Tyler Beard, Jalin Billingsley, Timothy Ighoefe transfer out of Georgetown

The trio has entered the transfer portal, the team announced earlier today. 

You had to know that there would be some transfers after this rough season, and the first wave of Hoyas have entered the portal. It was only a matter of time before some of these guys left the program, as transfers have been consistent in Ewing’s tenure.

Starting with the junior center Tim Ighoefe, he was the most experienced Hoya, having suited up in 60 total games, including 24 this year, starting 20 of those. The Ighoefe experience frustrated fans, as you expect a Patrick Ewing-led team to have a dominant big man, but Ighoefe just wasn’t that. He didn’t bring that deterring presence that Hoya fans desired inside.

Ighoefe averaged 2.8 points per game this year with 5.7 rebounds, on 42% shooting from the field and 40% from the free-throw line. Those numbers are low for a Big East center, as Ighoefe has struggled to meet his potential for the Blue and Grey. He took a risk coming over from the NBA Academy in Africa and hopefully can step forward at his next destination. Let us not forget though, Tim is a Big East Champion.

The next one, which caught the most attention from fans is freshman guard Tyler Beard. Beard was a promising freshman, who decided to take a prep year at Hargrave Military Academy, after four years at Whitney Young in Chicago. In his time at Whitney Young, let’s not forget, he jumped over a man for a ferocious slam dunk.

Beard was the first freshman to commit to the Hoyas, having done so before his prep year. Beard showed potential in the minutes he had and was a vital part of Coach Ewing’s best recruiting class to date.

Beard played in 30 of 31 games this year, averaging 12.3 minutes this season, with 3 points per game, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game. The numbers don’t look great, but every time he stepped on the floor you saw potential, as his 23 point outing against Howard, and 15 points against Butler, starting for the then-injured Dante Harris in that spot.

Beard was just a freshman this year, and it’s always going to take time for a freshman PG. With Dante Harris often looking injured and worn down, fans, myself included, wanted to see more of Beard and to even try to use him as a two next to Dante. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t given the playing time that we thought he deserved and has decided to move on from Georgetown. It’s a rough game, and I expect Beard to perform well at his next stop, wherever that may be.

Lastly, freshman forward Jalin Billingsley has joined Beard and Ighoefe in entering the transfer portal. Billingsley was also a part of Ewing’s best class to date, being the third of the five to commit to the Hoyas. Billingsley played his high school ball at Lutheran East in Cleveland Ohio, and was looked at as a bit of raw talent, but was a good addition nonetheless. He struggled to find consistent minutes this year, much like Beard, having also played in 30 of the 31 games this season.

Billingsley is a pretty raw prospect and it showed at times this season, but that was something you expected. He seemed a step behind on defense at times, but when your team finishes 227 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency, most guys will.

Billingsley averaged 10.8 minutes per game with 2.1 points per game and 1.8 rebounds per game. He had his best game in the close home defeat to DePaul, where Billingsley put up 10 points on 50% shooting from the field and 2/4 from three-point range.

When your team goes 0-20 in conference play, you know there are going to be some departures. Add on some of the rumored additions, and this offseason looks to be pretty chaotic for the Hoyas. Best of luck to these three transfers!