Report: Joshua Smith returns to Georgetown
Aug 23, 2014, 4:00 PM EDT
Getty Images After spending the summer at home and away from Georgetown's campus, senior center Joshua Smith is back on campus and back with the team, 's Ben Standig.
"He's academically eligible and will be here Saturday," Georgetown head coach John Thompson III said to Standig.
Smith last appeared in a Georgetown game on January 4th and he missed the rest of his junior season because he was academically ineligible. When he was active, the 6-foot-10, 350-pound center was still not in any kind of shape to play big minutes and Smith was a huge liability on the defensive end.
Since the Georgetown coaching staff hasn't seen Smith since he went home for the summer, the big question for the senior is what kind of shape will he be in? Thompson isn't focused on Smith's weight being a specific number but he's more concerned about his mobility.
"I think with Josh (and his weight), people want a number," Thompson said to Standig. "It's not a question of the number. It's a question of can he get up and down the court. Can he defensively move his feet. What the number is, for me that number might be different than what it is for you. Josh has to get to a point where his mobility is not an issue."
The Hoyas are happy to have Smith and his post scoring ability back, but it sounds like they're planning for a season with or without a productive Smith.
"We had to change how we played several times last year just because of injuries or Josh going down because of academics," Thompson said to Standig. "Going into this year, I think we're going to have to be prepared for Josh on the court and for Josh not on the court."
It sounds like the Georgetown coaching staff is letting Smith get his life and his health together on his own because there isn't much else they can do for him at this point in his college career.
Smith is a senior now and if he wants to earn a paycheck playing basketball, he has to make significant strides in his conditioning in his final season of college basketball. But Georgetown preparing for life without Smith says a lot. If they don't know what to think of their center then the rest of us will just have to wait and see how he fares on the court.
Follow @phillipshoops
UConn Shop
UConn Shirts
UConn Hats
Shop NCAA Teams
Source : http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/08/23/report-joshua-smith-returns-to-georgetown/
