The 2021–22 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hoyas, led by fifth-year head coach Patrick Ewing, were members of the Big East Conference. The Hoyas played their home games at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Despite having won the 2021 Big East men's basketball tournament and a highly ranked 2021–2022 recruiting class, the Hoyas had a historically bad season. Winning their last game on December 15 and posting a 6–25 record overall, they went winless in Big East competition, finishing in last place in the regular season with a record of 0–19, and lost in the first round of the 2022 Big East men's basketball tournament. Georgetown's second-worst season by winning percentage, it set a school record for losses overall and a school and conference record for conference losses in a season, and it began a school-record losing streak that remained active at the end of the season. It was the first winless conference season in Georgetown history and the first last-place conference finish for the school in the combined history of the original Big East Conference of 1979–2013 and the new Big East Conference founded in 2013. It was the only Georgetown team to finish in last place in conference play other than the 1934–1935 team, which finished in last place in the Eastern Intercollegiate Conference.
Previous season Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hoyas played a reduced non-conference schedule and had four conference games canceled during the 2020–2021 season. They posted a final record of 13–13, 7–9 in Big East play, and finished in eighth place in the conference. In the Big East tournament, they defeated Marquette, Villanova, and Seton Hall to advance to the tournament championship game. In the championship, they defeated Creighton for the school's first tournament championship since 2007. As a result, the Hoyas received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2015. As the No. 12 seed in the East region, they lost in the first round to Colorado.
Offseason
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason 0 G 6'4" 190 Senior Brampton, ON Graduated 1 G/F 6'9" 206 Senior Washington, D.C. Graduated 3 PG 6'2" 166 Graduate Student Wilson, NC Left team after 5 games for "family reasons" 4 F 6'7" 195 Graduate Student Denver, CO Entered NBA draft 14 F 6'8" 200 Freshman Milwaukee, WI Transferred to UTEP 20 G 6'4" 170 Freshman West Chester, PA Transferred to San Diego 22 G 6'3" 180 Junior Baltimore, MD Did not return for fourth walk-on season 34 C 6'11" 237 Sophomore Lagos, Nigeria Transferred to Maryland NOTE: Chudier Bile, Jahvon Blair, and Jamorko Pickett all declared for the 2021 NBA draft after a four-year college career, opting not take advantage of the special fifth year of eligibility the NCAA granted because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous school 31 G 6'6" 205 Junior Upper Marlboro, MD Howard 1 F 6'7" 235 Senior Lexington, KY Eastern Kentucky 11 G/F 6'7" 215 Graduate Student Columbia, SC The Citadel NOTES: Tre King was dismissed from the university before the season began. Wayne Bristol transferred to Georgetown in midseason, and Georgetown announced his addition to the roster on January 27."CAVALRY: Howard G Wayne Bristol Jr Joins Georgetown," Casual Hoya, January 27, 2022 Accessed 29 January 2022
2021 recruiting class
Roster
Notes: Chuma Azinge was a recruited walk-on. Wayne Bristol transferred to Georgetown in midseason, and Georgetown announced his addition to the roster on January 27.
Season recap
Since Georgetown's run to the 2021 Big East tournament championship and appearance in the 2021 NCAA tournament, the team had lost seven players. Graduate transfer point guard Jalen Harris, who played only five games with the Hoyas in 2020–2021 before taking a leave of absence for "family reasons", never returned to Georgetown.Bancroft, Bobby, "Georgetown guard Jalen Harris taking leave of absence", Casual Hoya, December 18, 2020 Accessed 5 March 2021 Senior guard Jahvon Blair, the team's leading scorer, and four-year starting guard/forward Jamorko Pickett had both graduated and graduate student Chudier Bile, a forward who after a slow start had played a large role in Georgetown's late-season resurgence in 2020–2021, also had departed, all three foregoing their COVID-19 pandemic-related fifth year of collegiate eligibility to enter the 2020 NBA draft."Links: Jahvon Blair Movin' On, Georgetown Roster News", Casual Hoya, April 21, 2021 Accessed April 22, 2021Whipple, "Movin' On: Georgetown's Jamorko Pickett Going Pro, Hiring an Agent", Casual Hoya, May 14, 2021 Accessed November 17, 2021Whipple, "Movin' On: Hoyas Forward Chudier Bile To Enter NBA Draft", Casual Hoya, May 31, 2021 Accessed November 17, 2021 On April 14, 2021, moreover, the NCAA had approved a new transfer rule allowing Division I players to transfer once during their college careers and begin play immediately for their new schools, repealing a rule instituted in the 1960s requiring a transferring player to sit out two semesters before resuming play, and this removed a major disincentive to transferring.Auerbach, Noel, "NCAA approves one-time transfer rule, end of recruiting dead period", The Athletic, April 15, 2021 Accessed 25 November 2021.Dellenger, Ross, "'It's Going to Change the Landscape': The NCAA's Transfer Revolution Is Here, and Its Impact Will Be Felt Far and Wide", Sports Illustrated, April 14, 2021 Accessed 25 November 2021. Sophomore starting center Qudus Wahab, who Ewing had said could be Georgetown's next dominating "big man", had surprised sports pundits and fans by transferring to Maryland.Copeland, Kareem, "Georgetown center Qudus Wahab enters transfer portal", The Washington Post, March 25, 2021 Accessed