The Big East held its annual Media Day on Thursday morning at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square and it was unfortunately business as usual for Georgetown.
The Hoyas, who were represented in person by coach Ed Cooley and players Chol Machot, Kayvaun Mulready, Josiah Parker, Jaland Lowe and Elmarko Jackson, were tabbed to finish 10th in the 11-team conference.
No Hoyas were selected for any All-Big East honors.
This is the lowest (by a hair) that Georgetown has been selected at Media Day in Cooley’s now fourth season. Georgetown has finished the season in either 10th or 11th place in two of Cooley’s first three seasons and four of the last five seasons overall as a program.
Georgetown has been picked in the bottom half of the league’s pre-season poll in each of the ten seasons since firing John Thompson III in 2017. The Hoyas last finished with a winning conference record in 2015 when they finished 2nd in the then 10-team Big East, earning the program’s most recent NCAA at-large bid and NCAA Tournament victory.
Cooley’s most interesting comments during his time in front of the media came after he was asked about Georgetown’s mystique and if it still existed.
“Absolutely the mystique is not gone,” Cooley said.
“Absolutely not. Yeah have we had some turbulent waters? We haven’t had the success that we want – absolutely.
“But the mystique will never go away. You can’t erase history. You can’t erase dominance. You can’t erase Hall of Famers. We have not done what I wish we would do and there’s a lot of variations and reasons why – zero excuses. Year 4 we need to make a big jump. There’s no hiding behind a lack of success. We have to do a better job.”
Cooley is a disappointing 42-57 (16-44 Big East) at Georgetown after his successful 12-year run at Providence that included seven NCAA Tournament berths. In contrast Cooley hasn’t had the Hoyas anywhere near a Bubble come March in his time on the Hilltop. The last Georgetown coach to miss four straight NCAA Tournaments was Jack Magee. OK, Hoya history lesson incoming.
Magee, of course, is the coach that preceded John Thompson Jr. His best season in a six-year stint came in 1970 when he led the 18-6 Hoyas to their first NIT berth sine 1953. Back then the NCAA Tournament was rather difficult to make as only 25 teams qualified. Making the NIT was still a big deal.
Anyway, that’s the last time a coach missed four straight NCAA Tournaments at Georgetown. It’s been a minute and the pressure should be on Cooley despite what our friend at the world famous Marquette blog thinks about the position.
ROSTER UPDATED
On Big East Media Day Eve, Georgetown posted a 2026-27 roster on it’s athletics website. Of note, Vince Iwuchukwu was included while DePaul transfer NJ Benson was nowhere to be found.