After three seasons of NIT purgatory, it is once again time for the Georgetown men’s basketball program to shine. Five newcomers are joining seven players with starting experience to form a deep and talented squad that has been predicted to finish second in the Big East West Division.

Leading the Hoyas are co-captains sophomore guard Kevin Braswell and senior center Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje, who will be starting alongside one another for the third consecutive year. Braswell was named to the preseason All-Big East first team while Boumtje-Boumtje was named to the second team along with senior forward Lee Scruggs. This marked the first time since the 1994-1995 Connecticut squad that a Big East team has had three representatives on the preseason All-Big East teams.

This will not necessarily translate into success on the hardwood, though. That Huskies squad came together and played like a team, rolling through the NCAAs before getting knocked off one game shy of the Final Four. The Hoyas need to find an identity and successfully execute in their individual roles if Georgetown is to have any similar level of success (such as an NCAA appearance).

The Players

Georgetown’s roster sports 15 players, with five newcomers joining the 10 returning lettermen from last season’s 19-15 squad. The only losses from last season’s team are Jameel Watkins and Rhese Gibson, who combined to average six points and six rebounds per game. While depth (six players 6-foot-8 or taller) is the greatest asset of this year’s Georgetown team, the three preseason All-Big East players are the go-to guys out on the court.

The starting lineup for the regular season has not been set in stone, but four of the five positions are pretty much decided. Braswell will start at point guard, sophomore Demetrius Hunter will start at shooting guard, freshman Mike Sweetney will start at power forward and Boumtje-Boumtje will start at center.

“Kevin and Demetrius will start. I’ll use Anthony [Perry] a little bit at small forward to improve our outside shooting,” Head Coach Craig Esherick said. “I am pleased with [Wesley] Wilson, but Ruben is our center for the season.”

Boumtje-Boumtje and Braswell need to establish themselves not only as leaders, but as consistent, dependable performers that shine during crunch time. Both have seen their numbers improve over the last two years and are the two leading scorers from last season, but both are prone to disappearing (they contributed a combined six points in Georgetown’s NIT loss to California last spring).

Braswell has cemented his role as the leader of the team, but he must continue to develop into the traditional distributing point guard that Georgetown needs him to be. Braswell’s assist-to-turnover ratio will be the best indicator of how well he continues to improve.

Boumtje-Boumtje, on the other hand, must establish himself as a force in the middle when the Hoyas go up against teams with talented bigmen in the middle (Notre Dame’s Troy Murphy, Seton Hall’s Samuel Dalembert). Improved rebounding skills at the defensive end will compliment his shot-blocking skills and make him a more well-rounded defender.

The unknown commodity that Georgetown must depend on for success this season is Scruggs. No one doubts his ability to score when on the court, but Scruggs is academically ineligible through the end of the first semester (until Dec. 22 against Maryland-Eastern Shore at the earliest). He can’t produce if he’s not on the court, and once he does return, it is important that he show more developed and rounded defensive and rebounding skills.

“Lee needs to work on rebounding and posting up,” Esherick said about his skinny superstar. Esherick also had praise for Scruggs. “He’s going to have a better year simply because he has an extra term of practice. There is no one in college basketball that can shoot the ball as well as Lee.”

And there is no doubt Scruggs brings something unique to the table, as both Braswell and Boumtje-Boumtje described Scruggs as a “two guard in a 6-11 body.”

Newcomers Sweetney and sophomore Wesley Wilson will bring added depth to the frontcourt, a pair of wide bodies that will line up at power forward and center, respectively. Wilson has solid defensive skills and shot-blocking ability, while Sweetney brings strong offensive and rebounding skills and a number of good moves around the hoop. Sweetney will be the starting power forward at least for as long as Scruggs is sidelined.

Sophomores Courtland Freeman and Victor Samnick bring versatility to the forward positions. Both struggled from the charity stripe last season but demonstrated solid athleticism and the ability to drive to the hoop. They will be competing with a large group of players for time at wing forward while bringing extra levels of depth to the four.

