Georgetown's madness returns

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Georgetown celebrated Midnight Madness last night by unfurling the school's latest Final Four banner and rolling out the red carpet for the most stunning cast of recruits ever assembled at one time in the District.

The past, present and future of Hoya Hoops converged on McDonough Gymnasium for a practice tip-off spectacle unlike anything ever witnessed on the Hilltop. The queue to enter the 2,500-seat gym stretched more than a quarter mile and began forming more than four hours before the doors opened. Analyst Bill Raftery and an ESPNU crew were on hand to chronicle the event. And a massive screen was placed in the McDonough parking lot to accommodate overflow interest.

Unveilings of both the Final Four banner from last season's 30-7 season and a framed No. 22 Seattle Supersonics jersey in honor of former Big East Player of the Year Jeff Green, the fifth pick in this year's NBA draft, represented the past.

"I don't look up, honestly, because I don't want to get a big head or get excited," Georgetown junior guard Jessie Sapp said of the Final Four reminder earlier this week. "It was fun while we were making our run, but now it's time to focus on this year."

The introduction of coach John Thompson III and this season's roster represented the present. Since Georgetown, which last season swept the Big East regular season and tournament titles, returns four starters and its top four reserves, it is again a consensus top-10 pick this year. The Hoyas also feature one of the nation's premier players in 7-foot-2 senior center Roy Hibbert.

"In three years under Coach Thompson, we've gone from the NIT to the Sweet 16 to the Final Four, so that's a big jump,"Hibbert said earlier this week. "There's just one step left, and in order to take it we're going to have to keep working hard, stay humble and stay hungry."

Eschewing NBA millions to return for his final season on the Hilltop, Hibbert (12.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.4 blocks) is perhaps the only proven prototype pivot in the college game. While replacing Green's versatility is a virtual impossibility, Hibbert gives the Hoyas both an obvious focal point and the runaway preseason favorite to match Green's league MVP laurels.

"Honestly, he's gotten a lot better," Sapp said of the latest in a long line of Georgetown giants. "He's getting up and down the court a lot quicker. I believe Roy is going to be great this year, honestly. I think he's ready for what anybody throws at him on or off the court."

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about last night, however, was the glittering collection of future prospects soaking in the blue-and-gray bonanza.

Highlighted by 6-10 intimidator Greg Monroe, the consensus top prospect in the crop of prep seniors, the Hoyas played host to better than a full roster's worth of blue-chip recruits last night.

Perhaps nothing says more about the outrageous arc of Thompson's program than the collection of high school talent assembled at McDonough last night. Of the 12 high school juniors and seniors on hand, rivals.com has listed six of them as five-star prospects, and five earned four-star status.

Five other players ranked among Rivals' top-100 in the class of 2008 joined Monroe, a native of Harvey, La., who is considered a Georgetown lean by insiders. Three of those players have committed to play for Thompson and Co.: 6-8 forward Chris Braswell (Hargrave Military, No. 63), 6-10 center Henry Sims (Baltimore Mount St. Joseph, No. 64) and 6-2 guard Jason Clark (Bishop O'Connell, No. 89).

The Hoyas have two remaining scholarships to potentially give to Monroe or last night's other 2008 visitors Gus Gilchrist and Renaldo Woolridge. Gilchrist (No. 54) is a 6-10 decommit from Virginia Tech playing at Progressive Christian (Temple Hills, Md.) and the 6-7 Woolridge (No. 59) is an explosive small forward from Harvard Westlake High School in North Hollywood, Calif., who has narrowed his list to Georgetown, Southern Cal and Tennessee.