Hoyas' Hibbert Catching Up With His Height
By Camille Powell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Roy Hibbert's first lesson in what it takes to be a Georgetown big man came nearly six years ago, when he was a skinny 13-year-old who took the bus into the city to work out at McDonough Arena. There, he would square off against Michael Sweetney, who became a Hoyas standout forward and lottery pick. Not only did Sweetney -- who was shorter, heavier and four years older -- dominate the 6-foot-10 Hibbert, but he told him all about it.
"He'd say he was going to shut me down," said Hibbert, who turned 19 earlier this month. "He used to push me around. I said that's not going to happen any more when I get to college."
Hibbert, now a 7-foot-2 sophomore for Georgetown, has worked to fulfill that promise. No Hoyas player worked as hard during the offseason, and no player has made as big a leap as Hibbert, who transformed himself from an often overwhelmed and ineffective freshman into a confident, consistent low-post threat. His scoring average has jumped nearly nine points to a team-high 13.9 points per game and he's grabbing 6.8 rebounds per game, second on the team.
His potential, coupled with the progress he has already made, leads Georgetown Coach John Thompson III to say "one day, Roy is going to be one of the best players in the world."
But just as quickly, when the praise seems to be racing ahead, he cautions, "Let's not make the big fella out to be something that he's not.
"He's got a long way to go," said Thompson, whose Hoyas (6-2) play Colgate tonight in the Sun Bowl Tournament in El Paso. "That's relative to what we need and what he can be. I think he's moving in the right direction. Does he have some tools? Some God-given ability? Yes. Does he have the aptitude and commitment? Yes. The stars still need to align properly, but they're falling into place."
Consider: Hibbert played four years of varsity basketball at Georgetown Prep for Coach Dwayne Bryant, a former Hoyas guard who told stories about former Georgetown teammates Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo. Hibbert is on the same team as transfer Patrick Ewing Jr., who shows videos of his father, one of the truly great centers. Hibbert plays for Thompson, an excellent teacher who, like his Hall of Fame father, takes pride in developing big men.
Perhaps the most important thing, though, is Hibbert's drive to succeed. "Roy wants to be good," Thompson said. "Roy wants to be in the class of the great centers."
Hibbert was just a gangly 12-year-old -- albeit one who stood 6-8 -- when he first met Bryant. Even then, Bryant could tell that he had the potential to be special.
"He had pretty decent skills, but his body was so awkward," said Bryant, who played at Georgetown from 1986 to 1990. "He had great hands and that soft touch, but obviously his footwork wasn't what it needed to be. That's what we really tried to work on with him."
Bryant hired a special trainer who used jump rope drills to help Hibbert and his former high school teammates -- including 6-10 Davis Nwankwo (Vanderbilt) and 6-9 Aris Williams (USF) -- improve their footwork and conditioning. But for every step forward, there always seemed to be a setback. Hibbert broke the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot on the first day of practice as a sophomore, then re-broke it the following summer. The two injuries slowed his development but did not affect his desire.
"I always tell Roy, 'You've got to be patient,' " said Bryant, who encouraged Hibbert to work out against the stronger and older players at Georgetown University. "You're young and big; it's going to take time. Things come easier for the little guys."
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."
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