Updated: Macklin to Transfer out of Georgetown to Florida
Updated: Sunday, May 4, 11 p.m.
Although Vernon Macklin decided to transfer out of a program a year removed from a Final Four trip, the big man will still have a chance to play at a program with a wealth of recent success. According to FoxSports.com, Macklin will transfer to the Florida Gators, who won consecutive championships in 2006 and 2007.
Macklin, who will begin attending summer classes at Florida, visited Florida’s campus in Gainesville on Friday, according to FoxSports.com. He will have to sit out this season before becoming eligible per NCAA rules.
The Gators did not make the NCAA tournament last season and lost to Massachusetts in the semifinals of the NIT.
“It’s a great decision because it gives Vernon a chance to sit out and work on some things,” Macklin’s high school coach Kevin Keatts told FoxSports.com. “He’s learned a lot in the last two years under John [Thompson III], but going to Florida will give him a chance to re-charge his battery a little bit.”
The tallest player on Florida’s roster from last season, 6-foot-10 Marreese Speights, has declared for the NBA draft but still has the option of returning to school. No other Gators is taller than 6-foot-9.
“We appreciate the hard work [Macklin] put in at Georgetown, both on and off the floor,” Head Coach John Thompson III said in the press release. “We wish him the best in the future.”
Macklin, who was an all-American in high school at Hargrave Military Academy, was primarily a reserve player in his two seasons at Georgetown, backing up senior center Roy Hibbert. Macklin played in 31 games as a freshman, averaging 9.8 minutes, 1.5 rebounds and 2.9 points per game. This year, after teammates touted Macklin as one of the most improved players on the team at the preseason media day, he showed little improvement. Macklin played in all 34 games, averaging 12.8 minutes, 2.1 rebounds and 3.4 points per game.
Macklin, a 6-foot-9, 227-pound big man, was known primarily for his athleticism. His Achilles heel as a Hoya was his free-throw shooting. Over two seasons, he shot 22-of-71 from the charity stripe — only 31 percent. At times this season, he appeared to shy away from contact while making a post move.
The sophomore’s year was not without moments of hope for the Hoya faithful, however. Macklin posted 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting in a January loss to Pittsburgh and came off the bench to lead all scorers with 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting in a rout of St. John’s. Macklin played 18 minutes in the Hoyas’ season-ending loss to Davidson while Hibbert was on the bench in foul trouble. The Big Ticket scored eight points, all in the first half, and was 4-of-8 from the free-throw line.
The loss of Macklin, along with the graduation of Hibbert and senior forward Patrick Ewing Jr., will leave Georgetown thin in the frontcourt. The Hoyas return 6-foot-8 sophomore forward DaJuan Summers and expect several freshmen to bolster the frontcourt: 6-foot-10 forward Greg Monroe is ranked eighth in the 2008 high school senior class by rivals.com, 6-foot-10 center Henry Sims is ranked 49th and 6-foot-8 forward Chris Braswell is 84th.
The Hoyas also have 6-foot-8 freshman Nikita Mescheriakov, who did not see any action in his first season.
Apr 25 2008 at 8:41 p.m.
the best move and decision that vernon macklin,has made. john thompson III should have never keep this all american and high recruit on the bench for two seasons, and never giving him the chance to show case his talent. look at his stats before becoming and being recuited to georgetown. how in the world could this coach think that he could go a third season and not start macklin. georgetown needs a new coach. that is going to let these guys play ball and have use of their own styles and not playing john thompson, princeton offense game. you are not at princeton. be fare to your players. no one should be a backup to player to shine them to go to nba, so that their stats will look good. and the one who is doing this doesn't shine. i feel sorry for those other guys that also never had gotten the opportunity to showcase their talent sitting on the bench and bring them in to play the last 60 seconds of the game when the team is winning. embassing is what you call it. john thompson III, is not a fair coach, and shows that at every game...stop worring about your suits and appearnce, and let those guys play ball....before they all will be go.
Apr 25 2008 at 10:32 p.m.
what a selfish bastard - after all we've done for him, look what he does to us!
Apr 26 2008 at 1:53 a.m.
how can you say you have done so much for macklin when he has been sitting on the bench for 2 years and the playing time they gave him, they could of keep.selfish is not macklin, they are just kids... its people like you with a nasty foul mouth..
