Who would have thought the fallout from the firing of former LSU head coach Will Wade could ultimately save Patrick Ewing’s job? The Georgetown Hoyas hired former top LSU assistant Kevin Nickelberry to Ewing’s coaching staff.
Kevin Nickelberry is a Washington, DC native. He has an extensive coaching resume that included being the head coach of the Howard Bison from 2010-2019 before landing at LSU. It was Nickelberry who served as interim head coach following Wade’s dismissal.
His recruiting abilities may give Georgetown a returning presence around the DMV area. Yet, the Hoyas may stand to benefit from Nickelberry immediately thanks to the NCAA’s transfer portal.
According to college basketball insider Adam Zagoria, Georgetown is in “strong position” to land LSU transfers Brandon Murray, Efton Reid and Alex Fudge.
Rumors of LSU’s three transfers following Nickelberry surfaced shortly after his hiring. Zagoria’s report gives substance to the speculation.
Murray is a 6-foot-5 guard and former Top-100 recruit. He averaged 10.0 points and 1.9 assists in 33 games as a freshman. He’s also a Baltimore native, who attended IMG Academy.
Reid is a 6-foot-11 center. He was ranked as the 27th top recruit nationally in the class of 2021. This season he averaged 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in 34 games as a freshman.
Fudge is a combo forward standing at 6-foot-6. He was a top-100 recruit in 2020 but redshirted during the 2020-21 season. This season, he played in 29 games and averaged 3.3 points and 3.2 rebounds.
In all three cases, the coaching change certainly played a huge role in their pending transfers. They’ll be looking for a new college home to get expanded roles on the court.
Georgetown is coming off a historically bad season. The Hoyas went 0-19 in conference play for its first last-place finish in the Big East. They finished the season with 21 straight losses, including losing to Xavier in the Big East Tournament.
The dreadful placed Ewing firmly on the hot seat. The fan base has seemingly grown tiresome of the former Hoyas legend. In effort to remain the coach of his Alma mater, Ewing parted ways with two assistants Robert Kirby and Akbar Waheed, paving the way for Nickelberry.
