but was given a qualified release from the school after New Mexico fired Head Coach Fran Fraschilla in March and replaced him with Ritchie McKay. Under NLI rules, Cook would normally have to sit one year, but Esherick is optimistic that because of extenuating circumstances involving the coaching change, Cook will be eligible this fall.

“We’re hopeful he will get a full release from the conference commissioners and New Mexico,” Esherick said. A decision is expected soon.

Georgetown also announced this summer a third freshman would be joining Cook and Bowman on the squad. Amadou Kilkenny-Diaw, a 6-foot-8 forward from St. Albans High School in Washington, D.C., will walk on. Diaw, a National Merit Scholar, is the son of Rosemary Kilkenny-Diaw, Georgetown’s Special Assistant to the President for Affirmative Action policies. He will likely not see very much playing time this year.

“It’ll be tough for him with Wesley [senior center Wesley Wilson], Mike [junior forward Mike Sweetney], Victor [senior forward Victor Samnick] and Courtland [senior forward Courtland Freeman] already here,” Esherick said. “His best game is still ahead of him.”

Harvey Thomas

The Thomas transfer was disappointing for the Hoyas as he was highly touted as an incoming freshman last year. He averaged five points a game in limited action last season. According to a statement by Thomas’ brother reported by Andy Katz of ESPN.com, the transfer was because of personal differences between Thomas and Esherick.

“It was something I thought long and hard about,” Esherick said. “We both felt it was in his best interests to make a change.”

It is possible Thomas will return to Georgetown after a year at Daytona. The coaching staff is already familiar with the Daytona program. Former Georgetown center Lee Scruggs spent two years there before playing for Georgetown from 1999-2001.

“There’s a chance of a whole lot of things,” Esherick said, regarding Thomas. “I’m hoping he does well there and I support him. Whatever that leads to, I don’t know.”

Recruiting Big Men

In other recruiting developments, both the Washington Post and Washington Times reported that Roy Hibbert, a rising 7-foot-2 junior center at Georgetown Prep in Bethesda, Md., made a verbal commitment to enroll at Georgetown in the fall of 2004. Hibbert is widely regarded as one of the best players in his class nationally. Former Hoya Dwayne Bryant (CAS ’90) is his coach at Georgetown Prep. He joins Darious Townes, a 6-foot-9 rising senior at Carroll High School in Washington, D.C., as big men who have reportedly made verbal commitments to Georgetown.

Verbal commitments are non-binding and Georgetown cannot comment on any player before he signs a letter of intent in his senior year, but Esherick did acknowledge that with Sweetney, Wilson, Freeman and Samnick all in their third or fourth year of eligibility, recruiting front court players was a definite goal of the coaching staff.

Team Captains

In other off-season news, Esherick appointed three tri-captains for this coming season. Sweetney and Samnick join Freeman, who was a captain last year.

“Victor has proved he deserves this through his hard work,” Esherick said. “I picked Mike as much for his development as for the team. He needs to be a little more vocal.”

Sweetney enters the year as one of the best players in the nation. He has already been selected to the Wooden Award Preseason All-America team, which picks the best 50 players in the nation. There will likely be speculation throughout the season as to whether he will return for a senior season or enter the 2003 NBA draft.

“Talk before or during the season [about the NBA draft] is foolish,” Esherick said. “There’s plenty of time after the season, in April and May, to deal with that.”

Injuries

Last year injuries somewhat nagged the Hoyas. Rising junior guard Ramell Ross missed the whole season, while Samnick missed most of the year with a foot injury. Rising sophomore forward/guard Darrel Owens had knee surgery, though he was academically ineligible last year and would not have played regardless of injuries.

“The three kids coming off injuries are doing really well,” Esherick said. “We really have six new players and I’m looking forward to working with them.”

The Schedule

Esherick said the 2002-03 schedule is nearly finalized and should be released soon. Several marquee non-conference games have already been announced. The Hoyas play host to UCLA on Feb. 8 and travel to Virginia on Dec. 28. Both games will be broadcast on CBS. Georgetown also travels to face Duke on Jan. 8 on ESPN and will play host to South Carolina on Dec. 5 at MCI Center. No television has yet been announced for that game.

Georgetown is scheduled to play Duke in the second end of a home and home contract in 2003-04. Its contracts with Virginia, UCLA and South Carolina, however, expire after this season. UCLA and South Carolina will likely fall off the schedule. Esherick indicated he had discussions with Virginia coach Pete Gillen about resuming the rivalry in the near future, but that the teams will not meet in 2003-04. He revealed that Georgetown is in the late stages of finalizing a contract to begin playing Penn State in 2003-04.

The most talked about possible non-conference game, of course, involved defending national champion Maryland. Esherick said there are considerations to schedule Maryland sometime in the future, but that nothing has yet been specified.