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• Washington Post Preview
  
• Sporting Network Preview
  
• Street & Smith's Preview
  
• 19 Patriot Games To Be Televised in 2000
  
• St. John's Joins Northeast Conference
  
• Homecoming Game Announced
  
• 2001 Schedule Talk
  
• 2000 Recruits Announced
  
• Another Patriot Team In D.C.?
  
• Kentucky PK to Transfer To Georgetown
  
• Freshman Punter Joins Varsity Basketball Team
  
• Home Attendance Up 44%
  
• Gallagher Earns All-America Honors
  
• 2000 Captains Announced
  
• All MAAC Teams
  
• Villanova Considering Georgetown In 2000?
  
• Football Alumnus Goes "Extreme"
  
• Class of 1999 Saluted In HOYA
  
• I-AA News: URI Considers Non-Scholarship Football
  

The Washington Post has published its annual college football preview issue. No big feature story on Georgetown, but some interesting facts were noted.

According to the Post, "Georgetown has big plans for the future: It is negotiating with Howard, Villanova and several Ivy League schools to schedule games (they already have a series with Pennsylvania starting in 2005). There also are plans to build a 6,000-seat stadium in the middle of campus, a project that could be completed by 2003."

Some of you might note that Villanova and Howard were popular choices in a poll on the football message board when asked this summer who they would like to see Georgetown schedule in the future.

Unfortunately, the Post still lumped in its Georgetown preview with schools below Division I, while providing more extended coverage to Howard and Maryland. Next year, we hope, that should change.

The Sports Network weighs in with its season preview, forecasting the Hoyas 10th among the 13 team I-AA independents preview.

Street & Smith's has posted a positive outlook for the Hoyas in the 2000 campaign. The annual sees a battle between Sean Peterson and Dave Paulus for QB, with WR Gharun Hester and RB Aaron Brown as key offensive contributors.

S&S noted Georgetown finished 11th in the nation in defense last year and pointed to the leadership of Mike Turnamian, Ryan O'Donoghue, and Brett Crowder.

The issue lists GU third among I-AA independents behind South Florida and Hofstra, but it appears to be more in order of name recognition than any order of finish. The annual is on newsstands now, but there is no online link to the rankings.

A recent release from the Patriot League noted that 19 games featuring league teams will be telecast in 2000, including at least two appearances for each team. It's hopeful that the Hoyas could also enjoy some television exposure next year, given the absence of TV and radio coverage in the Washington area.

July 31--After two years as an independent following the MAAC, St. John's has a new conference.

The Redmen (aka Red Storm) have accepted an invitation to join the Northeast Conference beginning in September. St. John's had already scheduled the entire conference as a I-AA independent, so the scheduling fits perfectly.

"We are excited to add a football program the caliber of St. John’s," said John Iamarino, Northeast Conference commissioner (and a former member of Georgetown's sports information department in the early 1980's). "Football is an integral sport in the NEC, and the addition of St. John’s will strengthen our reputation as an emerging league."

St. John's will have the ability to offer need-based financial aid in the Northeast Conference, a practice not allowed in the MAAC.

"The biggest advantage is the chance for us to offer need-based aid on a consistent basis for the first time in the program’s history, " said St. John's coach Bob Ricca. This will enable us to draw some of the best young talent in the country to our institution."

The change leaves only two I-AA independents in the East for 2000, Georgetown and Hofstra. As a part of the changes for both schools, this fall will mark the first time the two Big East rivals have not met on the gridiron since St. John's revived football in 1978.

May 15--The revised 2000 schedule has announced that Bucknell University will visit the Hilltop for the 61st Homecoming Game on October 7. The Bison (7-4 in 1999) defeated a number of strong Patriot teams last year, including Colgate, and routed Duquesne, 49-20.

May 1--Speaking of schedules, this earlier link to the Allentown Morning Call reported that Georgetown will make its Patriot League debut on September 1, 2001 versus Lehigh. The Engineers had previously listed Drake as a "tentative" opponent for September 1, 2001 and September 7, 2002 on its official web site. All league schedules are tentative until a final schedule is released by the league early next year.

The Georgetown schedule, as reported above, could also include a home game with Lafayette on either November 3 or November 10, 2001. Georgetown will have either three or four conference home games each year, depending on schedules. Three Patriot opponents are on the 2000 Georgetown schedule, all at home.

April 11--A trio of highly recruited running backs and a pair of wide receivers from a Top-25 high school program highlight Georgetown's list of commitments for the Class of 2004, as announced by the University. A recent article in The HOYA discusses more information on the recruits, but here are some interesting notes on various recruits:

From the Midwest, Georgetown signed both starting receivers from Cretin-Derham Hall HS, who finished undefeated as Minnesota 5A champs and nationally ranked by USA Today. WR Walter Bowser (6-1, 170 lbs.) is the son of a former standout back at the University of Minnesota. The younger Bowser caught 52 passes his senior season for 853 yards and 13 TD's, and six receptions for 164 yards and 3 TD's in the Minnesota state finals. His 4.6 speed in the 40 and a 3.9 grade average attracted the attention of four Ivies, Boston College and Northwestern, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Bowser will be joined on the Hilltop by WR Andrew Fleming (6-4, 200 lbs.), who caught 34 passes for 489 yards his senior year for the undefeated Cretin-Derham Hall team.

From the Great Lakes, the Hoyas continued to add talent from Ohio, signing DB Philip Ardire (5-9, 185 lbs.) from the perennially powerful St. Ignatius HS program. Also joining the class of 2004 will be OL Jim Lenihan (6-1, 253 lbs.), younger brother of graduating lineman and All-MAAC selection Bob Lenihan. Another sibling connection is LB Matt Paulus (6-2, 205 lbs.), brother of current GU punter and basketball walk-on David Paulus.

From New Jersey, the Hoyas added three strong running backs. Andrew Clarke (6-1, 190 lbs.) comes to GU as the all-time leading rusher in Ridgewood, NJ history, with 1,271 all-purpose yards and 14 TD's in his senior year. Clarke was an All-Bergen selection on offense and defense and chose Georgetown over Princeton and Lehigh. Other all-regional selections that committed to GU were RB Bill Huisking (6-1, 200 lbs.), with 1,263 rushing yards and 17 TD's, and RB Kyle Shenton (6-0, 170 lbs.), with 22 TD's as a rusher and kick returner. Shenton, whose older brother is a quarterback at Maryland, and carries a 3.6 GPA, chose Georgetown over Colgate and Bucknell.

Earlier this year, starting University of Kentucky place kicker Marc Samuel (5-10. 175 lbs.) announced he was transferring to Georgetown to pursue a JD/MBA program, and will have two years eligibility. Another early commitment was received from RB Dawon Dicks (5-11, 190) from Bridgeport, CT.

About the only area where the Hoyas did not pick up major talent was the Washington area, signing only two players. However, a potential find may have me from just south of Washington in the Fredricksburg area, with the addition of OL Billy Wuyek (6-5, 305 lbs.), the first 300 pounder signed by Georgetown in the I-AA era.

While the freshman list appears impressive, it's likely that most will not see any significant playing time in their first year. Building depth is the operative word right now, and this will be even more critical as the coaching staff begins to review next year's seniors that will serve as Georgetown's first official Patriot League recruiting class.

April 10--American University is moving closer to its decision to join the Patriot League in sports other than football, according to this link from The Eagle, AU's student newspaper.

“This is not purely a decision based purely in sports,” AU chief of staff David Taylor told the paper. “And this is not a decision based purely in a particular sport. I can emphatically state this is not [a move made] for basketball.”