Reserve small forward says he’ll seek transfer
Coming off its first loss of the season, Georgetown (8-1) suffered another blow Tuesday when the Hoyas announced that junior Nikita Mescheriakov would seek a transfer at the end of the semester.
Although the 6-foot-8 small forward from Belarus averaged only 6.3 minutes in seven appearances this year, his exit continues an alarming trend of departures since the end of the 2007-08 season.
After having reached the Final Four the year before, the Hoyas were upset by Davidson in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and it wasn’t long before reserves Vernon Macklin and Jeremiah Rivers both decided to transfer — to Florida and Indiana, respectively — which added to the challenge of replacing NBA draft lottery picks Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green.
“You may be a McDonald’s All-American this year, but they’re also going to recruit another McDonald’s All-American, and you’re going to have to compete for a spot,” said Hibbert before his recent game in Washington with the Indiana Pacers. “If you feel like for that spot you don’t want to fight for it, sometimes people want to leave.”
Following last year’s disappointing 16-15 campaign, junior DaJuan Summers also left early for the draft, although he was not chosen until the second round.
Mescheriakov, who redshirted as a freshman in 2007-08, started Georgetown’s final nine games last year, a stretch that included a career-high 11 points against Villanova on Feb. 28. But he never established his range, shooting just 25.5 percent from behind the arc over two seasons.
“Nikita expressed the interest to transfer to a school where he knows he will get more playing time than he feels he will get here,” said Hoyas head coach John Thompson III in a statement. “We wish him the best in his future endeavors and appreciate his hard work.”
