Hollis Thompson '12

[Dhall]

Hollis should be our biggest "recruiting" priority. With his return, we are pretty loaded for next year and it would allow Greg, Jabril and DSR to develop at the appropriate pace (though I think Jabril will already be good to go in all facets of the game by the end of this year).

Hollis is a great player. But he could still add some strength and work on his secondary threats (post up, dribble drive, etc.). While he might be ready to be drafted in the NBA with a continued solid year, I likely see it similar to Jeff's decision after his sophomore year, Roy's decision after his junior year and Greg's decision after his freshman year.

I have no idea about the current relationship between the coaching staff and Hollis, but they need to "recruit" him to influence his decision to stay. In hindsight, I think the decision to start him a semester early probably did not help at all and could have hurt in this regard - it's possible he is tired of being a student and wouldn't want to go the "Graduate Student" route.

[dreamhoya]

True, but the thing is, Hollis is slated to graduate early, no?

[TBird41]

Dec 29, 2011 9:23:39 GMT -5 dreamhoya said:

True, but the thing is, Hollis is slated to graduate early, no?

Yup. Still has a year of eligibility left though, so if he wants to take grad school classes, he can continue playing for us. Still, hard to tell a guy with a degree that he shouldn't go pro if he's going to get drafted in the first round.

[CTHoya08]

Hollis might be slated to graduate early. He came into school a semester early. It's possible that he's been taking extra classes to get a whole year ahead of schedule. It's possible that he hasn't.

[Dhall]

Dec 29, 2011 9:26:28 GMT -5 TBird41 said:

Dec 29, 2011 9:23:39 GMT -5 dreamhoya said:

True, but the thing is, Hollis is slated to graduate early, no?

Yup. Still has a year of eligibility left though, so if he wants to take grad school classes, he can continue playing for us. Still, hard to tell a guy with a degree that he shouldn't go pro if he's going to get drafted in the first round.

It's hard to tell a high school kid not to go to UNC or Kentucky over Georgetown also, but I assume we are doing it!

[SirSaxa]

JT3 and staff have demonstrated they don't "recruit" kids to stay, they present info and options to help kids make the best decisions for themselves.

Jeff, DaJuan, Greg all left early.
Roy opted to stay.

I think we all know Hollis is likely to jump.
He is probably going to graduate this Spring, and he'll be making lots of $$ next year.

The priority for our staff is to bring in the best kids they can to add to DSR and BB and follow up on the outstanding 2011 recruiting class.

[Dhall]

Dec 29, 2011 10:05:39 GMT -5 SirSaxa said:

JT3 and staff have demonstrated they don't "recruit" kids to stay, they present info and options to help kids make the best decisions for themselves.

Jeff, DaJuan, Greg all left early.
Roy opted to stay.

I think we all know Hollis is likely to jump.
He is probably going to graduate this Spring, and he'll be making lots of $$ next year.

The priority for our staff is to bring in the best kids they can to add to DSR and BB and follow up on the outstanding 2011 recruiting class.

Jeff, Roy and Greg all stayed in school one year longer than the first year in which they would have been drafted. I'm suggesting Hollis do the same.

[Ranch Dressing]

Very interesting topic. Depends on who declares early this year and the quality of draftable international players, but I don't see Hollis as a lock to be selected in the first round. He has improved a lot, but NBA scouts probably see him as a potential reserve to come in and knock down 3s. Not a program builder player.

I would put the chances of him returning a little higher than some above have suggested.

[ColumbiaHeightsHoya]

The lockout probably helps because guys ended up hanging around that would have normally left. This years draft will likely be very strong compared to years past. Hollis has definitely altered his game with starter minutes and is playing better D and going to the rim. More of that and a big tourney run and he should go. If we don't get the tourney run this year, then hang around for one more.

[RDF]

Hollis has options--and one thing he needs to think about and I'm going to address his skill level/game more then team--as in a decision based on someone's future--the potential of team matters--but it's a life decision and you focus on plus/minus for the player.

