Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball
The Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball program represents Georgetown University in NCAA Division I men's intercollegiate basketball and the Big East Conference. Georgetown has competed in men's college basketball since 1907. The current head coach of the program is Ed Cooley.
Georgetown won the national championship in 1984 and has made the Final Four on five occasions. They have won the Big East Conference tournament a record eight times, and have also won or shared the Big East regular season title ten times. They have appeared in the NCAA tournament 31 times and in the National Invitation Tournament 13 times.
The Hoyas historically have been well regarded not only for their team success, but also for generating players that have succeeded both on and off the court, producing NBA legends such as Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo, Alonzo Mourning, and Allen Iverson, as well as United States Congressman Henry Hyde and former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Seven former Hoya players or coaches are members of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
History
Early years (1907–1943)
Founded in the fall of 1906, the Georgetown men's basketball team played its first game on February 9, 1907, defeating the University of Virginia by a score of 22–11. In its first 60-some years, the program displayed only sporadic success. Until McDonough Gymnasium opened on campus for the 1950–51 season, the team changed home courts frequently, playing on campus at Ryan Gymnasium and off campus at McKinley Technology High School, Uline Arena, and the National Guard Armory, as well as playing individual home games at the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum and The Catholic University of America's Brookland Gymnasium, among others. The downtown locations of these venues was also influenced by the number of Law School students who played on the team in this era. From 1918 through 1923, while on campus at Ryan Gymnasium, Georgetown managed a 52–0 home record under coach John O'Reilly. A large on-campus arena was proposed in 1927, but it was shelved during the Great Depression.File:Bill Dudack.jpg|thumb|left|Bill Dudack was the captain of the 1919–20 team, and returned to coach the 1929–30 team.
The team recruited its first All-American, Ed Hargaden, in 1931. From 1932 until 1939, the Hoyas played in the Eastern Intercollegiate Conference, and they were regular-season conference co-champions in 1939. In 1942, a Hoya went pro for the first time, when three seniors, Al Lujack, Buddy O'Grady, and Dino Martin, were drafted professionally upon graduation.
The next year the team, led by future congressman Henry Hyde, reached new heights and posted its first 20-win season ever, going 22–5 on the year. This success translated into a berth into the 1943 NCAA tournament, the school's first postseason appearance. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Hoyas made it all the way to the National Championship game, where they ultimately lost to Wyoming. Georgetown's coach of this squad, Elmer Ripley, was later inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1973.
World War II and the lean years (1943–1972)
Coming off of the best season in school history, momentum was stalled as the program was suspended from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II. Following the hiatus the program struggled to find its footing, and it was rarely successful over the next three decades, only making two postseason appearances during this time period.In 1953, former Baltimore Bullets player Buddy Jeannette coached the team to its first National Invitation Tournament invitation, but the team lost in the first round to Louisville. Top players from this period include Tom O'Keefe, the first Hoya to reach 1,000 career points in 1949–50, and future National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who graduated second in Hoya career rebounds in 1962. O'Keefe returned to coach the team from 1960 until 1966. In 1966 the school hired John "Jack" Magee, who had led Boston College as a player to its first NCAA Tournament bid. Magee had some relative success early on, having several winning seasons behind Guard Jim Barry, Forward Richard Manewal and Center Paul Favorite that were capped off with an invite to the 1970 NIT, just its third post-season appearance ever. However, the team lost to LSU in the first round. A losing season the subsequent year, followed up with a three-win season in 1971–72, the worst in school history, ultimately led to his dismissal. This was the last time a Hoyas head coach suffered back-to-back losing seasons for over 35 years.