Senior shooting guard Anthony Perry and senior swingman Nat Burton bring experience to the wing for the Hoyas. Both saw time as starters over the past two seasons, but it is likely that the pair will come off the bench for Esherick. Freshmen Gerald Riley and Omari Faulkner will provide additional depth on the wing. Riley may crack the starting lineup at the three position due to his strong outside shooting, while Faulkner provides athleticism and a nice shooting touch.

Hunter is a player that can swing the season either way for the Hoyas. The starting shooting guard is a strong perimeter defender and possesses amazing leaping skills, but he must improve the consistency of his outside shot. Along with freshman guard RaMell Ross, Hunter will bring depth to the point guard position behind Braswell, but neither is a natural point.

“Backup point guard is the weakness of the team,” Esherick said.

Schedule

Georgetown’s schedule for the upcoming season is on the easy side, especially the out-of-conference portion. The out of conference schedule includes four games against Mid Eastern Athletic Conference opponents and the Hawaii Pacific Thanksgiving Classic. The Big East portion of the schedule features a pair of games against Syracuse, Seton Hall and Notre Dame.

Conspicuously absent from this year’s schedule is Connecticut, due to a scheduling quirk of the two-division system. “We don’t play BC, Connecticut and Miami,” Esherick said. “That is not good for the league.”

Bethune-Cookman opens up Georgetown’s 2000-2001 regular season in McDonough Gymnasium on Nov. 17. The Wildcats have given the Hoyas some scares in the past two seasons, but this, like all of Georgetown’s Mid-East Athletic Conference games, should be a cakewalk.

Georgetown next travels west for the Hawaii Pacific Thanksgiving Classic, facing Central Florida in the opening round. The Golden Knights should not present too much of a hurdle for the Hoyas. The College of Charleston is a likely second-round opponent, the first major hurdle of the season. Potential final-round opponents include TCU and Minnesota.

After returning home from Hawaii, the Hoyas embark on their traditional December barn-burner of a schedule. Nicholls State, Grambling State, Coastal Carolina, Howard and Maryland-Eastern Shore will allow Georgetown to hone its play and allow the freshmen to gain some valuable experience. None of these opponents should present a major hurdle for the Hoyas, and they should roll through these games with a 5-0 record.

Louisville on Dec. 5 and Houston on Dec. 31 are the only mildly entertaining matchups on Georgetown’s pre-Big East slate. The Cardinals are solid in the backcourt but have little to stop the Hoyas in the middle, as their only player taller than 6-foot-8 is a freshman project center Muhammed Lasege. Fellow Conference USA competitor Houston is coming off an 8-21 campaign, after which they lost former coach Clyde Drexler, and they should have trouble staying close to Georgetown.

The new year welcomes the start of conference play, and the Hoyas travel to West Virginia to open Big East play. West Virginia is improved from last season and the Mountaineers have given the Hoyas fits in recent years, but Georgetown had the last laugh in their victory over West Virginia in the Big East tournament.

“I saw Syracuse undefeated into January last year, and I see us being able to do that this year,” Braswell said about this team’s early-season potential.

Esherick believes a solid start to be essential to success this season, saying “I want our momentum to pick up sooner than last season. Our guys have more confidence this year.”

If there is a game that will test the momentum Georgetown should be able to gather in the first six weeks of the season, it is the Jan. 6 contest against Seton Hall at MCI Center. The Pirates were picked ahead of Georgetown in the Big East West Division, and the two teams play each other home and home just 10 days apart. If there is a game that can serve to mark the Hoyas’ resurgence, the Jan. 6 contest against Seton Hall is it.

After the big matchup against Seton Hall, Georgetown has to avoid a letdown against perennial Hoya fodder Morgan State and soon-to-be Big East cellar-dweller Virginia Tech.

Assuming Georgetown gets past those two games, Seton Hall will be waiting again at the other end. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day game at Continental Airlines Arena will be one of the Hoyas’ biggest challenges on the season. A hostile crowd and talented Pirates squad could prove tough to overcome.

