By Camille Powell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 12, 2007

Four banners hang on the wall behind one of the baskets inside McDonough Arena, commemorating some of the biggest successes of the Georgetown men's basketball team. But the one that honors the Hoyas' most recent achievement -- last season's trip to the Final Four -- currently is covered with a dark-colored cloth.

"I'm glad they blocked it, actually," said junior guard Jessie Sapp, one of four returning starters who played on that team. "Because I don't want to get a big head; I'll get excited like, 'Yeah, we made it to the Final Four.' . . . It was fun when we were making our run to the Final Four, and now we want to work even harder so we can win a national championship."

Of course, the Final Four banner will be revealed with much fanfare tonight at Georgetown's Midnight Madness, which kicks off a second straight season of high expectations for the Hoyas.

Georgetown won 19 of its final 21 games last season to finish with a 30-7 record. The Hoyas swept the Big East regular season and tournament titles, upset North Carolina in a memorable NCAA East Region final and went to their first Final Four since 1985, where they lost to Ohio State.

"I think the experiences of last year left this group wanting more," Coach John Thompson III said. "At this time last year, we were preseason top 10. They were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about it, not understanding that regardless of what the world says, we've got to come in here and we have to take care of what we have to take care of. . . . I don't think that we're going into this year bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. . . . I think their approach has been much more businesslike and thorough."

As senior center Roy Hibbert put it: "Last year, we came from the Sweet 16, and everybody was like, 'Aw, we're going to be good.' This year, they know we're good."

Unlike last season, when Georgetown had several big holes to fill right from the start, the Hoyas have experience and balance. Eight of their top nine players are back, including the 7-foot-2 Hibbert, who considered jumping to the NBA, and four-year starting guard Jonathan Wallace. Freshmen Austin Freeman and Chris Wright -- All-Mets from DeMatha and St. John's, respectively -- give the Hoyas some perimeter depth, something that was lacking at times last season.

All that's missing is forward Jeff Green, the Big East player of the year and the Hoyas' leading scorer. Green opted to forgo his senior season and head to the NBA; the Boston Celtics took him with the fifth overall pick of the draft, then traded him to the Seattle SuperSonics. He was the player that the Hoyas turned to when the game was on the line.

"We're just going to have to make sure that the whole team can take over, because we're not going to have Jeff this year," Hibbert said. "His jersey is up on that wall [inside McDonough], so we're all looking at him and everything like that, but we're going to have to make sure that we stick together and make sure we pull all our weight together."