John Thompson era (1972–1999)
, played two seasons with the Boston Celtics before he achieved local notability coaching St. Anthony's High School in Washington, D.C. to several very successful seasons. Thompson was hired to coach Georgetown in 1972, and with recruits from St. Anthony's like Merlin Wilson, quickly and dramatically improved the team. Georgetown, while still independent, participated in the Eastern College Athletic Conference′s 1975 postseason ECAC South tournament, and after a 16–9 regular season found itself facing West Virginia in the conference tournament championship. Derrick Jackson's buzzer beater won Georgetown its first tournament championship, and a bid to the 1975 NCAA tournament. Georgetown repeated as ECAC South tournament champions the following year, beating George Washington University when Craig Esherick's buzzer beater sent the game to overtime, and as ECAC South-Upstate Tournament champions in the 1978-79 season, beating Syracuse University in Jim Boeheim's first game against the Hoyas as Syracuse's coach.1979-80 Season: birth of a historic rivalry and champions of the inaugural Big East regular season and tournament
Prior to the 1979–80 season, Georgetown joined with six other schools, Providence, St. John's, Syracuse, Seton Hall, Connecticut, and Boston College to found a conference focused primarily on basketball. The Big East Conference provided Georgetown increased competition, and several of its longest rivalries. For example, prior to the formation of the Big East, Georgetown had only played national powerhouse Syracuse 18 times in the previous 51 years, and only twice in the prior decade. After the start of the Big East, they played Syracuse 27 times in the next 10 years.On February 13, 1980, Syracuse had won 57 straight games on its home court of Manley Field House: the longest winning streak in Division 1 basketball. The team was about to move to the new Carrier Dome. Its last game of the Big East regular season and its final ever at Manley was supposed to be a celebration of the winning streak and the school's success. With Syracuse ranked #2 in the country and almost invincible at Manley, they were expected to readily beat Georgetown. Syracuse seniors had never lost a home game in their entire careers. Hoyas radio announcer Rich Chvotkin said, "Everybody was pointing to Syracuse continuing that streak, and closing Manley Field House on a high note." Years later, Thompson said in the lead-up to the game, he was extremely nervous because of how crazy the crowd would be: “My nerves were at the height at that point saying: ‘What the hell am I doing closing this place? The place is going to be, you know, going mad.’”
Behind by 14 points at the half, and by many points late in the game, Georgetown mounted a surprise, rapid comeback. After Georgetown star Sleepy Floyd scored two last-second free-throws to win, Coach Thompson grabbed a microphone and declared "Manley Field House is officially closed" to an audience of stunned, silent Syracuse supporters. ESPN columnist Eamonn Brennan, wrote that Manley Field House “is most famous for its service to the Georgetown-Syracuse blood feud.” He said: “Before 1980, the Hoyas and Orange were competitors, and little more. When John Thompson delivered his famous 'Manley Field House is officially closed,' he managed to pack so much ether into six words that a rivalry was born on the spot. It's been that way ever since."
Syracuse professor Lawrence Mason said, "There was no rivalry at all until that Manley Field House game." Chvotkin agreed: "I think the rest of that Georgetown-Cuse rivalry was predicated on closing Manley Field House." Doug Logan, the Syracuse radio announcer for 24 years, said: "It was Syracuse and Georgetown and that hated, bitter rivalry that made the Big East a national phenomenon." ESPN analyst and Syracuse graduate Mike Tirico commented: "Without John’s larger than life personality, his great players, his steadfastness in the John Thompson way of doing things, it wouldn’t have built the rivalry and wouldn't have built the Big East to what it became for the 80s and the 90s."
The Manley upset also made Georgetown co-champions of the first Big East regular season. Three weeks later, Georgetown faced Syracuse again in the finals of the first Big East tournament. With Syracuse ranked #3 in the country and Georgetown #20, the Hoyas were again the underdogs. But they pulled off another upset, winning 87–81 behind 21 points from Floyd to become the first Big East tournament champions. In the 1980 NCAA tournament, the team advanced to the Elite Eight, where they fell to the Iowa Hawkeyes on a last second foul call.
1981-82 Season
The team moved its home arena in the 1981-82 season to the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, to accommodate its growing fan base. It also marked the arrival of heralded recruit, Patrick Ewing, who became one of the first college players to start and star on a varsity team as a freshman. That year, Ewing led the Hoyas to their second Big East tournament title in school history, and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.In the tournament, the Hoyas advanced to their first Final Four since 1943, where they defeated the University of Louisville 50–46, to set up a showdown in the NCAA Final against the University of North Carolina. In one of the most star-studded championship games in NCAA history, Ewing was called for goaltending five times in the first half, setting the tone for the Hoyas and making his presence felt. The Hoyas led by one point late in the game, but a jumpshot by future NBA superstar Michael Jordan gave North Carolina the lead. Georgetown still had a chance at winning the game in the final seconds, but Freddy Brown mistakenly threw a bad pass directly to opposing player James Worthy, and North Carolina won 63–62.