Lindsay Anderson/The Hoya
Two years ago, three relatively unknown freshmen showed up on the Hilltop and were immediately thrown into fire by first year Head Coach John Thompson III.
One was a goofy 7-foot-2 center who, supposedly, couldn’t shoot, couldn’t catch the ball and ” worst of all ” couldn’t run.
Another was a walk-on who had originally planned to play in the Ivy League but followed Head Coach John Thompson III from Princeton to Georgetown and the Big East.
The third, according to Scout.com, was the 19th best high school power forward and was described as a ‘kind of an unknown commodity but a late bloomer.’/p>
Now, the three relative unknowns, Roy Hibbert, Jonathan Wallace and Jeff Green, are household names on the Hilltop. This year, three new freshmen ” none as obscure as the aforementioned triumvirate was when it arrived at Georgetown ” will look to curry Thompson’s favor and play their way onto the court. On a team that returns two preseason first team all-Big East big men (Green and Hibbert) and a two-year starter in the backcourt (Wallace), it won’t be easy, but that doesn’t mean the class of 2010 can’t do it.
‘We have, I think, an extremely talented group [of freshmen],’Thompson said at the team’s media day. ‘We have a group, led by example of the older guys, that have come in here in the fall and worked extremely hard.’/p>
Leading the freshman class is forward Vernon Macklin, a lanky big man quick enough to slide down to the small forward spot but strong enough as a defender and rebounder to step up and play the five. A standout on Hargrave Military Academy’s postgraduate squad a year ago, Macklin averaged 20 points and 15 boards last season.
Prior to arriving at Hargrave, the uber-athletic Macklin was a three-year starter at Norcom High School in Portsmouth, Va. His play in high school and as a post-grad was good enough to earn him the No. 13 spot in Scout.com’s rankings and No. 37 with Rivals.com. He also earned a spot on the prestigious cDonald’s all-American squad, the only current Hoya and the first since Anthony Perry (COL ’01) received one in 1997.
Macklin contributed six points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds in 16 minutes of play at the March 29 showcase.
It is that tenacious rebounding, along with freakish athleticism and highlight-reel jams, for which Macklin is best known. Comparing acklin to a pogo stick, Scout.com national recruiting expert Dave Telep says that the 6-foot-9, 227-pounder was recruited more for his raw ability than because of any particular fit in the ‘Princeton-style offense.’/p>
‘Vernon Macklin was the first out of the box recruit for JT III,’Telep says. ‘You’re not sure where he fits with the cutting, passing offense, but he gets you thinking outside the box.
‘Macklin plays at the rim, and it’s a chore for other teams to deal with him in the paint. He might be on one the best guys in college basketball at running the floor.’/p>
For now, though, as Macklin adjusts to Thompson’s system and polishes his skills, he is learning from one of the Big East’s best big men ” Hibbert.
‘He’s the next center,’Hibbert says, ‘so I’m working on post moves with him. I talk to him about stuff, he talks to me about stuff, so I learn from him, he learns from me. He does stuff differently than I do ” he’s a lot quicker ” so he makes different kinds of moves. I’m trying to learn from him; he’s trying to learn power moves from me.’/p>
If Macklin is the Hoyas’ No. 1 recruit, DaJuan Summers is 1A. A 6-foot-8 forward from Baltimore, Md., Summers brings more proficiency in the halfcourt offense. As a senior at Baltimore’s McDonogh School, Summers dropped 29.2 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals per game. He was named the Baltimore County player of the year and the Gatorade Boy’s Basketball player of the year in Maryland.
‘Two of his greatest strengths are his passion and competitiveness,’McDonogh Head Coach Donta Evans says. ‘He takes the challenges of basketball very personal.’/p>
Beyond the intangibles, Evans points to Summers’ ability to play both inside and outside, despite his large frame, as his greatest asset on the court. Telep agrees.