Apr 26 2008 at 8:17 p.m.
It seems a shame that after learning the thompson system for 2 years, Macklin would leave just when his numbers should be improving. It has to be hard losing playing time to Austin Freeman and Patrick Ewing, but how can you be a big man in a big time program when every time the opposing team fouls you they know you will miss! It is a shame Macklin only had 2 good games all season last year. Seems both Macklin and Summers have not made as much progress from year to year as people had hoped. I have to wonder if some of the dropoff this past year from 06-07 came from the loss of two talented assistant coaches. I hope Thompson is evaluating his assistants and deciding if he needs to replace any of them. We all wish Vernon Macklin success wherever he ends up. Some of the other transfers under the Thompson system have done well elsewhere.
Apr 26 2008 at 9:14 p.m.
This is to be expected and nobody's feelings should be hurt.
Thompson's version of the Princeton offense depends upon sure-handed players who keep turnovers to a minimum and can make every shot count. When your average game score is twenty to thirty points lower than the rest of the country, turnovers and free throws mean a lot. Macklin couldn't hit from the line and he turned the ball over too much. He was good but not good enough to get a lot of playing time in the Big East. He'll do fine in a mid-major somewhere, something I'm sure a lot of people in the GU organization told him before he made his decision to transfer.
As for his limited playing time, the same rationale applies; plus, the addition of a much-improved Patrick Ewing, Jr. and DaJuan Summers (not as surprising) to the lineup made Macklin a decent back-up but a back-up nonetheless.
Meanwhile, the signings/verbals of Monroe, Sims, and Braswell--all top-ranked HS big men--should have signaled that Macklin was going to get even less time in his junior year than his sophomore year. He saw it coming and made the right choice; better to get playing time and a free degree than no playing time and a free degree.
As for Georgetown or JT III owing anybody anything, give me a break. These kids are college athletes; they know what the score is. How about two years of tuition in exchange for two years of average output? How about two years of a damn fine education in exchange for the same? How about some of the best coaching he could ever hope to find? How about two tournament runs?
As for JT III being replaced...I'm not even addressing that. That's just stupid.
Apr 27 2008 at 12:59 a.m.
i heard he was transferring b/c of poor grades, true story?
Apr 27 2008 at 12:16 p.m.
so untrue is grades has nothing to do with this. speak what you know. and its a matter of opinion concerning john thompson, he was not a fair coach, and if he was and macklin talent coming in to gw they would have use him. a free education has nothing to do with this. these guys work very hard to get to this point and they don't come to these schools just to sit or sit out, or be someones else backup. these were all american players.
Apr 27 2008 at 7:08 p.m.
Lee,
Your comments really show a lack of understanding of Georgetown, John Thompson III, and college athletics in general.
1) Vernon attended Georgetown University, not George Washington University. We are GU. They are GW. The difference is huge.
2) John Thompson III IS a fair coach, and that is why you have a problem with them. He plays players who can contribute, regardless of their high school accolades. That is what it means to be fair -- to make players earn every second they get. Vernon couldn't hack it -- he SHOWED us that -- and so he didn't play. Others could and they did. How is that not fair?
3) Hard work sometimes is not enough. At high-major Division I programs, everyone is good and everyone works hard. Not everyone can play. If you want to play at a program like Georgetown, you've just got to accept that. Vernon could not, and so he chose to leave.
Apr 27 2008 at 10:19 p.m.
No way to blame III for this. You can blame a coach for a lot of things, but when you got one guy on the team shooting 20 percent from the charity stripe and everybody else putting up solid to good numbers? That's not the coaching. That's Vernon. Just another tall guy who was a star in high school but couldn't handle the college game in the Big East.
My heart goes out to Vernon because he probably let people fill his head that he was a guaranteed NBA All-star. But no coach can get you into the NBA when you are so undisciplined you only hit 20 percent of your free throws.
Apr 28 2008 at 2:17 a.m.
it doesnt make sense to me to commit to a school where you know there are 3 talented forward/centers and then transfer after 2 years because you didnt play enough. if he went in with the notion that he would take serious minutes from pat, roy and jeff, he has really lost some self-confidence if he is now worried that incoming freshman will keep him off the floor.
ticket was screwed from the start with that ridiculous nickname.
i will miss playing the "will vernon's FT percentage dip below 20" game though.