A mini-homestand follows, with Pittsburgh, UNLV and Notre Dame all traveling to the district. UNLV on Jan. 25 is an interesting rematch of last year’s contest, which was dominated by the Runnin’ Rebels. Senior forward Kaspars Kambala (18.6 points per game, 9.3 rebounds per game) will lead the Rebels into MCI, and the Hoyas’ ability to win will hinge on stopping him inside while establishing an inside scoring presence of their own.

Georgetown faces Notre Dame on Jan. 27 and then closes out the regular season against the Irish on March 4. These matchups are essential to Georgetown’s postseason aspirations because the two squads will likely be going head-to-head for second place in the Big East West and postseason seeding. A minimum of a split in these two games is essential for Georgetown to stay ahead of Notre Dame in conference play.

Jan. 29 is Georgetown’s annual Carrier Dome matchup with Syracuse, and as always, records will fly out the window when the teams take the court. The two that helped establish the Big East as a legitimate powerhouse always play it close no matter which team is more talented, and this season will be no exception. The Feb. 24 home contest against the Orangemen is an important late-season matchup that will help position the Hoyas for the postseason.

Much of the month of February sees the Hoyas pushing through the meat of their Big East schedule. Georgetown has consecutive games against West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Providence, Villanova and Rutgers. These five games are all winnable but represent the challenge Georgetown has failed to overcome in recent years. The Hoyas’ calling card has been collapsing down the stretch against beatable opponents, and a solid performance in February will go a long way toward dispelling this notion.

Georgetown travels to St. John’s on Feb. 21 for a nationally televised matchup with the Red Storm. Coached by Mike Jarvis, the Red Storm are never easy to defeat, especially in adison Square Garden, providing the Hoyas with a good litmus test for the postseason.

Rutgers on Feb. 28 closes out the regular season home schedule for Georgetown. This will be senior day for Georgetown, the last time Boumtje-Boumtje, Scruggs, Burton and Perry will take the court as Hoyas. Emotion should be enough to propel the Hoyas to victory in this one, as Rutgers lost much of their depth from last season’s team and will struggle to stay afloat in the Big East.

After closing the season at Notre Dame on March 4, Georgetown will head to New York City for the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. Hopes should be high for a Georgetown NCAA bid by this point, and the Hoyas will have the world’s largest stage to show that Hoya Paranoia is back.

The Season Awaits

Consistency is the key for Georgetown as the regular season approaches, and Esherick knows what it will take to achieve this.

“Our ball handling and shot selection have to improve. Shot selection was not good over the course of last season,” he said. “We should be confident. We don’t have a team that can’t shoot. We have a team that hasn’t had good shot selection.”

Braswell agrees that success is within reach. “Everyone’s healthy. That helps make a good team. Having the fan support helps a lot. Having Lee helps a lot,” Braswell said. “The best teams know each other’s moves. We’re really getting to know things better. It’s getting a lot easier, and coach fusses at us a lot.”

Esherick’s “fussing” will be key in the Hoyas being sharper and more successful down the stretch this season. Free throw shooting, turnovers and poor shooting were the three factors that most debilitated Georgetown last season and kept them from winning close games. All three of these problems can be corrected by Esherick and his troops.

Poor free throw shooting has been a traditional Hoya Achilles’ heel, and last year’s 65 percent from the line was no exception. Boumtje-Boumtje drastically improved at the line prior to last season, and Scruggs and Braswell each have a sweet stroke from the line, but the team as a whole has to improve. Faulkner and Sweetney also showed some prowess from behind the stripe.

Ball handling and poor shooting go hand in hand because they both come largely from poor decision making. Better passing and shot selection will go a long way toward improving each category, and this will only come about through practice and the team coming together and becoming comfortable with one another’s moves and tendencies, something Braswell feels is key.

Pure shooting also must improve, however, as Georgetown shot less than 30 percent from beyond the arc last season and needs to improve this number if they are going to free up the bigmen in the middle. Braswell and Hunter need to feel comfortable firing away, but only when it is prudent.

If these things come together, Georgetown seems to have the right combination necessary for a return to the NCAA tournament. A strong mix of experience, talented newcomers, height and desire should propel Georgetown as far as their decision-making allows.