To call the schedule that John Thompson III has arranged for this basketball season difficult would be an understatement. In addition to the conference-prescribed and always challenging Big East slate, which includes two matchups with Villanova and a trip to West Virginia, Thompson has also chosen of his own volition to play teams such as Butler, Washington, Duke, and Savannah State.
One of those non-conference opponents is not like the other. The first three were all ranked in top fifteen of the major preseason polls. Savannah State only started playing in Division I in 2002, and is best known for not winning a game in the 2004-2005 season.
“Scheduling is an inexact science,” Thompson said. “I don’t know that I have a [scheduling] philosophy. I think it varies year to year depending on the group that I have, and what I think they need to see and experience before league play starts.”
Teams like Savannah State, Lafayette, and Tulane, whom Georgetown opens its season against Friday, are hardly comparable to even the mediocre squads that the Hoyas must face in the Big East. Their placement on Georgetown’s schedule seems to belie Thompson’s goal of playing opponents that will prepare his team for conference play.
Of course, scheduling isn’t all about playing the best available teams. If any coach turned in a non-conference schedule full of top 25 foes, boosters would probably revolt—no one wants to see their team knocked around before league play even starts. Easy wins against cupcake teams can boost players’ confidence and keep the fans happy.
Still, a power program like Georgetown (yes, Georgetown is still a power program, even after last season) usually has the luxury of making the cupcakes come to them. That’s what the Hoyas did last season—they didn’t play a true road game until Big East play. So why would they choose to open their season at Tulane?
At 6-foot-11, one possible answer is hard to miss. Tulane happens to be located in New Orleans, the hometown of Hoya star Greg Monroe.
Thompson explained that Monroe was just one factor in scheduling the Green Wave.
“We were looking for a road game with good competition,” he said. “I’ve known [Tulane] coach [Dave Dickerson] forever and he wanted to play, so it’s probably less about Greg [Monroe], but obviously that’s in the mix also.”
Tulane does have a lot of experience, but nevertheless is coming off a losing season. And while any game played in a hostile environment poses a challenge, it would be foolish to think that the Hoya faithful would expect anything less than a Big Easy win on Friday.
The fact of the matter is, while Thompson may have been looking to play any competent team on the road, the Hoyas are playing Tulane. There are two reasons for that: Monroe and Dickerson. The latter reveals the real secret of scheduling—it’s all about who you know.
Take Savannah State for instance.
“We did a home-and-home with them, and I told Horace if he came up here we’d go back down there,” Thompson said.
That would be Horace Broadnax, Savannah State’s head coach and, as it just so happens, a member of Georgetown’s 1984 NCAA championship team. It’s hard to imagine the Hoyas would be travelling to Georgia to play a fledgling independent school, especially one they beat at home last season 100-38, if their coach hadn’t played for John Thompson Jr.
It may seem like playing a team as out of its league as Savannah State could be detrimental to the Hoyas’ preparation for the Big East, but JTIII has more than balanced out the schedule with his other non-conference opponents. If Thompson was only playing his friends there would be a problem, but in small doses, a little nepotism does the schedule good. The opponent gets a game against a big name school, and Georgetown either gets a road tune-up or an easy, confidence-boosting win. It’s a win-win situation for all parties.
As long as the Hoyas are getting something out of these games, there’s no reason to complain. Thompson should be able to enjoy his schedule-making power while it lasts. Big East play will arrive soon enough, and Georgetown will have no control over its opponents. Then again, that’s probably the only way it could be—in the Big East, there are no friends.
