Earlier in the week, Georgetown announced that Timothy Ighoefe, Tyler Beard and Jalin Billingsley had entered the transfer portal.
In today’s college basketball, it isn’t shocking when kids decide to transfer. It’s college basketball’s version of free agency.
Though all three contributed on various levels, it’s Billingsley who could be the one whose leaving hurts the most.
Billingsley came in with the class that was supposed to vault Georgetown back up the Big East after the Hoyas lost the entire recruiting class that include James Akinjo and Mac McClung.
The 2021 class included Billingsley (3-star) and Beard (4-star) along with three other 4-stars: Aminu Mohammed, Jordan Riley, and Ryan Mutombo. Mohammed has announced that he’s entering the NBA Draft with the option of coming back.
But the 6’7″ Billingsley was the one who had the most upside. At his size he can play inside-out. Has the ability to dominate the boards at any given moment. If could be a legit 17-8 guy in the Big East.
That never materialized as his minutes stayed on the low side all season. Billingsley played 20+ minutes only three times this season. In those three games, he averaged 8 points on 41% shooting. Both are above his season average of 2.1 points per game on 33.8% shooting.
The problem was Patrick Ewing’s offense never took advantage of Billingsley’s skillset. The disturbing thing is they never tried to. Billingsley is a kid who has post moves in an era where kids don’t have post moves. But how can you put him in the post when you have three seven-footers with limited offensive talented (Mutombo was the best of the three) clogging up the lane?
Even then, reversing the ball to Billingsley to shoot or attack could’ve also been impactful. But how can you do that when you have a ball dominant guard who seems to think he’s the second coming of Isiah Thomas. Not only did that limit what Billingsley and others could do but the no-pass possessions were a dagger for Georgetown.
When you add in all the individual issues with playing for a historically bad team, it’s no wonder that Billingsley decided to roll out of town. Can you blame him?
I certainly can’t.
