Player Preview: Moses Ayegba

This is the second in a thirteen-part series profiling the 2011-12 Georgetown Hoyas.  Read about everyone’s favorite walk-on, John Caprio, click here.

Ed. Note 1/20/2012: The Post‘s Tarik El-Bashir tweeted Monday that Ayegba has been cleared for “controlled, non-contact drills” and was on the floor during practice before the Hoyas’ game against DePaul. Yesterday, Elliott Smith of CBSSports.com posted that Ayegba participated in “limited drills” but that JTIII stated that a decision concerning Ayegba’s return was “several weeks away.” Given the difference between drills and full game play, Ayegba’s previous inexperience, and Thompson’s projected time frame, his return, previously presumed to be next season, does not seem imminent.

Normally, previewing the Hoyas in reverse order of seniority ensures a similar upward slope from bench warmers to stars.  This year, we briefly abandon the freshmen-to-seniors tradition to profile sophomore center Moses Ayegba, who is expected to miss the entire season after he tore his ACL in Kenner League play.

Two words summarize Moses Ayegba’s career thus far: just wait. First, there was just wait til he gets on campus. Ayegba arrived on the Hilltop last year as something of a mystery, having lived in the United States for less than a year since immigrating from Nigeria. Rumors abounded that the 6’9″, 260-lb. Ayegba–then Moses Abraham to us–was the best shot-blocker big John had seen in years, as the young big man averaged a triple-double including 12(!) blocks per game at nearby Progressive Christian. Although tagged as a project, Ayegba gave Hoya fans visions of big men from seasons past.

But then his premiere was delayed, and it became just wait til Moses is eligible.  The NCAA suspended him for nine games for traveling to the U.S. by the grace of an airplane ticket purchased by someone other than a family member.  Not an agent, a runner, or a booster, mind you, or anyone connected with a college program. Just non-family. Sigh.

After his timeout, Moses got burn in his first two games in a Hoya uniform, blowouts of Appalachian State and Loyola (Md.). The big man impressed in his short on-court stints, averaging five points a game in those two appearances, running the floor smoothly, and notching a couple of block shots. He was as big and strong as projected, offering lane-clogging promise for seasons to come. But the rough spots were more than just edges, and JTIII only played Ayegba fourteen minutes the rest of the season, all at the tail end of double-digit decisions. Ayegba looked a bit tentative against the better conference opponents, but still offered Hoya fans hope for the future. He didn’t score in conference play, but still had the size and the athleticism to promise progress in years ahead.

So, the thinking became, just wait til he’s a sophomore. Nearly all big men develop slowly, and Moses, it stood to reason, would be a bigger project than most. A year of college-level competition, of development, of acclimating to his surroundings would help Moses improve exponentially, right? Plus, with the departure of Julian Vaughn and the still-unproven Henry Sims as the only returning Georgetown center, the Hoyas would have ample available minutes for Ayegba to develop throughout the season. He appeared poised to reward that optimism, crashing the boards and flourishing in the post during Kenner League play. He ran the floor well, showed increased polish in the post, and more than held his own in a match-up  against Henry Sims, his fellow Hoya post. Ayegba had just notched a double-double in another Kenner contest when he landed awkwardly, tearing his ACL and ending his sophomore season before it began.

Moses still offers hope of interior dominance for years to come, and may profit from the extra year of basketball development that rehabilitation affords him. Also, he likely will have an extra year of eligibility, assuming (and there are no indications to the contrary) that he’ll miss the rest of this year. But for the meantime, the Hoya faithful once again are thinking, just wait.