Greg is Gone

The Greg Monroe era at Georgetown has come and gone in a matter of two years. Monroe leaves behind a solid statistical collegiate career with his entrance into the NBA draft, but a career with one glaring omission: an NCAA tournament victory.

The literal big man on campus decided this past Saturday that he would be entering the NBA draft. The announcement came despite his claim after the loss to Ohio in the NCAA tournament that "I'm ready to go back and see how I can help my team next year."

Of course it was tough to be convinced that he would stay. He's a projected lottery pick in this year's draft, and after such a disappointing loss, anyone else would have said the exact same thing.

Even his coach, John Thompson III said after he heard the quote, "You know, I think that he's going to sit and make that decision as time goes on right here."

Thompson was right. After a month of mulling it over with family, friends and his coach JTIII, Monroe decided to put his name into the draft.

Greg has had an excellent career on the Hilltop. In his two years as a Hoya he averaged 14.5 PPG, 8.2 RPG and 3.2 APG. He improved this year, averaging close to a double-double this year with 16.1 PPG and 9.6 RPG. There's no doubt he has established himself as one of the great big men that have come through Georgetown.

But he's not the usual big man. Greg stands at 6'11" but only weighs 247 pounds. What he doesn't have in power however, he makes up for in his ability to finesse his way to the hoop and pass the ball as effectively as any man his size.

These abilities made Monroe the perfect player to run JTIII's pass-heavy Princeton offense through. With his scoring ability, he was able to not only dominate down low, but with his passing he was also able to open up scoring opportunities for his teammates. He was the dream big man for JTIII and his teammates.

He wasn't just a favorite among his coaches and teammates but with Georgetown fans as well. In his freshman year he was one of the few bright spots in a dismal season that ended with Georgetown missing the NCAA tournament and losing in the first round of the NIT.

This year he was arguably the best and certainly the most consistent player on the team. When Chris Wright was struggling mid-season and Austin Freeman was struggling down the stretch, Monroe was always there to step up and help the Hoyas win.

With a Big East tournament run that ended with a loss in the finals against West Virginia, Monroe and Georgetown looked poised to make a run deep into the tournament. But in what is now officially Monroe's last college basketball game, Georgetown was upset by Ohio in the first round, despite his 19 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists.

And now we find ourselves in the present day, mourning the loss of the big man to the big leagues, like a mother mourns the loss of her son to college. Even though he's only been at Georgetown for two years, it feels like we have seen him grow from the lanky high school kid to the soon to be millionaire NBA player.

But like a mother sending off her son to college, we know it's time for Monroe to move on to bigger things. His skill set is impeccable, and coming off a great season, with this year’s draft class being relatively weak, chances are this is his best chance to be a lottery pick.

He had the opportunity to leave last year, and likely be a lottery pick, but he passed up millions to stay in college. Thankfully his draft stock didn't waver any, but it's always tough to tell what will happen to student-athletes if they decide to remain students for another year.

Matt Leinart, the former quarterback at USC, would probably have been the top overall pick had he entered the draft after his junior year. Instead he went back to school and was drafted tenth the next year, losing millions of dollars, tons of notoriety and fame and most importantly a good amount of his self confidence.

Does everyone end up like Leinart? No. Many athletes who choose college over the pros improve their draft stock. But Monroe probably would not have been one of them. The only real problem with Monroe is his size. In a league filled with monsters rather than men, lanky guys get eaten up down low. But staying an extra year just to bulk up wouldn't be worth it. A couple of extra pounds are not going to change the way that Monroe plays. You can't go from being a finesse post player to being a powerful force like Shaq. Plus, with JTIII's Princeton offense he was never going to be able to camp out under the hoop, and score 20 points consistently every night, so a little extra weight and an extra year would not improve his draft stock, as there was little room for statistical improvement in the system.

That doesn't ease the heartbreak much for Georgetown fans. We've heard all year that Monroe loved college, and that he wasn't sure whether he was ready or even wanted to leave. We were convinced that with Greg, the money could wait.

But there seems to be something other than money coming into play here, something that supersedes both the desire for the fortune and fame and the desire to go back to school. It's the need to provide for his family.

Monroe's family and community were hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. Greg is from Harvey, Louisiana, right outside of New Orleans, and has one sister, Brittany and a divorced mother, Norma. He had to leave his town for a month after the Katrina, and when he returned "the place was a ghost town," Norma told the NY Times.

Although the NY Times reported that "Norma told her son that he should not go to the NBA until he was certain he was ready," Monroe may feel the need and even desire to help not only his family but his community, recover from a hurricane that Louisiana is still recovering from more than four years after it hit.

The big question is not Monroe's motive for going pro though, it's how good he'll be once he gets to the pros. Many have speculated that he'll get pushed around down low, but I don't think they're looking at the whole picture.

Monroe may not be the prototypical big man these days, but I think that plays into his favor. Not many 6'11" guys possess his coordination nor his ability to pass the ball effectively and move everywhere on the court, and that will allow him to stand out when scouts are looking at him.

It is tough to tell where Monroe will end up as a lot of the teams projected to draft around the tenth pick - about where Monroe is projected to go - are in need of a big man. There are the76ers, the Jazz, the Pacers, the Clippers and the Pistons. His hometown New Orleans Hornets may even be tempted to add him as well.

The best fit for Monroe is the Jazz. Jerry Sloan, the coach of the Jazz, runs a similar offense to the Princeton offense that Monroe was in at Georgetown. Just like the Princeton offense, Sloan's offense is a motion offense with lots of passing and cuts, usually with four guys on the perimeter and one man in the post.

With Utah big man Carlos Boozer's contract up after this year and other big man Mehmet Okur not getting any younger at age 30, Utah can use a big man, especially one that fits perfectly into their offense.

Wherever Monroe ends up, and no matter how well he does in the NBA, one thing is for sure: he will be greatly missed by the Georgetown community.