7 Feet 2 and Still Growing

Hibbert averaged 19 points and 17 rebounds as a senior at Georgetown Prep, but he wasn't really ready for college basketball. He still retained some of that early awkwardness; he was still figuring out how to effectively use his large frame.

"It was kind of funny looking at him," said sophomore forward Jeff Green, an All-Met at Northwestern who befriended Hibbert during a summer league all-star game in 2003. "I'd never seen anybody that tall. He couldn't move the way he does now."

In any other season, Hibbert would have been redshirted as a freshman. But the young Hoyas needed every big body last year, and he wound up starting 17 games and averaging 16 minutes. Georgetown's coaches worked on improving Hibbert's athletic skills; they focused on the basics, such as catching the ball and putting it on the floor. At the same time, Green flourished, finishing as the team's leading rebounder (6.6) and second-leading scorer (13.1), and was named the Big East co-rookie of the year.

"He played so well last year, I felt like I wanted to help out more," Hibbert said. "I told Jeff before that we're like the cleanup crew, we have to get all the rebounds. I told him I want to be like him."

So he went to work. Hibbert watched as Green and fellow sophomore Tyler Crawford pushed themselves in the weight room, and used that as motivation. Players were required to lift three times a week, but Hibbert made sure he was in there four or five days a week; as a result, he went from squatting his body weight (285) to squatting 365 pounds.

He woke up early to go running along the same two-to-three mile loop around campus. During one of those runs, an older man in a car pulled up alongside Hibbert and told him, "Run fast, Roy, you want to play this year." That was when everything started to click. Said Hibbert: "I swear to God this happened, and I said I was going to push myself. I really want to play this year."

Hibbert dominated Georgetown's first two games, making a combined 15 of 19 shots in victories at Navy (20 points) and James Madison (23 points). But he struggled in his first real test of the season, scoring six points and failing to grab a rebound in a 68-61 loss to Vanderbilt. Hibbert got into early foul trouble and played a season-low 13 minutes.

The next game, however, he had 16 points (on 5-of-6 shooting) and 10 rebounds in Georgetown's 71-57 win at Oregon. The Ducks' two post players, Ray Schafer and Ivan Johnson, combined to miss 11 of 14 shots, and get only four rebounds. After the game, Schafer said the Ducks were hesitant to attack the basket because of the "intimidation factor" provided by Hibbert, who also had three blocks.

Hibbert understands that not every game is going to be like the Oregon game -- at least not yet. This is a process, and there is work that needs to be done. But at least he can see improvement. Sweetney, now a starter with the Chicago Bulls, continues to come back to Georgetown during the summer to work out. Hibbert continues to match up against him.

And now "it's a much better show," Hibbert said. "At least it's not him throwing me around or anything like that."