Georgetown relied on the high-scoring backcourt pair of senior Markel Starks and sophomore D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera throughout the regular season. At times the guards were so indispensable that coach John Thompson III couldn’t find a second to rest them. Their effort was recognized in a big way on Sunday.
Starks was named to the All-Big East first team in a vote among the league’s coaches while Smith-Rivera received second-team honors, the conference announced.
Including Starks, a Georgetown player has been named to the first team for five straight seasons and 26 times overall.
Known for his all-court skills, competitive spirit and steady progress over his four seasons, Starks received third team honors as a junior. The two-time captain jumped up to the first team after leading the Hoyas in scoring (17.1), assists (4.1) and free throw percentage (85.9). Among Big East players, Starks ranked fourth, seventh and fifth respectively in those categories. He joins Greg Monroe (2009-10), Austin Freeman (2010-11), Jason Clark (2011-12) and Otto Porter Jr. (2012-13) as first-team Hoyas.
In February, Starks became the 44th player in program history to pass the 1,000-point mark for his career. With 1,188 points, he needs five to move into 29th place all-time. Starks also ranks seventh all-time in three-point field goals made (158).
Smith-Rivera, who was named to the All-Big East rookie team as a freshman, averaged 16.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and a team-high 1.2 steals this season. The crafty scorer from all angles ranks in fifth in the Big East and tallied at least 20 points in seven games including a season-high 31 against Saint John’s on January 4. Smith-Rivera led the Hoyas with 39 percent shooting from beyond the 3-point arc.
Starks and Smith-Rivera scored over 500 points this season, becoming only the second pair of teammates to reach that level during Thompson’s 10 seasons at Georgetown. They have combined to score 47.9 percent of Georgetown’s total points this season (1,017 of 2,121). The duo also averaged over 35 minutes per game.
The Hoyas (17-13, 8-10) next play against DePaul (11-20, 3-15) in the first round of the Big East Tournament on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.