Georgetown: Ayegba Leaving, Bowen Staying

Georgetown announced last week that backup center Moses Ayegba will transfer next year for his (fifth year) senior season.

Ayegba got off to a slow start at Georgetown, receiving a nine game suspension (randomly increased to 10 three years later) for receiving a plane ticket from non-NCAA approved sources. He then missed what would have been his sophomore year with a knee injury. The last two years, Ayegba settled into a mostly regular role as a defensive minded backup to Mikael Hopkins.

He didn’t offer much on offense beyond the occasional one on one postup and he was plagued with foul problems, but he did have his strong moments. Most notably, Hoya fans will forever be in his debt for his huge defensive performance last season in Georgetown’s huge victory over Syracuse in their last game at the Carrier Dome. The Hoyas in all likelihood will not miss Ayegba on the court all that much with Joshua Smith coming back, but he’s a good kid who will do well in life. He is graduating next month, so he should be eligible to play immediately next year.

The Hoyas also announced that forward Aaron Bowen would return for his fifth year senior season. Like Ayegba, Bowen in graduating in May but missed a season due to serious injury. Bowen saw little minutes in his first two years at Georgetown, but firmly established himself last year as a rotation player on the wing, specializing in athletic high energy defense and slashing offense to compensate for poor perimeter jump shooting. He is perhaps Georgetown’s most athletic player, but he might have to fight for playing time again next season with the influx of young wing talent coming in.