When you get a few minutes, maybe while you’re thawing out from these frigid temperatures, take a look at the BIG EAST leaderboards. (You know you do that on a daily basis anyway). Check out the top scorers, the leading rebounders and the elite three-point shooters. We’ll wait.
Do you see a name that keeps popping up among those leaders? Yeah, you do. And it’s not the one you might have been thinking of, either. (Admit it, you were thinking Marquette’s Markus Howard). But there he is, all 6-feet, 10-inches and 255 pounds of him. Georgetown senior stud Jessie Govan.
If it was Govan’s plan to exit his Georgetown career with a bang, then his scheme is working to perfection. Through Wednesday’s action the New York native is averaging a Hoya-high 19.8 points (good for fourth in the BIG EAST), 8.3 rebounds (that’s tops in the conference) and is shooting 53 percent from the field (that’s 13th in the league), is fourth in conference play in blocked shots with 27 and - wait for it - and is fifth in the BIG EAST in three-point shooting percentage at 45.8 percent.
It’s all merely part of his plan.
“It’s a big year for me,” Govan said. “Obviously it’s my last year, my last chance to try and do something here and I want to go out on a strong note and lead this team back to the NCAA Tournament and national relevance. This year I think I’ve been playing pretty well. I just have to keep my foot on the gas and try and keep getting those wins.”
In the Hoyas’ latest outing, there was Govan almost notching a double-double, scoring 20 points and hauling in nine rebounds in front of almost 18,000 onlookers at Madison Square Garden in a win over St. John’s last Sunday. It’s performances like that that could lead the Hoyas up the ladder in a bunched-up BIG EAST.
“I think we’ve been doing pretty good,” Govan said. “We let a few games that we had slip away but I think we’re getting better every game that we play and we just need to keep getting wins, especially in the BIG EAST because anything can happen with how close the standings are right now. And then hopefully put ourselves in a position to get back to March Madness.”
A trip to the NCAA Tournament is the destination Govan hopes to lead the Hoyas to in his final season. He has never been there, nor has anyone on the Georgetown roster, and in a season in which there is perhaps no clear-cut favorite as in previous seasons (yes, we know Villanova is unbeaten but the Wildcats have had some close wins along the way as has Marquette), can the Govan-led Hoyas make a run to the top of the standings?
“I think so. I thought at the beginning of the year that every team was pretty much equal,” Govan said. “I honestly feel any team in the BIG EAST can beat any other team on any night. I think that’s been proven so far. Obviously Villanova and Marquette both got eight wins but the rest of us all have three wins (although St. John’s and Seton Hall picked up their fourth victories Wednesday night). So each game can take you from third place in the conference to last place in the conference. It just proves how important each game is. So when we play Xavier (Thursday night in D.C.) it’s going to be big for us to protect home court and keep us in good standing in the BIG EAST.”
It is Govan’s hope that the NBA will come calling for him in the June draft and to that end he has been like a sponge, absorbing all he can from his head coach Patrick Ewing, who knows a thing or two about what it takes to not only reach the NBA but to succeed there.
“We talk a lot. He’s always in my ear telling me things I should do and telling me what it takes (to get to the NBA) because he knows my goal is to try and get to the next level,” Govan said. “He’s been there and been so successful at the next level so he knows what it’s going to take to get there. So he’s in my ear about a lot about things I can do on the court and off the court that will help me to get there.”
And most of Ewing’s advice has to do with being a defensive menace, just like he was in both college and the pros.
“He told me to keep being aggressive, keep rebounding and keep being a defensive presence,” Govan said. “On offense he thinks I’m pretty talented but he wants me to keep working on my defense and keep getting in position to affect the other team’s shots.”
Govan said he occasionally hears tidbits about what the NBA thinks of him but tries to focus more on his final season with the Hoyas.
“I’ve heard some stuff but I just try to stay focused on the season right now,” Govan said. “I don’t want to be distracted by things I can’t control right now. So I just focus on the next game we have ahead of us and to keep getting those wins.”
Another role that Govan has added to his resume this season is that of mentor to the very talented Georgetown freshman class of James Akinjo, Mac McClung and Josh LeBlanc.
“I really like them,” Govan said. “They’re really aggressive, fearless and they all want to win. They’re all great players. James is doing a great job. We gave him the ball as soon as he got here and told him to run the team, be that point guard on the floor, and I think he’s been doing a great job. Mac is being as aggressive as ever. He can make a lot of tough shots. He’s athletic and he just does it all. He plays with a high motor and with no remorse. And Josh has been a great surprise for us. We knew he could do it at this level but we didn’t know he could do it so early. I think he’s been making an impact in every game he plays.”
And as the Hoyas’ designated “old man,” Govan is called upon to dispense advice to the newbies on occasion.
“They come to me and ask me what I think about certain things, what I see out there and how they can get certain reads and looks off certain teams because I’ve played against every team in the BIG EAST multiple times,” Govan said. “So I know what teams like to do. So it’s been great trying to teach the guys all the while trying to get some wins.”
Including Thursday night’s matchup with Xavier, there are only 11 games left in Govan’s final regular season. Then there is the BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden and, he hopes, a trip to the NCAA Tournament. But if there is one wish on Govan’s list - other than that elusive trip to March Madness - it’s that the remainder of his time at Georgetown will slow down a tad.
”This is my last year so I’m trying to go out on a good note and enjoy it the best that I can,” Govan said. “So we just have to keep on coming on strong and make good plays and be together as a team and hopefully at the end of the season I’ll look back and say I had a great senior season.”
And a wonderful career. One that he hopes will elevate him into the lofty company of the other great big men in Hoya history.
“That was one of my goals when I first committed to Georgetown, to be on that list with all the great Georgetown big men like Patrick Ewing, Dikembe (Mutumbo), Alonzo (Mourning), Roy Hibbert, the list goes on and on,” Govan said. “It’s my goal to be the next one on that list. I think I’ve done pretty good so far, but the only thing I’ve missed is the postseason experience. That’s why I think it’s big for me to get there this year so I can put my mark on Georgetown history.”