Hollis needs to be able to take the ball and handle it on a break like play in 1st Half where he threw it away and if he just took it, got to middle of floor and ran break--Hoyas score. He's improved a great deal--and a lot of basketball left to be played--but he is improved ball handling away from being a mid 1st Round pick imo. We've seen him do fine in halfcourt--but he's got to be able to handle it better and help against pressure with his handle--and maximize his ability. With Jason Clark graduating-the opportunity is there and really it would be his 2nd year to rack up major minutes and shine as a leader of a team and get some major 2G minutes along with SF.

[hoyainspirit]

I'm with SirSaxa on this one. Georgetown does what's best for the kids in these situations. I believe I've read that Hollis is on schedule to graduate this spring. But if he returns, we would be LOADED next year. We would also have one less scholarship with which to work.

[SFHoya99]

Hollis is not a lock to be in the first round right now. I think he's got an NBA future, but as a rule it's the projected lottery picks who are first round locks (across the 13-14 lottery picks, there's usually about 20+ players listed -- those are the guys mostly sure to go in the first round).

Promises about picking guys in the late first are often broken when people drop.

I think Hollis has an NBA future, but at this point I think he is more on the second round pick - then impress with shooting and work ethic type of path rather than a guaranteed first rounder.

Like RDF said, he needs to show a bit more on the two guard skills.

For me, this is the type of guy who benefits most from coming back because of the risk of getting drafted by the wrong team, etc. But there's no doubt going pro could really work out for him as well.

[kghoya]

I think he's go even if he's a second round draft pick. Since I think that's a certainty, I think he's gone.

I'd love to be wrong on that. I think he's a real nice college player that benefits from the shots that he gets at Georgetown. He's not doing a lot of pull-ups off the bounce.

[calhoya]

Totally agree that Hollis needs to develop a better handle to be a more complte NBA prospect. His shot and athleticism will help make him attractive to alot of teams, but he is not really built to play inside in the NBA. As a 6' 8" guard, Hollis would be very attractive--as a slender forward, not so much.

[dreamhoya]

On a side note, I will say that as hard as Hollis works on his game, i wouldn't bet against him becoming a very good player in the NBA. Can be as good as Joe Johnson at least....

[royski]

Love Hollis, but he has nothing resembling Joe Johnson's handle or court vision, which is not a knock on him at all. We're talking about an elite NBA all-star guard.

Right now, Hollis seems to be a second round pick to most draft prognosticators. They love his jump shot, but question everything else about his game, although they do make note of his improvement. The thing to me is that the real money is made in the NBA on the 2nd contract, not the 1st.

This draft is likely to be MUCH stronger than the one that follows. This increases the odds that Hollis will be taken late in the 2nd round, and teams drafting there are already very good in general and likely will not have a rotation spot available for him. It would seem to me that the prudent move would be to stay one more year, continue to improve (which he would do much faster as the star of a top 10 Hoya team than as a bounce-around between the d-league and the end of the Mavs bench) and go to the NBA as a 1st rounder in 2013. That sets him up better to get playing time earlier. Also, 1st round contracts are guaranteed, while 2nd rounders are not. The difference between the two for a player who may or may not stick like Hollis is huge.

[Dhall]

If I'm the coaching staff, I present him now with a specific plan on how they are going to work hard with him to make him a lottery pick for the following year, and how the academic side will proceed at the graduate level just in case it doesn't work out - he is obviously a smart kid.

Part of the plan would be extra work with Othella on the post up game (as a 6'8" guard, that can be very valuable), increasing his ballhandling responsibilities, committing to designing more plays specifically run for him, getting him connected with the right summer camp next year, etc.

Maybe they've already been talking to him about this, or maybe he's decided one way or the other, but I see no problem trying to convince a kid to stay and making special arrangements to entice him. It just needs to be presented to him and the team in the right way.

[Ranch Dressing]

Thanks, royski. This is why I think he's a better bet to stay than some above are predicting. At least 50/50.

[harlemhoya]

He needs to stay in school. His ball handling has improved, but it's not nba ready. A successful nba wing can beat his man off the dribble at will.

1 more year of school at Georgetown will make him a better pro prospect and we will be back-back ncaa champs.

[jester]

How does he compare to Nick Young (drafted version)?