The 2015–16 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hoyas, led by twelfth-year head coach John Thompson III, played their home games at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., and were members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 15–18, 7–11 in Big East play to finish eighth place. They defeated DePaul in the first round of the Big East tournament to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to Villanova. For the first time in John Thompson III's twelve years as head coach, the Hoyas did not make a postseason tournament.
Previous season The Hoyas finished the season with an overall record of 22–11, with a record of 12–6 in the Big East regular season for a second-place finish. In the 2015 Big East tournament, the Hoyas were defeated by Xavier, 65–63 in the semifinals. They were invited to the 2015 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament as a #4 seed, where they defeated Eastern Washington in the second round before losing to Utah in the third round.
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes 10 C 6'9" 254 Senior Brandon, MS Graduated 23 F 6'6" 205 Senior Jacksonville, FL Graduated 3 F 6'9" 223 Senior Hyattsville, MD Graduated 24 C 6'10" 350 Senior Kent, WA Graduated 55 G 6'5" 210 Senior Jenkintown, PA Graduated
Incoming transfers Name No. Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Akoy Agau 22 F 6'8" 230 Sophomore Omaha, NE Transferred from Louisville at the start of the second semester during the 2014–15 season. Under NCAA transfer rules, Agau had to sit out for two semesters and was eligible at the start of the second semester during the 2015–16 season. Agau had two and a half years of remaining eligibility.
Incoming recruits
Season recap
Georgetown had lost five players to graduation since the conclusion of the previous season. Most notably, center Joshua Smith, one of the team′s top scorers for the past two seasons and an important presence in Georgetown′s inside game during his abbreviated one-and-a-half-season career with the Hoyas, was gone. The graduation of Mikael Hopkins and Aaron Bowen meant the loss of two veteran forwards, while that of Jabril Trawick left the Hoyas shorthanded at guard. Also gone was guard David Allen who, after three seasons as a walk-on, did not return to the team for his senior year, as well as center Tyler Adams, an inspiration to the team from the sidelines during his Georgetown years but limited by heart arrhythmia to only five games in his four seasons at Georgetown.Kilgore, Adam, "Georgetown’s Tyler Adams, his career cut short by heart ailment, gets one last start," washingtonpost.com, March 6, 2015.
Five sophomores – guard Tre Campbell, small forward L. J. Peak, and forwards Isaac Copeland, Paul White, and Trey Mourning – returned for 2015–16, as did the team's only junior, power forward Reggie Cameron, and senior center Bradley Hayes. Senior guard Riyan Williams, the son of former Georgetown great Reggie Williams, also made the team as a walk-on for the third straight season. The most significant returnee was guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera, the team's top scorer for two straight seasons. After the conclusion of the previous season, Georgetown had announced that Smith-Rivera had decided to forego his senior year of college and enter the 2015 National Basketball Association draft,Geary, Molly, "Georgetown's D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera will enter NBA draft," si.com, March 31, 2015. Retrieved July 4, 2018 a sudden move that surprised observers, who had not ranked him highly as a National Basketball Association prospect.Khurshudyan, Isabelle, "Report: Hoyas’ Smith-Rivera returning to Georgetown," washingtonpost.com, April 7, 2015. Retrieved July 4, 2018 Smith-Rivera did not hire an agent, however, and, with his final year of college eligibility therefore intact, he decided a week later to withdraw his name from the draft pool and return to Georgetown for his senior year. Speaking publicly about his decision three weeks after that, Smith-Rivera had explained that he initially had decided to enter the NBA draft out of an abundance of confidence in himself and comfort with his abilities as a player, but that his parents had convinced him that returning to Georgetown and completing his education was a wiser choice.Wang, gene, "D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera discusses decision to return to Georgetown instead of NBA," washingtonpost.com, April 30, 2015. Retrieved July 4, 2018
Freshmen who arrived for the season were center Jesse Govan, power forward Marcus Derrickson, and small forward Kaleb Johnson. Another newcomer was redshirt sophomore forward Akoy Agau. After seeing little action in three semesters at Louisville, Agau had transferred to Georgetown in January 2015. NCAA rules required him to sit out two full semesters before beginning play at Georgetown, but the Hoyas hoped that once Agau joined the team at mid-season in January 2016, he would help fill the gap left by the graduation of Hoya "big men" Joshua Smith and Mikael Hopkins, whose departure left the team weaker on inside offense, defense, and rebounding.Anonymous, "Akoy Agau Out for the Season: Now What?," casualhoya.com, October 26, 2015, 9:25 a.m. EDT. Retrieved July 6, 2018
Smith-Rivera′s decision to return for his senior year caused expectations for the 2015-16 Georgetown squad to soar.Santamaria, Paolo B., "Hoyas Host Bulldogs on Senior Day," thehoya.com, February 26, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2018 Although he was a shooting guard rather than a natural point guard, many observers thought that with him back to lead the team at point guard and with many other players also returning from the previous season, the Hoyas would have another successful season. They were projected as a Top 25 team that would finish second in the Big East and return to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year.Santamaria, Paolo B., "Hoyas’ High Expectations Flounder," thehoya.com, March 18, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
