The Georgetown men’s basketball team saw a lot of roster turnover this summer, and no position saw more turnover than center. Of the 1,365 minutes of basketball the Hoyas played last year, only 80 featured a center currently on the roster. Head Coach Ed Cooley has staked his team’s identity on defense and physicality, and Georgetown’s centers will be key to fulfilling that vision. Still, many questions remain about how the rotation stacks up.
Thomas Sorber, last season’s stalwart big man, was a once-in-a-generation defensive player and rightfully headed to the NBA after a phenomenal, if injury-shortened, rookie season. Sorber led last year’s Hoyas in both rebounds and blocks.
Cooley’s other primary option at center, Drew Fielder, entered the transfer portal after last season and now plays for the Boise State University Broncos. Fielder contributed significant playing time and rebounds for Georgetown last year as well, especially after Sorber broke his foot in February and was out for the remainder of the season.
Sophomore center Julius Halaifonua accounted for those 80 minutes played by returners. Halaifonua, a New Zealand international player, participated in the first 6 games of Georgetown’s non-conference schedule last year, but broke his foot in practice and sat out the remainder of the season.
Over the summer, Halaifonua played in the U19 FIBA World Cup, starting for New Zealand at center. He averaged 10.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2 assists over 7 games as New Zealand finished fourth.
In Georgetown’s scrimmage against The George Washington University (GWU), Halaifonua started the first half, playing 21 minutes, but scoring just 6 points and grabbing only 2 rebounds.
Cooley tried out different lineups throughout the game and started senior center Vince Iwuchukwu, a transfer from St. John’s University, in the second half. Iwuchukwu saw much less overall playing time though, playing only 13 minutes and scoring 3 points.
Iwuchukwu was a solid rotation player for St. John’s last year, but should be stepping into a bigger role for the Hoyas. His size makes him an immediate impact player on defense, but his big test will be how much he can contribute as a paint presence on the offensive end.
The third center on the roster, sophomore Seal Diouf, redshirted last year and forms the third of Georgetown’s center trio. Diouf saw minimal playing time during GLOBL JAM, an international tournament where the Hoyas represented the United States this summer (averaging just over 6 minutes in 4 games), and during the scrimmage against GWU (5 minutes and 2 points).
Diouf entered Georgetown highly-touted as the 51st-ranked center in the class of 2025 before re-classing to join the Hoyas last season. However, Diouf is 6 feet 9 inches tall — undersized for a Big East center. Based on his usage so far, Diouf will most likely see less playing time than either Halaifonua or Iwuchukwu this season, but will still see important minutes down the stretch as Georgetown looks to avoid the injuries that plagued them last season.
The center rotation, based on their brief playing time so far, looks anything but set and has raised some concern going into the season. In Georgetown’s pre-season scrimmage against GWU, Georgetown allowed 32 points in the paint, exactly half of GWU’s total scoring.
At Big East Media Day, three days after the GWU game, Cooley said he saw room for improvement.
“I saw a group of guys developing,” Cooley told The Hoya. “Between Vince, Seal and Julius — a three-headed monster that, I think, will get a lot of quality minutes. We watched a lot of film and came up with constructive criticism. I think our men will grow as the year goes on.”
“We got to guard the rim better,” Cooley added.
Of course, a single preseason scrimmage is far too small a sample size to make any level of informed judgment about a team.
Halaifonua started again in the scrimmage against the University of Kentucky, but Iwuchukwu quickly rotated in off the bench. Both split time during the game, and Diouf did not play, but Iwuchukwu played 23 minutes compared to Halaifonua’s 17. Iwuchukwu also contributed more on the offensive end, with 14 points, but both played well.
The story of Georgetown’s season may just be how much Halaifonua, Iwuchukwu and Diouf can contribute, and how Cooley splits time between them.
In the early stages of the season, watch to see how Cooley balances the minutes load between Halaifonua and Iwuchukwu and pay attention to either breaking out as the clear starter.
Cooley said he has not decided who will be the starter at center between the three rostered players.
“That’s going to be an ever-moving target,” Cooley told The Hoya. “Whoever is ready to play will play.”
