(Editor’s Note: DCist would like to welcome another new member to our Sports staff. Hayden Alfano will be covering the local college hoops beat as well as assisting in our upcoming coverage of the 2005 NBA Draft.)
After a grueling season, college basketball coaches have little time to relax. The recruiting trail beckons, and they lay awake at night worrying if any of their players will declare early for the NBA Draft. Local hoops coaches are feeling the heat with the draft just a month away.
In College Park, point guard John Gilchrist leaves after a tumultuous junior season. Despite his tendency to bog down the offense and take bad shots, the Terps will certainly miss Gilchrist, the team’s third-leading scorer and only playmaker. Sterling Ledbetter — who played only sparingly in his first year after transferring from a junior college — is the leading candidate for the Gilchrist’s job. Maryland isn’t the only ACC team to lose its floor leader. Wake Forest’s Chris Paul and North Carolina’s Raymond Felton are both early entries, while Duke’s Daniel Ewing’s eligibility is up. That softens the blow a little.
The George Washington Colonials are crossing their fingers that their star forwards, Mike Hall and “Pops” Mensah-Bonsu, decide to return to Foggy Bottom after declaring early. Neither player has signed with an agent, meaning they have until June 21 — a week before the draft — to withdraw their name if they don’t like their prospects. However, it appears as though Pops, at least, is leaning towards staying in the draft. With their full squad GW, fresh off of its first NCAA bid since 1999, had a real shot at repeating as Atlantic Ten champs and returning to the Big Dance. But without Hall and Mensah-Bonsu, they are a middle of the road team in a weak conference, at best.
At Georgetown, Brandon Bowman — the team’s leading scorer — is similarly testing the NBA waters. The Hoyas, who haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2001, would certainly welcome Bowman back with open arms (like Hall and Mensah-Bonsu, he hasn’t hired an agent). However, Georgetown is probably the local team best-equipped to deal with an early departure. Coach John Thompson III has the program on the rise and ready to compete in next year’s expanded and highly competitive Big East.
