HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will spend the upcoming months covering several Georgetown basketball home games, with (hopefully) a very special reward coming in March. He was in attendance Wednesday afternoon for the Hoyas’ media day at Capital 1 Arena that included a press conference with Coach Ed Cooley and an interview with Baylor transfer Langston Love.
Since Coach Cooley increased his win total during each of his 1st 3 years at his previous 2 stops (Fairfield/Providence), I asked him if he felt that he had the pieces to do that at Georgetown. After thanking me for putting the pressure on him(!), he said that he expected to be good as they grew as an organization. Many supporters of college basketball teams think that money equates to winning, but he claimed that you need to build camaraderie with a feeling of “we over me”. He expects his team to be damn good, but they we will make some mistakes and then grow from them. He thought he recruited an NCAA tourney-caliber team last year before they had so many injuries.
After Cooley’s press conference, Langston Love took a few minutes to speak with me about his decision to come to DC and his fantastic FT shooting:
You transferred to Montverde Academy after your sophomore year of high school: which of your teammates impressed you the most (Scottie Barnes/Cade Cunningham/Moses Moody/other)? Probably Cade, but Scottie was also a great veteran on that team. You have already seen it translate into them having success in the NBA at an early age.
In the 2021 GEICO Nationals championship game you had a 10-PT win over Sunrise Christian Academy: what did it mean to you to win a title? It was very cool! The year before we did not win a title despite having all those great players you mentioned above, but in 2021 the guys like myself who had been on the bench got a lot more responsibility.
1 of your teammates at the 2021 Jordan Brand Classic was Bryce Hopkins: how excited are you to face him when St. John’s visits DC on New Year’s Eve? It will be cool to see Bryce again: we played against the same guys growing up. It will also be a big game for us because St. John’s has so much hype this year.
Last February as a player at Baylor you scored 9 PTS in a loss to Arizona: could you have ever imagined that 1 of your opponents that night (KJ Lewis) would become your future teammate in DC? It is a small world! As soon as I saw that KJ was in the portal I hoped that he would end up in DC: we even came here on our campus visits together.
Last March in the NCAA tourney you scored 15 PTS in a win over Mississippi State and 11 PTS in a loss to Duke: what did you learn from that postseason run that you think will help you this season? That was my 1st time playing in March Madness because I had been injured in the past. It showed me that it takes all the small things to win: every team can score/defend so it is the little things that set you apart.
You finished last season 32-35 from the FT line: what is the secret to making FTs? Just reps and breathing at the line. Make it about just you and the basket because that is all that matters: they are free for a reason!
What made you choose Georgetown? Coach Cooley is legendary, as is this program. They were honest with me when I was in the portal and I knew that they would push me. It is a great situation for me during my final year in college.
You have only played 74 games during the past 4 years due to a variety of injuries and were banged up a bit this summer: how is your health? I am doing great. 1 reason I came here is because they spoke so highly of the trainer Benny (Reisz). I wanted to go somewhere where they would help me take care of my body and do the right things.
Your father Kevin played football in high school, your brother Kijana played basketball at New Hampshire, and your sisters Endaisia/Camille/Sidney all played college sports: who is the best athlete in the family? I will always choose myself. We are a very competitive family and my dad instilled that trait in us from a young age: he started working me out when I was 5.
What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? Georgetown has been out of the NCAA tourney for a few years, so I want us to play well in the Big East and make the NCAA tourney. I think we have the guys to do it, and I think that it will be a great experience.
That is a wrap for now but check back next month when the season tips off!
