- Muir Resigns As Athletic Director
- Mourning Honored With Legacy Award
- Across Four Continents
- NCAA Releases APR Figures
- Wattad to UT-Chattanooga
- Thompson: Looking Forward
| Muir Resigns As Athletic Director | 5/12/09 |
Bernard Muir resigned as director of athletics at Georgetown on Monday, accepting the athletic director's post at the University of Delaware.
"Dr. Harker, the University, and I all agree that the mission and vision of any university should be student-centered while developing global citizens who will be lifelong learners and leaders in our society, Muir said at the Delaware press conference. "Blue Hen Athletics is a tremendous source of pride and passion for the people of Delaware. I look forward to working with the entire University of Delaware community to create the ideal environment for our student-athletes to succeed both academically and athletically."
Muir arrived at Georgetown from Notre Dame in 2005.
"I am grateful for the contributions that Bernard Muir has made to Georgetown Athletics during his tenure as Director of Athletics, said Georgetown president Jack DeGioia in a press statement. At Georgetown Bernard has recruited outstanding new coaches and bolstered academic support and leadership development opportunities for our student athletes I appreciate Bernard's collegiality and work with many members of not only our campus community but also senior colleagues in the NCAA, Big East and Patriot League. I am proud that our 29 women's and men's athletics programs represented Georgetown with integrity and commitment during Bernard's tenure and wish him every success in his new role at the University of Delaware."
"The hiring of Bernard Muir is a real coup for Delaware as he is one of the outstanding young athletic directors in the country," said Tom Yeager, commissioner of the CAA. He arrives with impeccable credentials, energy, and vision for the future to build on the outstanding foundation of Delaware's athletic programs.
The move, reported in the Delaware press over the weekend but without any advance discussion in the Washington dailies, raises as many questions as answers regarding Muir's sudden move from the Big East to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) school.
Barker Davis of the Washington Times noted Georgetown's decline in football under Muir's watch. Muir hired current coach Kevin Kelly after the Hoyas' 4-7 season in 2005 but the Hoyas have gone 5-27 since.
"I didn't have time to do a lot of research, but the people we've spoke to said that it's going to be a huge loss for Georgetown and a huge plus for the University of Delaware," said Delaware football coach K.C. Keeler.
Muir was unable to advance the decade-old Multi-Sport Facility project and a basketball practice facility through the Georgetown bureaucracy. "When I got the call saying there is this opportunity at Delaware...I knew I would be at a place where I could roll up my sleeves and start really building and having an impact on something," Muir told the Delaware News Journal.
An interim director for Georgetown has not been named nor a timetable announced for Muir's successor.
Additional coverage follows below.
- Blue Hens.com
- GUHoyas.com
- Delaware News Journal
- Delaware News Journal (2)
- Delaware News Journal (3)
- The HOYA
- Washington Post
- Washington Times
| Mourning Honored With Legacy Award | 5/11/09 |
An item from Monday's San Jose Mercury News has announced that Alonzo Mourning (C'92) will be honored this Friday by the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose with its 10th annual Legacy for Children Award.
Retired from the NBA, Mourning told the paper that "I don't want to be remembered as just someone who blocked shots and grabbed rebounds. I want to get people thinking about what they can do to make the world a better place. If more people had that mentality, we would have less issues in this world.".
| Across Four Continents | 5/6/09 |
It's been almost ten years since junior college forward Lee Scruggs arrived at Georgetown, helping lead his team to the 2001 NCAA's. Now 30, Scruggs is playing in Alberta and talks to the Edmonton Journal about some of his experiences traveling the world as a pro player.
"I do believe during the time I went there, that there was a civil war going on in Venezuela," he said. There were militants riding around in Jeeps with guns. It was bad. I stayed there about two weeks and me and another American guy, we snuck out in the middle of the night, got our own plane tickets and came home."
Scruggs wants to make one more run for an NBA team, but is realistic that the window is closing.
"The NBA opportunity is starting to fade. But, of course, that's still my lifetime goal," Scruggs said. "I'm happy playing over in Europe. I've been blessed to play the game of basketball. I've seen a lot of places. The game has treated me good. I can't complain."
| NCAA Releases APR Figures | 5/6/09 |
The NCAA has released its annual Academic Progress Rate report, the fourth year of a program that aims to hold colleges and universities accountable for graduation rates.
Academic Progress Rate, or APR, is a benchmark of each men's and women's sports team at NCAA member schools over the last three years. A 1,000 score connotes a 100% graduation rate. The rate consists of one point for each eligible student-athlete and one point for each graduated student-athlete.
The Georgetown results are linked here. Eleven sports teams scored a perfect 1000 on the rating, including field hockey, men's and women's golf, women's rowing, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's indoor track, and men's outdoor track.