Italy trip
Under NCAA rules, the Hoyas were allowed to make an overseas preseason trip to play exhibition games against foreign teams once every four years. Four years earlier, in August 2011, the Hoyas visited China to play three games against Chinese teams and one against a team from Taiwan, and during their second game had become involved in an ugly brawl with a Chinese professional team and Chinese fans in the stands, which resulted in John Thompson III pulling his team off the court and the game never being completed.Wang, Gene, "Georgetown basketball heads to Italy with chaotic 2011 trip to China in mind," washingtonpost.com, August 13, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2018 In August 2015, Georgetown made another overseas trip, this time a 10-day visit to Italy.Anonymous, "Andiamo Hoyas! Georgetown Basketball is Back! In Italy!," casualhoya.com, August 16, 2015, 10:14 a.m. EDT. Retrieved July 7, 2018Anonymous, "Hoyas Tour Continues in Pisa as Team Visits Leaning Tower," guhoyas.com, August 19, 2015, 12:00:00 a.m. EDT. Retrieved July 14, 2018 None of the players on the 2015–2016 team had been on the 2011–2012 team that visited China, but they were aware of the fight in China and hoped for a more peaceful and less controversial experience this time. Before the team left for the trip, Thompson told the press that he intended to use the exhibition schedule to give his players experience, and with that in mind, he would not necessarily play each game to win. The Hoyas played two games in Rome – against a team from Iceland and an Italian all-star team – and won both.Anonymous, "Late Run Leads Georgetown Past Haukar Basket, 74-64, in Italy Opener," guhoyas.com, August 16, 2015, 12:00 a.m. EDT. Retrieved July 7, 2018Anonymous, "Four in Double Figures as Georgetown Cruises to 95-36 Win in Italy," guhoyas.com, August 18, 2015, 12:00 a.m. EDT. Retrieved July 7, 2018 After a stop in Pisa, they then traveled to Florence, where they lost to a team from Lithuania.Anonymous, "Georgetown Falls Short Against BC Atletas, 90-85, in Italy," guhoyas.com, August 20, 2015, 12:00 a.m. EDT. Retrieved July 7, 2018 Their final stop was Milan, from which they made a short drive across the border into Switzerland to defeat a Swiss team in a game played in Lugano,Anonymous, "Mourning, Derrickson Help to Lead Georgetown Past SAM Basket, 76-73," August 22, 2015, 12:00 a.m. EDT. Retrieved July 7, 2018 finishing their trip with a record of 3–1. Bradley Hayes made the trip but did not play because he was recovering from thumb surgery.Anonymous, "Hoyas men's hoops team ready for incident-free trip to Italy," Associated Press, August 13, 2015, 7:20 p.m. EDT. Retrieved July 7, 2018
As the oldest Jesuit university in the United States, Georgetown had hoped that the team would be granted an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican, but this proved impossible to arrange. However, the trip to Italy went far more smoothly than the 2011 visit to China, and the Hoyas took breaks from play to visit the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Altare della Patria, the Spanish Steps, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.Anonymous, "Georgetown Men's Basketball Departs for Italy on Friday," guhoyas.com, August 12, 2018, 12:00 a.m. EDT. Retrieved July 7, 2018
Nonconference schedule
In late October 2015, only about three weeks before the 2015–2016 season began, Georgetown announced that Akoy Agau had suffered a knee injury that would force him to miss the entire season. His Georgetown debut thus was postponed until the following year.Standig, Ben, "Georgetown's Akoy Agau suffers season-ending injury," nbcsports.com, October 24, 2015, October 24, 2015 1:45 p.m. Retrieved July 6, 2018 The loss of Agau was a blow to Georgetown, which now faced unexpected weakness in its inside game, but it did little to dampen the overall enthusiasm for the team′s prospects for success, even though Paul White, the team′s leading scorer off the bench the previous year, began the season sidelined by a hip injury.Standig, Ben, "Hoyas take down Marquette, now 2-0 in Big East play," nbcsports.com, January 02, 2016, 8:45 PM. Retrieved July 14, 2018
In November, Georgetown began its season by participating in the 2K Sports Classic, an annual tournament. The tournament′s format required the Hoyas to play a non-bracketed game at home against a mid-major opponent, then join three other major-conference schools in a bracketed tournament at Madison Square Garden to determine the tournament champion, and finally play a final, non-bracketed game at home against another mid-major team. For their opening mid-major opponent, the Hoyas faced Radford at the Verizon Center, and the Highlanders shocked the Hoyas by dealing them a double-overtime 82–80 loss, with Radford senior guard Rashaun Davis scoring a game-high and career-high 28 points.Anonymous, "Georgetown shocked by Radford in season opener," Associated Press, November 14, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2018Radford vs. Georgetown – Box Score – November 14, 2015 – ESPN For Georgetown, Bradley Hayes had a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds, both career highs, while D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera scored 15 points, Isaac Copeland added 11, and Jesse Govan came off the bench to score 11.