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The Washington Wizards hosted the Monumental Coaches Workshop on Saturday at the Entertainment Sports Arena in conjunction with Monumental Sports.
The workshop featured three local college coaches and the new Washington Wizards head coach, Brian Keefe.
John Thompson III introduced the event, and Ed Cooley was the first coach to present. The event served as a reminder that Georgetown’s presence in the city needs to be re-established.
Thompson III currently serves as the senior vice president of Monumental Basketball, but he’s also the last Georgetown coach to make a run to the Final Four.
Cooley would love to do the same in a starved city for a winner of any kind. For Cooley to accomplish his goal, he has to be visible at workshops like the one on Saturday.
Cooley’s presentation addressed the ball’s defensive side, stressing closing out on the shooter and guarding ball screens. He also invited coaches to practice. In typical Cooley fashion, the presentation featured his personality on overdrive, making the coaches in the stands laugh in between taking copious notes.
For years, Georgetown has had its version of the Berlin Wall. The program kept the community at arm’s length, and as time passed, the Cold War-like policy became woefully outdated.
To Cooley’s credit, he’s trying to implement his version of Glasnost. But just like Mikael Gorbachev found out, such a drastic change doesn’t bear fruit instantaneously.
Instead of last season kicking off the Cooley era, it served as year zero, and this season served as year one. With college basketball being as old as ever, the Hoyas have several young players who are needed to contribute in the freshman year.
Fans will see better basketball this season, but there will also be reminders of how far the program still needs to go.
It’s why Saturday was so important. Cooley needs to show the recruiting world that Georgetown has changed because the recruiting world has changed.
Like the USSR found out, flexing your muscles and talking about a time that has long passed to a generation that doesn’t care isn’t a way to be successful. It starts with mingling with the recruiting community, where relationships are meaningful, encouraging coaches and fans to get to know the program and, of course, getting wins.
