When Ed Cooley was introduced as the head coach of the Georgetown men’s basketball team, he immediately signaled his intent to recruit within the Washington, D.C.-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) area.
“This is an era where this district — this DMV area — I promise you, we need to lock this down,” Cooley said during his introductory press conference.
“You’ve got to keep the best players in the region,” he added. “That’s going to create energy and opportunity, not just for them but for future young men that may want to come here.”
The DMV has long been known as one of the premier regions of the country for producing top-end basketball players, with Kevin Durant being the most notable example. In an interview with The Hoya before the 2025-26 season, Cooley was asked whether he prioritized local recruits in his efforts to rebuild Georgetown.
Cooley said he was confident the DMV was a top pipeline for basketball talent and was intent on recruiting locally.
“If you recall, back when I was hired here, we made that a must,” Cooley told The Hoya in October. “And I would correct your ‘probably.’ I will stand firm on saying ‘is’ one of the most fertile recruiting grounds in all of America.”
Cooley has attempted to gain leverage in the DMV recruiting race with his coaching hires. In April 2024, he brought in Kenny Johnson, an Oxon Hill, Md. native with deep DMV recruiting ties. Johnson was the director of Team Takeover (TTO), one of the area’s top AAU programs and the head coach of its under-16 team for 6 years. When Johnson left Georgetown last year, Cooley replaced him with Jason Williford, a Richmond, Va. native who also has DMV recruiting ties. Willford’s son, Austin, played for TTO.
Cooley’s efforts to lure local players have worked to a degree. He brought in junior guard Malik Mack, another Oxon Hill native and former TTO player, from the transfer portal before the 2024-25 season. Two more TTO graduates, junior guard DeShawn Harris-Smith and sophomore forward Isaiah Abraham, joined Georgetown from the portal prior to the 2025-26 season. Cooley also recruited sophomore forward Caleb Williams — another TTO product from Upper Marlboro, Md. — and sophomore forward Jayden Fort from D.C. as first-years before the 2024-25 season. But Georgetown’s pursuit of some of the top local recruits this most recent recruiting cycle has been fruitless.
For the Class of 2026 recruiting season, Georgetown went after ESPN’s top three players from the DMV: No. 2 Jordan Smith Jr., No. 8 Babatunde Oladotun and No. 24 Qayden Samuels. Georgetown was included in Oladotun’s and Samuels’ final two schools, but both spurned the Hilltop for the University of Maryland and the University of Alabama, respectively. Smith listed Georgetown in his top six, along with blue blood programs like the University of Kentucky and Duke University, but ultimately chose the University of Arkansas.
The recruiting process is nothing if not complicated, especially in an era when high schoolers are receiving multi-million dollar offers to commit.
St. John’s College High School (SJC) varsity basketball head coach and 2026 DCSAA champion Patrick O’Connor, who was an assistant at SJC when Malik Mack played there, said each recruit has different priorities, particularly when it comes to staying or leaving home.
“It’s an individual conversation with each player. Some people want to stay home so their mom and dad can come to every game and they have a tight relationship with a sibling or a coach, so they want to be close by,” O’Connor told The Hoya.
“Some people really want to just go to the best basketball situation possible, regardless of location. Some people want to just get out of the DMV and experience something new,” he added.
The idea of staying close to home is not a draw for every player and could ultimately be a deterrent for some. After committing to Alabama, Samuels said his decision ultimately came down to whether to stay or leave the area.
“I had to decide whether I wanted to stay home or go away,” Samuels told ESPN. “When I went to Alabama, I loved the school. I met with the trainers, academic staff and the athletic director and I felt a strong connection.”
Despite not choosing Georgetown, Samuels said he appreciated being recruited by the university.
“Georgetown and Coach Cooley have also recruited me for a long time,” Samuels told ESPN. “I have a high respect for the Georgetown program and Coach Cooley.”
Ibrahim Oladotun, the father of Babatunde Oladotun, also spoke highly of Cooley and Georgetown after his son’s commitment.
“Georgetown is a great institution, great brand,” the elder Oladotun told FOX 5 DC (WTTG) when his son committed. “Coach Ed Cooley is one of the greatest human beings you will meet. A genuine person.”
Praise for Cooley brings in another piece of the modern recruiting puzzle: the transfer portal. New NCAA rules allow players to transfer annually, eliminating the need to sit out a season, which has massively increased the frequency of transfers. Losing the battle for a high school recruit no longer means losing the player for their entire college career.
O’Connor said finishing second in a high school recruit’s rankings is worth more than it used to be because of the revamped portal.
“It’s more common now for schools to feel comfortable finishing in second place in the recruiting process for high schoolers under the assumption that, if it doesn’t work out at school one, they already have a relationship with the family and the player,” O’Connor told The Hoya.
O’Connor said he has been in contact with Cooley regarding his current and former players, adding that he believes local college coaches are aware of the recruiting opportunity that being in the DMV entails.
“I think they feel like the DMV is a great place to be for recruiting. There’s a lot of people who have just grown up in a competitive basketball environment who are prepared for the college level,” O’Connor told The Hoya.
O’Connor said while having hometown recruits play for them is valuable, college coaches do not want the mission of recruiting a team of local players to get in the way of their ultimate goal of winning basketball games.
“I would not put words in their mouth, but I would think that they also would agree that they’re just trying to put the best product on the floor, regardless of where those recruits from high school or transfers are coming from,” O’Connor added. “They want to make sure that they’re representing their brand to the best of their ability.”
