Wright, Freeman leave with one NCAA victory
Chris Wright and Austin Freeman were there when Georgetown began its journey to the 2007 Final Four. Little did they know it would be the closest they would get.
Two local high school seniors then — one from St. John’s College, the other from DeMatha — Wright and Freeman arrived together as celebrities four years ago at Leo O’Donovan Hall on the university’s campus to watch the NCAA tournament selection show with their future coach, teammates and classmates. Both McDonald’s All-Americans, Wright and Freeman were supposed to ensure that the Hoyas were destined for more than one deep run into the NCAAs under coach John Thompson III’s tutelage.
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Instead, despite moments of dominance, Wright and Freeman’s tenure will be remembered for only one NCAA tournament win and losses to double-digit seeds in three appearances, including consecutive first-round exits. The final one came Friday night in Chicago courtesy of Virginia Commonwealth.
Despite the lack of a dominant big man this year, Wright, Freeman and junior Jason Clark composed a gifted and experienced three-man backcourt that gave Georgetown seemingly limitless potential. The Hoyas’ stock rose steadily as they tromped through the nonconference portion of the most difficult schedule in the country, including games against seven eventual NCAA teams, losing only once — on the road at Temple. Georgetown also won eight in a row in the historically tough and deep Big East.
But the star power of the Hoyas’ guard trio masked how fragile the team was constructed as a whole. When Wright was lost with a broken hand Feb. 23, the Hoyas (21-11) suddenly were rudderless.
Freeman, the Big East preseason player of the year, proved incapable of leading his team to a victory without his friend since childhood as Georgetown lost four in a row.
Expecting that chemistry to be restored as Wright returned for the NCAAs was too much too ask, and he, Freeman and Clark were a combined 0-for-16 from 3-point range against the Rams.
“We’re not going to win too many games when all three of those guys have nights like that,” Thompson told reporters afterward. “Unfortunately, it happened tonight.”
But disappointment has become a trend for the Hoyas after their future seemed destined for so much promise in the first few years of Thompson’s tenure. If he’s to reverse that direction, it’ll be with players with less pedigree than Wright and Freeman. The Hoyas don’t have any All-Americans joining them next year.
“As the coach, as the head of the program, you go through introspection, and we’ll take time, and I’ll do that,” Thompson said. “A lot will be discussed about this group and what they have and haven’t done in the postseason. We’ll evaluate that.”
