Georgetown and Washington State will meet in the first round of the inaugural College Basketball Crown postseason tournament on Monday at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It will be the first ever meeting between the programs.
Georgetown (17-15), which has clinched its first winning record since the 2018-19 season, will look a bit different in its first postseason action since the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
“We’re not going out there with a full deck, but we’re going out there with some guys who are eager,” said Hoyas coach Ed Cooley on Friday.
“We’re excited. Any time you can play in the postseason and this being the first ever Crown opportunity to play against another league. We’ll try and represent the Big East the best way we can. We’re excited to go, and we’ll see where we end up.”
Since losing in the first round of the Big East tournament to DePaul nearly three weeks ago, the Hoyas have lost starter Drew Fielder to the transfer portal. The 6-foot-11 sophomore, originally a Providence recruit who then followed Cooley to Georgetown, started 31 games this season while averaging 7.1 points and 5.4 rebounds.
Big East All-Freshman selection Thomas Sorber, who missed the final few weeks after requiring turf toe surgery, has entered his name in the 2025 NBA Draft with the option of returning to school. Sorber averaged 14.5 points and a team-high 8.5 rebounds in 24 games.
Washington State (19-14) reached the postseason in coach David Riley’s first season and its the fourth straight overall as a program. Just like the Hoyas, Riley’s Cougars will be without two key players as starters Nate Calmese and Isaiah Watts entered the transfer portal since their West Coast Conference tournament loss to San Francisco on March 9.
Calmese led Washington State in scoring (15.2 ppg) and assists (4.4 apg) while Watts averaged 11 points and shot 34.8 percent from 3-point range.
Riley gave his thoughts on Tuesday about how a team can prepare to play while keeping an eye on the future with the portal.
“It’s busy,” Riley said.
“I think it’s fun for me as a coach. There’s never a month that’s the same. Every month is something different and we have to go recruit players in the portal and we have to dive in and get to know all these people as humans over a week which is crazy in it of itself. It’s a fun time.”
Georgetown, which hasn’t won a postseason game since defeating Eastern Washington in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, is one of four Big East schools in the Crown while the Cougars are joined by Oregon State of the WCC. Washington State won a game in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, its first since 2008.
Monday’s winner will advance to play the winner of Nebraska and Arizona State on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.
–Field Level Media