‘DaJuan is a skilled face-up power forward who can spend times at different positions ” he can spend time down low or on the perimeter in attack mode,’Telep says. ‘He is one of the best scorers in his class.’/p>
Whereas Macklin adds athleticism and quickness, Summers brings more sophisticated talent. ‘His game is predicated on more skill factors,’Telep says. ‘He’ll play early and often.’/p>
Still, while Macklin is billed as the high flier and Summers as the one with the moves, if Midnight Madness was any indication, Summers is more than capable of turning in a few SportsCenter top 10 moments of his own.
‘Every year he has become an even better athlete,’Evans says. ‘He has tremendous upside.’/p>
Rounding out the Hoyas’ class of 2010 is guard Jeremiah Rivers. Though Rivers was ranked just 32nd among point guards in his class, he is no stranger to big-time basketball. His father, Glenn ‘Doc’Rivers, was a star at Marquette and in the NBA. He currently coaches the Boston Celtics.
Standing 6-foot-4, the younger Rivers will be expected to help an unproven but already talented backcourt. While Wallace may be assured of his playing time, Rivers will battle junior Tyler Crawford, sophomore Jessie Sapp and perhaps sophomore swingman Marc Egerson for playing time.
According to Telep, Rivers’ IQ is his greatest asset, and, while he may not yet possess the pure handling ability of a point guard or the shooting touch of a two-guard, his ability to cycle between both guard spots will be a nice compliment for the Georgetown squad.
‘He’s unselfish,’Matt Hixenbaugh, his coach at Winter Park High School (Fla.), says of Rivers. ‘He is unselfish and he has an ability to defend, and that’s built into doing whatever is best for the team.
‘He really wants to win and has the drive to succeed.’/p>
As a senior at Winter Park, Rivers averaged 13.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per contest. Rivers dealt with a nagging foot injury for much of high school, a major reason for both his deflated statistics and his modest national ranking.
Rivers was plagued with another foot injury earlier this fall, but whether or not it affects his availability come Saturday is unknown.
As of media day, the early returns on the freshmen were nothing but positive.
‘They are a real good freshman class,’Sapp says. ‘Everyone has really high expectations for them coming into this year. Everyday they are learning a lot, and I learn a lot from them each day.’/p>
Still, despite the marquee billing and abundant praise, the freshmen have yet to play a Big East game and have a long way to go.
‘It’s different, it’s really different,’Sapp says of the move from high school to college. ‘The Big East is a physical conference. Coming in I thought maybe I’d be the man here, but it’s different. You learn after a couple of games that it’s not that easy; you’re gonna have to work harder than you did in high school.’/p>
‘The freshmen have a lot to learn, making the transition from high school to college,’Wallace says. ‘Our guys, they take the right approach. They listen to our advice and they take it and they try to correct their mistakes.’/p>
Thompson said it best. ‘They all walk in the door thinking they’re gonna be the next Patrick Ewing or Allen Iverson and you walk in and realize, ‘Hey, we got some other really good players here.’
‘But they worked extremely hard and those guys, they’re going to be one day, maybe sooner or later for some, the focal point of what we do.’/p>
While Thompson, well versed in the Georgetown tradition of being tight-lipped, would not say which frosh he thought would play the most right out of the gate, the popular conception has been that Summers was likely to get the most run in the early season, with acklin and Rivers too raw to break into the regular rotation right away. With one of the nation’s best frontcourts and the recent departure of sophomore guard Josh Thornton ” not to mention the graduation of Ashanti Cook (COL ’06) and fifth year Darrel Owens (COL ’05) ” Rivers may play the position with the most immediate need.
Green, Hibbert, and Wallace had to overcome relative obscurity to make names for themselves. Already swimming in national accolades and stepping onto a team with far more media exposure than the 2004-05 Hoyas’ squad, the class of 2010 will face no such difficulties.
For some, Saturday against Hartford will be their first chance to make an impact. For others, it will take a bit longer. But as the basketball season kicks into high gear, remember the names acklin, Summers, and Rivers.
