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Georgetown Basketball: April 1999 News Archive

Gibson, Watkins Named 1999-2000 Captains 4/23/99

Rhese Gibson and grad student-to-be Jameel Watkins will serve as captains of the 1999-2000 men's basketball team according to reports on the HoyaTalk message board from last weekend's Hoop Club awards banquet. A full report should have been posted on GUHoyas.com but it has not been posted to date.

Big 5 Reborn...But No "Big 3" In D.C. 4/22/99

Speaking of an extra non-conference game or two, the Philadelphia Daily News suggests that Villanova may be willing to fully renew the round-robin play in the Big Five.

The City Series is a uniquely Philadelphia tradition, but have you wondered why a round-robin was never adopted in Washington? Washington has six Division I schools (Georgetown, Maryland, George Washington, American, Howard, George Mason), only two of which (AU & Mason) play each other regularly. The Hoyas, Terps and Colonials used to call their inter-school series the "Big 3" in the 1950's and 1960's, but it never caught the city's attention on because there was no central arena to draw off-campus fans. As most of us know, Maryland ended the Georgetown series after 1980, Georgetown dropped GW after 1982, and GW and UMd have played only once since 1979.

Scheduling and politics prevent such a series in Washington, but that doesn't mean there aren't some potentially good non-conference games out there for the Hoyas.

Thompson & Wootten 4/21/99

A year ago this past week, John Thompson made his famous "a change is coming" speech at the Hoop Club basketball awards banquet. Certainly, things have changed beyond even Thompson's wildest dreams--would anyone have imagined he'd become a radio talk show host, interviewing Morgan Wootten as he did a week ago?

The discussion with Wootten, whom Thompson called "one of the most outstanding individuals in our community", can be found here (the interview beings 30 minutes into the April 22 show). The talk not only discussed Wootten's future at DeMatha and his all-time team, but issues ranging from community support of pro teams in the era of free agency to the aftermath of the Littleton, Colorado shooting.

Hoyas Add 6-5 Jason Burns 4/18/99

Two Las Vegas newspapers and Big East Briefs have reported that 6-5 SG Jason Burns has signed a basketball latter intent to play for Georgetown next fall.

The Las Vegas Sun and Las Vegas Review-Journal suggested that Burns, a 6-5 guard averaging 17 points for Durango HS would sign with GU. "I think the whole rationale for Georgetown recruiting him is that he has a nice stroke, and that's something that all schools need," Durango coach Al LaRocque told the Sun.

Georgetown To Travel To UNLV In November 4/17/99

The Big East is scheduled to reduce conference games from 18 to 16 next season, opening the door for more significant non-conference games. According to the Las Vegas Sun, Georgetown will travel to UNLV on Sunday, November 28, presumably en route from the Maui Invitational the week before.

Houston On 99-00 Schedule? 4/14/99

We're getting some e-mails about a story in the Houston Chronicle that the University of Houston may be coming to the Hoyas' 1999-00 schedule.

An article noted Houston assistant coach Reid Gettys as saying that "We're going to play the best teams in the country. We're going to play Utah. We're going to play Georgetown.. This fits in perfectly with what [coach Clyde Drexler] wants to do with our program. We want to play the best people in the country every time we get an opportunity." The Houston Chronicle is a subscription-only site (one of the few out there for daily papers), so a link to the article is not available.

Maui Invitational Information 4/14/99

If you're considering a pre-Y2K vacation, the 1999 Maui Invitational may be just the ticket. The Nov. 22-24 tournament will feature Georgetown, North Carolina, Purdue, Florida, Memphis, Southern Cal, Utah State and host school Chaminade, all in a sunny 75 degree climate. Each team will play three games over the three day tournament.

The Hoya Hoop Club will be offering a deluxe air and hotel package for alumni priced at $1,999, but for those of us on more limited budgets, advance purchase air fares are now available...and don't forget those expiring frequent flyer miles. Check into it now while seating is still available, or as they used to say on Hawaii 5-0..."book 'em!"

Freeman, Payne Star At Capital Classic 4/8/99

Georgetown recruits Courtland Freeman and Derrick Payne combined for 31 points as the D.C. All-Stars defeated the U.S. All-Stars in the annual Capital Classic high school all-star game at MCI Center Thursday. It's only the ninth win by the local team in the 26 year history of the tournament. A recap follows in this link to the Washington Post.

Georgetown recruit Victor Samnick played in the game as well, but appeared to be hampered by a knee injury and did not see much time, according to reports.

The online version of Big East Briefs has posted three solid features of interest to Hoyas fans on its site: a recap of the game, and interviews with Courtland Freeman and Derrick Payne.

Freeman, who also appeared on WTEM-AM earlier that day with John Thompson, told Thompson he was looking forward to Georgetown. "I told him I chose Georgetown because it’s a great academic school, plus it’s in a nice area," Freeman said. The 6-9 forward's debut at MCI resulted in 16 points on 7-8 shooting Thursday night, with seven rebounds.

The Payne interview may be even more significant. Payne told Big East Briefs he wants to attend Georgetown, even if he is asked to go to prep school to do so.

"They’re the home team," Payne said. "I always wanted to play for John Thompson, but he’s not there anymore. That’s okay. I’ll play for Coach Esherick. He’s a good coach, too."

Here are links to the stories:

 

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