March 26, 2021"Transfer: Georgetown Sophomore Center, Qudus Wahab, Enters Transfer Portal", Casual Hoya, March 25, 2021 Accessed March 25, 2021Kareem Copeland on Twitter, March 25, 2021 Accessed March 25, 2021Vanderzwaag, Jacob, "Breaking: Qudus Wahab To Transfer From Georgetown", Thompson's Towel, March 25, 2021 Accessed March 25, 2021Paras, Matthew, "Georgetown center Qudus Wahab enters transfer portal", The Washington Times, March 25, 2021 Accessed March 26, 2021 Two freshman who had seen only limited action — forward Jamari Sibley, who had been Georgetown's only four-star recruit for 2020–2021, and guard T.J. Berger — had transferred in search of greater playing time, Sibley leaving for UTEP and Berger departing for San Diego.Whipple, "Portal Watch: Georgetown's TJ Berger Headed to San Diego (Updated)", Casual Hoya, April 21, 2021 Accessed November 17, 2021rotowire.com "T. J. Berger: Lands with San Diego", April 27, 2021 Accessed November 17, 2021Whipple, "Portal Watch: Georgetown F Jamari Sibley Enters the Transfer Portal", Casual Hoya, May 17, 2021 Accessed November 17, 2021Whipple, "Transfer: Forward Jamari Sibley Transferring to UTEP Miners", Casual Hoya, June 10, 2021 Accessed November 17, 2021 However, Georgetown's loss of three players to transfer was merely the average among Division I schools during the 2021 offseason, which had seen 1,068 men's basketball players change schools at the dawn of the new transfer era.Svrluga, Barry, "Watching Maryland is like watching any college game: Buy a program. You will need it.", The Washington Post, November 25, 2021 Accessed 25 November 2021. Three-year recruited walk-on Jaden Robinson, who had not appeared in a game during the 2020–2021 season, also left the program, opting not to return for a fourth year with the team.Jaden Robinson (2018-2021), Georgetown Basketball History Project Accessed 10 December 2021
Only six scholarship players returned from the 2020–2021 team. They included senior guard Donald Carey, Georgetown's top three-point shooter in 2020–2021; sophomore starting point guard Dante Harris, the 2021 Big East tournament Most Outstanding Player; junior centers Timothy Ighoefe — the presumptive starter after Wahab's departure — and Malcolm Wilson; and sophomore forwards Kobe Clark and Collin Holloway. Two walk-ons, junior guard Chuma Azinge and sophomore forward Victor Muresan, the son of National Basketball Association great Gheorghe Muresan, also returned. Two transfers arrived at Georgetown, senior Tre King from Eastern Kentucky and graduate student Kaiden Rice from The Citadel; the program hoped that King, a projected starter, could fill a gap at power forward as well as pose a three-point shooting threat,Anderson, Jarren, "Georgetown Basketball: 2021-22 season preview and outlook for Hoyas: Projected starting lineup", Busting Brackets, October 11, 2021 Accessed 21 November 2021. while Rice also was a skilled three-point shooter with the potential to make the starting lineup.Anderson, Jarren, "Georgetown Basketball: 2021-22 season preview and outlook for Hoyas: Projected starting lineup: Key reserves", Busting Brackets, October 11, 2021 Accessed 21 November 2021. Also joining the team were five freshmen who made up what 247Sports.com ranked as the 16th-best recruiting class in the United States and third in the Big East.Giustino, Thomas, "Big East Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2021-22 season: 7 — Hoyas", Busting Brackets, October 9, 2021 Accessed 21 November 2021Preston, Dave, "Georgetown Men's Basketball Preview: Reloading for another run", wtop.com, November 9, 2021 Accessed 20 November 2021Copeland, Kareem, "Georgetown opens with a flop, upset by Dartmouth at home", The Washington Post, November 13, 2021 Accessed 27 November 2021 It included guard Aminu Mohammed (the first five-star recruit of Ewing's tenure as head coach),Melnick, Kyle, "Georgetown Coach Patrick Ewing lands first five-star recruit in Aminu Mohammed", The Washington Post, December 20, 2020 Accessed 25 November 2021. four-star center Ryan Mutombo (the son of Georgetown and NBA great Dikembe Mutombo), combo guard Tyler Beard (who a year earlier had opted to delay his enrollment at Georgetown to spend an additional year at Hargrave Military Academy),Bailey, Ron, "HoyaReport: Beard opts for prep school", Rivals.com, June 30, 2020 Accessed March 30, 2021 power forward Jalin Billingsley, and shooting guard Jordan Riley. Mohammed was voted the preseason Big East Freshman of the Year for 2021–2022, the first Georgetown player so honored in Ewing's tenure as head coach.Anonymous, "Aminu Mohammed Named Big East Preseason Freshman of the Year", guhoyas.com, October 19, 2021 Accessed 21 November 2021
Confusion over Georgetown's 2021–2022 schedule arose early in the offseason. On April 15, 2021, media reports indicated that Georgetown would play in the Orlando Invitational at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Florida, on November 25, 26 and 28."Schedule News! Georgetown to Play in the Orlando Invitational", Casual Hoya, April 15, 2021 Accessed April 16, 2021 On April 23, however, media reports indicated that the Hoyas would replace TCU in the 2021 Wooden Legacy in Anaheim, California, on November 25–26."Schedule: Georgetown in Wooden Legacy, Orlando Invitational Never Confirmed", Casual Hoya, April 23, 2021 Accessed May 5, 2021 The situation finally was clarified on May 20, when Georgetown confirmed it would play in the Wooden Legacy, explaining that reports of its participation in the Orlando Invitational had been unofficial and that the school had never confirmed its participation.Whipple, "Schedule: Georgetown Confirms Wooden Legacy for November 2021", Casual Hoya, May 20, 2021 Accessed 21 November 2021.