Center Ruben Boumtje Boumtje averaged 9.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game last season.(Allsport)

"I went in for a dunk and Dikembe just pinned my shot like it was nothing," said Scruggs. "I was like, 'Man, now I see what the people in the league go through.'"

Scruggs is a 6-foot-11 senior trying to follow a well-worn path of Hoya big men into the NBA. His teammate, 7-0 Ruben Boumtje Boumtje, is doing the same. Both competed this week in the NBA predraft camp here at the Moody Bible Institute.

They both know that being Hoya big men brings big expectations, a lesson they learned in the very competitive and instructional summer games that take place on campus between current players and alums.

"We try to do the best we can even if we might not be the next Ewing or Dikembe," said Boumtje Boumtje. "But we are giving the best of ourselves. Coach (Craig Esherick) said come here and give it our all, play the Georgetown way."

The Georgetown way has been the way of the giant for the past two decades. It was 1980 when John Thompson lured Patrick Ewing to D.C. from Cambridge Ridge & Latin High School in Massachusetts. After that came the victories -- including the 1984 national championship -- and a series of tall, young players looking for a bit of that G-Town magic.

Scruggs was no different. Even though he grew up in Tar Heel country, he remembers watching Ewing at age 6 and being hooked on the Hoyas.

"I've been a Georgetown fan since I can remember," said Scruggs, a thin, smooth forward. "Ever since I first started watching Patrick."

Boumtje Boumtje is a native of Cameroon, so he didn't know much about Georgetown until he arrived for a year of high school at Archbishop Carroll in D.C. But the intelligent center did some quick investigating and found Georgetown had the history.

"Coach Thompson had the reputation for teaching big men and with the academics, it was great," said Boumtje Boumtje, who speaks four languages.

Scruggs says the key to the run of big men is a combination of attracting talented recruits and the constant pivot work that's done in practice. Thompson, a big man himself for Providence College and the Boston Celtics, is retired, but long-time assistant Esherick hasn't changed much.

"It's really intense development," said Scruggs. "We practice hook shots, up-and-unders, things big men do every day. We work hard on it every day and that helps."

The summers help, too, when everyone returns to campus in July for the games. Usually some guards show up, too -- like Allen Iverson or Steve Francis, who lives nearby -- and the runs are serious. For young center prospects, it is an invaluable experience and a quick education on what it takes to compete with the best in the world.

At least once the kids get comfortable playing with the All-Stars.

"My freshman year they were all there, Ewing, Mutombo, Mourning and Othella and I just couldn't believe that I was out there with them," said Boumtje Boumtje, a powerful center who averaged 9.1 points and 6.8 rebounds a night. "But they are great guys and I realized how helpful they were. They are just great guys to be around, they pass a lot down to us."

"The first game I was in with them I didn't even know how to act," said Scruggs. "It was strange to see them in that kind of environment."

Esherick said the consistency of the program and the strong alumni connections help in all facets, from recruiting to player development. It also provides a sense of historical perspective that is often lost on young players. Most of all he just appreciates how many Hoyas still care about the program.

"It's been a pleasant surprise how much tradition has helped us," said Esherick, a former Hoya guard (Class of 1978) himself. "At one point this season, Ruben was going through a stretch and Dikembe called him and said just don't get down on yourself, you're a good player. It helped. All of the guys have a sense of pride in the program."

Neither Boumtje Boumtje nor Scruggs are sure-bet NBA stars like the above. In fact, they spent the week here just trying to get into the first round or drafted at all. Both were good college players, leading the Hoyas to 24 wins and a Sweet 16 appearance last season, but have professional flaws. Still, they say they have learned a lot.

"We really go hard at each other," said Boumtje Boumtje. "It's the only way all of us benefit from each other."

And both hope that future Hoyas will one day have a chance to learn -- and maybe get a would-be dunk pinned -- from them.

"That would be a great honor," said Scruggs. "Even to be named with guys that great would be a great achievement."