Apr 28 2008 at 11:38 p.m.
what a selfish bastard, your dumb ass has not done anything for Vernon Macklin, if anything he has contributed to the school, and the program. This school ain't going to be nothing next year, all of your good players are gone, and we can't really say that Hibbert was a good player, they had to slow the program down for him. Most of the guys are use to running the court, and you got his big lazy ass running down the court about to pass out, please. The next time you decide to call some a selfish bastard, think twice. Georgetown is done, you have no one left,except Dajuan Summers and Sapp, and they need to leave, they are the best things that you have left, may they are leaving to, you never no!!!!what your mouth next time
Apr 28 2008 at 11:43 p.m.
what are you talking about, he did not lose playing time to Austin Freeman, they don't play the same position, do you even no what you are talking about, Vernon is a Power foward, he did not come to Georgetown to be a center, they put him there, because Roy big self gets tired on the court every 5 seconds. Let see how much playing time he get, if he make it the nba
Apr 28 2008 at 11:48 p.m.
I know that Georgetown is Gu, not Gw, and if Vernon could not hack it he would not have been there, they went a long way to get Vernon and bring him to Georgetown. Why don't you get your butt out there and let us see what you can do. Your some computer guy, who sits around making comments, because you have nothing going on in your life. what a loser.
Apr 29 2008 at 12:15 a.m.
Sharon,
Your comments are ridiculous. At least learn how to spell your mindless dribble.
Macklin was an overrated project and received more playing time than he should have at GU. JTIII is the only coach who could have brought this program back to national prominence.
Transferring is actually a smart move for Macklin; a bad move for whomever he ends up with. He can get another year of practice -- which he desperately needs -- in meaningless situations. Then, he'll be a huge disappointment at whatever team he goes to. I hope their fans like watching him in warmups, because it will continue to be as difficult/painful to watch him in the games as it was at Georgetown.
Good luck to Vernon -- he'll need it.
Apr 29 2008 at 12:17 a.m.
shane
without being rude let me explain to you how basketball playing time works.
while there are 5 different positions in a standard basketball lineup, coaches can often mix up these positions and rotations going bigger or smaller as talent and matchups dictate.
austin freeman starting at the 3 (or small forward) instead of dajuan summers (moving dajuan to the 4, where macklin would have played) decreased macklin's playing time as pat ewing was the first off the bench at 4 instead of starting.
if pat had started at four, if thompson wanted to stay big he would have had to go with macklin. instead, pat came off the bench, making vernon the backup center who was only used if matchups prevent pat from being the biggest guy on the floor when roy went out.
just thought that might help you in making more cogent posts in the future.
Apr 29 2008 at 6:07 a.m.
Shane/Lee/Sharon,
Why do you post as Lee (the GW comment) and then respond as Shane saying "I know..." Why the constant need to keep changing your name?
Apr 29 2008 at 2:04 p.m.
negavtive persons like yourself and posting negative vibes, i would leave gt too. how do you think these players see all this mess you guys post on these boards or about their partners. do you use your head or what...whever macklin, goes he will be happy and happy to be with a school that will show some real love that you guys don't have...he will make it...because its not on you he has to count on to reach his goal in life, he owes you nothing to why be so harsh.do you really know what these guys go threw on a daily basis, no you don't.they take orders and play the way the are told to by orders from their coaches, they play the game under stick order.why blame him about stats and points when he was only a back up for roy. you can't prove yourself off of 1 minute here and 1 minute there..let's be real about this. and it is not is fault after he arrived at georgetown everything had change and he had to wait in line.......you guys get real
May 05 2008 at 4:45 p.m.
I have to agree with Sharon/Lee/Shane. I mean, obviously I was only playing Roy so he would get into the NBA. Wouldn't you risk your job by playing somebody that you don't owe anything to just so that person can make it into the NBA when apparently you have other players on the bench that you recruited who are more likely to make it into the NBA? I definitely punished Vernon Macklin, who I recruited, for this obviously rational reason, especially when he must be more talented than Roy and would give my team a better chance at being successful. As a coach it's my job not to do the best job I can and give my team the best chance to win. Who cares about continuing to work?
