June 24, 2010
WASHINGTON - Georgetown University sophomore men's basketball player Greg Monroe (New Orleans, La./Helen Cox) was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft on Thursday night in New York City.
Monroe was selected with the seventh pick of the first round and is the second top-10 pick and the third first round pick from the Hoyas in the last four years. Under Head Coach John Thompson III, Georgetown has had five players selected in the last four years, more than any other school in the BIG EAST Conference.
Monroe earned First-Team All-BIG EAST honors this year and was selected as a Third Team Associated Press All-American. He averaged 16.1 points and 9.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.5 blocks in 34.2 minutes per game this season, while connecting on 52.5 percent of his field goals.
He was named to the BIG EAST All-Tournament team after leading the Hoyas to the championship game against West Virginia, a 2010 Final Four participant. During the BIG EAST Tournament, he averaged 19.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, while shooting 54.5 percent from the floor.
Monroe was also selected as the Pete Newell Big Man of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and earned Third Team All-America honors from that organization.
Monroe had 14 double-doubles during the season, including a 12-point, 12-assist effort at Providence this year. He reached double figures in scoring 30 times and had 15 games with at least 10 rebounds. In addition, the 6-11 center led the team in scoring 13 times, in rebounding 30 times and in assists 15 times.
Monroe scored a career-high 29 points and tied a career-best with 16 rebounds against Villanova. He had previously set his career-high in rebounds with 16 against Harvard. In a win at Providence in February, Monroe scored 12 points and handed out a career-best 12 assists. The 12 assists were the most by a center in BIG EAST Conference history and tied for the 10th-best single game performance in school history.
In two years at Georgetown, Monroe scored 942 points in 65 games for a 14.5 per game average. He averaged 8.2 rebounds per game, which ranks 15th all-time. His 54.3 percent field goal percentage ranks 14th all-time and he is tied for 48th all-time in scoring on the Hilltop with Jim Supple (1966-69).
Georgetown has a long tradition of sending players on to the professional ranks. In 2001, there were 11 Hoyas playing in the NBA and over the history of the program, a total of 56 Georgetown basketball alumni have either been drafted by NBA teams and/or have had playing experience in the league.
Monroe is the second Georgetown player selected by the Pistons in the last two years and will join former Hoya DaJuan Summers, a second round pick (No. 35 overall) in 2009.
Georgetown finished the 2009-10 season with a 23-11 overall record, advanced to the BIG EAST Tournament Championship game for the third time in six seasons under Head Coach John Thompson III, were selected for the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in six years and were the only school in the country to post wins over the teams that played for this year's national championship (Duke and Butler).
