The season, though young, has been a good one for Georgetown University men’s basketball fans. Amid the Hoyas’ 3-0 start to the season, Head Coach Ed Cooley landed arguably his best recruit during his time on the hilltop, Alex Constanza, as well as Brazilian star Gabriel Landeira and four-star Justin Caldwell, and has his sights on more top players.
These recruits will have the chance to bring the program back to national contention and build on the improvement shown last year and during this young season.
Constanza, ESPN’s 29th-best player in the class of 2026, is the Hoyas’ highest-ranked recruit since Greg Monroe in 2008. A 6-foot-8, 205-pound small forward from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Constanza has impressed throughout his high school career.
In his sophomore year at Westminster Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Constanza averaged 20.9 points, 4.9 assists and 9.7 rebounds across 29 games. His scoring exploded in his junior season, when he averaged 29.4 points across 14 games. For his senior season, he transferred to SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio.
Constanza’s commitment to Georgetown did not come without competition. The University of Miami, Kansas State University, North Carolina State University, the University of Illinois and Syracuse University were among the schools recruiting Constanza.
In an interview with On3, a recruiting publication, Constanza said he has a variety of strengths on the court.
“I’m versatile. I can score on all three levels, guard and play multiple positions, and make my teammates better,” Constanza told On3.
Constanza said Cooley’s honesty and willingness to give him immediate opportunities influenced his decision to commit to Georgetown.
“Coach Cooley kept it real from day one,” Constanza said. “I feel like the connection was natural and the opportunity to make an impact right away really stood out.”
Gabriel Landeira, a 21-year-old Brazilian professional player, is the Hoyas’ other recent commit. The 6-foot-6 guard starred against Georgetown in this summer’s GLOBL JAM tournament for the Brazilian national team, scoring 16 points and six assists in a 74-76 loss to the Hoyas in their first meeting. After adding 13 points and eight assists to beat Georgetown 77-73 in the gold medal game, Landeira was named the MVP of the tournament. While he is not as much of a known quantity in the United States as Constanza, Landeira’s performances against Georgetown this summer suggest he can have an instant impact.
The NCAA’s new eligibility rules have opened up the door for players like Landeira, who have prior professional experience, to remain eligible for collegiate athletics, at least for now. He will enroll during this school year, in time to possibly play in the spring semester or begin his Georgetown career next fall as a redshirt first-year.
In an interview with 247sports, a news and recruiting publication, Landeira said his decision to attend Georgetown was based on his game against them this summer, his relationship with the coaching staff and the school’s academic prestige.
“I chose Georgetown because from the first time we played against them, I liked their style and how they competed,” Landeira told 247sports.
“They showed real interest and kept in touch the whole time. I talked with Coach Cooley and Blaney about how I can achieve my goals and be a part of a program that is growing and study at one of the best universities in the United States,” he added.
Like Constanza, Landeira said Cooley and the coaching staff’s sincerity stood out to him.
“I like how honest they are,” Landeira said. “They really care about the players and want to help everyone get better as a person and as a player. That’s what impressed me the most.”
Cooley’s ability to gain recruits’ trust is becoming a recurring theme. On top of Constanza and Landeira, KJ Lewis, the Hoyas’ new transfer guard, said Cooley’s transparency contributed to his commitment decision in an October 22 interview with The Hoya.
After solely adding transfers for this season, Cooley has refocused on first-years for next season. Constanza and Landeira are the second and third first-year recruits of the cycle, joining 4-star power forward Justin Caldwell from Fayetteville, N.C, who committed this summer.
While Constanza, Caldwell and Landeira are not area natives, Cooley has said he sees homegrown talent as crucial to his project at Georgetown.
Other top players receiving recruiting attention from the Hoyas are local. Georgetown is currently chasing guard Jordan Smith Jr., a five-star and U.S. national team player; forward Baba Oladotun, the No. 7 recruit in the country; and guard Qayden Samuels, Maryland’s No. 2 recruit.
Smith Jr. is being recruited by many other schools, including Duke University, the University of Kentucky and the University of Arkansas. Samuels has the University of Alabama and the University of Connecticut, among others, chasing his signature, but neither has committed yet. Georgetown is competing fiercely with the University of Maryland for Oladotun.
Smith Jr. and Samuels have not announced when they will commit. Oladotun took an official visit to Georgetown this fall and was in the crowd when Georgetown beat Maryland in College Park on Friday night. He recently announced he will make his decision at Blake High School in Cloverly, Md. Nov. 19, after narrowing down his list to four schools: the University of Kentucky, the University of Maryland, the University of Arkansas and Georgetown University.