And even if Macklin wasn't as good as Roy, don't I OWE it to him to put him on the court simply because he was such a highly touted recruit? Who should actually have to prove that they can play the game of basketball and do basic things like shooting above 50% at the free throw line when they're a McDonald's All-American? These kids should be exempt from displaying any sort of talent and should immediately be put on the court no matter what! Don't you people understand that these kids automatically deserve this?
In fact, I should just play every person that I have on my bench equally so each has an equally good shot at making it to the NBA. This is what every other team does, right? I'm sure this is what they do at Florida, too. Who cares about winning and my job when I have players that deserve so much from me? From now on anyone who wants to come down to McDonough and brick a few free throws automatically gets 20 minutes of playing time. If you can do that much you obviously deserve a chance to prove your "skills" in the Big East and make it to the NBA!
May 05 2008 at 5:28 p.m.
learn to spell
May 05 2008 at 8:18 p.m.
sharon, did you watch vernon play once the past two years?
he's a transition big man, and that's it...soft, easily moved underneath, and unable to play with his back to the basket even if a point guard was guarding him. then, when its finally time after 2 seasons "on the bench" to step and play, he transfers to florida, where he's gonna ride the bench some more. thompson a bad coach? sorry, but at georgetown you have to play defense and figure out how to make open shots if youre gonna play, all macklin could do was wait for another big to get doubled and maybe convert a dunk (honestly, how many baskets of his were not layups/dunks the past few years?)
he's making an idiotic decision, pulled by people telling him that in order to go to the nba he needs to play his style of ball. he really could be successful at gtown (not to mention get a first-rate education) if he put his head down and practiced the system. remember where roy started out? he couldnt even run, and he's now a first round draft pick
good riddance vernon, you embody the new age of college basketball where the precedent isnt winning, it's "going pro". at best, youll be playing for some team in greece after college, not the nba. 3 pts and 2 boards a game! get a double-double in college ball before you start looking to the draft lottery
sharon, youre clueless
May 06 2008 at 5:28 a.m.
The bottom line is that Macklin is not good enough to get PT here and will be in for a rude awakening when he is nothing more than an 8th man at UF. The truth is he is awful and I am actually happy a scholarship is opening up for a player who might be of some value. It's too bad Mackin wasn't realistic enough to realize he should have gone to a school like American if he really wanted to get some quality playing time.
May 10 2008 at 3:19 a.m.
sharon you spelled fair wrong. Despite his stats before coming to Georgetown, high school basketball to college basketball is totally different. He had more than enough chances to show his skills to the coach since he practices everyday with JTIII. Macklin is just a showboat and when it comes down to it, he lacks consistency and will really need the red shirt next year if he wants to take his average from 3.9 points to 5.0 points.
Jun 06 2008 at 3:19 a.m.
Good riddance. He shot 13% from the stripe. Maybe Vernon and Rivers can start on the local summer league. We will miss the combined 5pts, 7 turnovers and 8 fouls per game they collectively produced. I feel sorry for Florida U.
And don't give me the lame "not enough minutes" stuff. This isn't youth league...coaches play the best players because their salaries depend on it.
Charles R
Oct 08 2008 at 9:07 p.m.
I never liked Vernon Macklin either. I am not really a big fan of basketball but I watched the occasional game and was never impressed.
Feb 09 2009 at 12:38 p.m.
I was not impressed with him either. I don't think it will be a big detriment to the team if he leaves. As far as my eyes could see during one of the games where he played, he was definitely replacable. Improve Your Vision
May 19 2009 at 11:51 a.m.
Macklin, who was an all-American in high school at Hargrave Military Academy, was primarily a reserve player in his two seasons at Georgetown, backing up senior center Roy Hibbert. Macklin played in 31 games as a freshman, averaging 9.8 minutes, 1.5 rebounds and 2.9 points per game. This year, after teammates touted Macklin as one of the most improved players on the team at the preseason media day, he showed little improvement. Macklin played in all 34 games, averaging 12.8 minutes, 2.1 rebounds and 3.4 points per game.
May 19 2009 at 10:36 p.m.
they are just kids. how can you say you have done so much for macklin when he has been sitting on the bench for 2 years and the playing time they gave him, they could of keep.selfish is not macklin. prefabrik evler