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 1-Yr Chg | |
| Baseball | 955 | 966 | 975 | 978 | +3 |
| Basketball (Men's) | 963 | 970 | 945 | 942 | -3 |
| Basketball (Women's) | 957 | 970 | 969 | 975 | +6 |
| Cross Country (Men's) | 985 | 991 | 994 | 1000 | +6 |
| Cross Country (Women's) | 987 | 991 | 993 | 986 | -7 |
| Field Hockey | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | -- |
| Football | 971 | 955 | 961 | 966 | +5 |
| Golf (Men's) | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | -- |
| Golf (Women's) | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | -- |
| Lacrosse (Men's) | 989 | 989 | 985 | 982 | -3 |
| Lacrosse (Women's) | 990 | 990 | 989 | 989 | -- |
| Rowing (Men's, not an NCAA sport) | * | * | * | * | -- |
| Rowing (Women's) | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | -- |
| Sailing (not an NCAA sport) | * | * | * | * | -- |
| Soccer (Men's) | 988 | 1000 | 989 | 991 | +2 |
| Soccer (Women's) | 993 | 996 | 994 | 991 | -3 |
| Softball | * | * | * | 1000 | -- |
| Swimming (Men's) | 938 | 958 | 969 | 1000 | +31 |
| Swimming (Women's) | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | -- |
| Tennis (Men's) | NA | 923 | 952 | 957 | +5 |
| Tennis (Women's) | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | -- |
| Track (Men's Indoor) | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | -- |
| Track (Women's Indoor) | 989 | 993 | 1000 | 989 | -11 |
| Track (Men's Outdoor) | 1000 | 1000 | 994 | 1000 | +6 |
| Track (Women's Outdoor) | 988 | 992 | 1000 | 989 | -11 |
| Volleyball | 986 | 991 | 987 | 986 | -1 |
The APR for Georgetown men's basketball fell to ninth among Big East schools according to the latest data, down from seventh in 2007 and third in 2006. The table below compares the men's basketball APR's at the 16 conference schools, with three of this year's 16 falling below the NCAA minimum of 925.
None of the Big East schools received penalties this year, although Centenary basketball and Tennessee-Chattanooga football will be ineligible for post-season play as a result of ongoing low scores.
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| Villanova | 1000 | 1000 | 993 | 990 | 985 |
| Notre Dame | 957 | 977 | 977 | 971 | 982 |
| Marquette | 920 | 918 | 927 | 954 | 970 |
| Rutgers | 881 | 933 | 943 | 953 | 968 |
| Louisville | 833 | 908 | 920 | 941 | 965 |
| Pittsburgh | 885 | 905 | 907 | 935 | 965 |
| W. Virginia | 911 | 899 | 915 | 932 | 960 |
| St. John's | 826 | 884 | 909 | 918 | 959 |
| Georgetown | 975 | 963 | 970 | 945 | 942 |
| DePaul | 808 | 865 | 893 | 918 | 940 |
| Connecticut | 851 | 889 | 934 | 946 | 939 |
| Providence | 960 | 936 | 938 | 938 | 939 |
| Syracuse | 977 | 967 | 948 | 955 | 932 |
| Seton Hall | 979 | 930 | 921 | 924 | 918 |
| Cincinnati | 916 | 872 | 838 | 872 | 902 |
| S. Florida | 1000 | 893 | 898 | 904 | 818 |
| Wattad to UT-Chattanooga | 5/2/09 |
Omar Wattad, who announced his transfer from Georgetown April 15, will attend the University of Chattanooga next fall, according to the Chattanooga Times Free-Press.
"It was an easy decision, and this is the second time around, so I had to be smart about it, Wattad said. [UTC] Coach [John] Shulman is a great guy, a great coach and he believes in me. I can say he believes in me more than any other coach in the country."
Wattad may walk on for his first year at UTC pending the Mocs' scholarship situation. He will have two years eligibility beginning in the 2010-11 season.
| Thompson: Looking Forward | Updated 5/1/09 |
Head coach John Thompson III sat down with graduating senior Bailey Heaps of The HOYA last week for his thoughts on the season.
"We have to learn the lessons from this year, Thompson said. We have to all go back and do any and everything we can to make sure we get different outcomes, the second half of the season when Big East play starts, next year. The league quickly will go from being a very old, veteran league to being a young league. I think we may go from being one of the youngest teams to at least middle of the pack, if not one of the most experienced teams.
Thompson also spoke of senior Jessie Sapp, the improvement of rising sophomore Greg Monroe, and the transition of freshman Hollis Thompson from his semester on the Georgetown bench.
"He has an understanding a lot of the freshmen jitters that are natural, that everyone goes through, he's worked through all those kinks," he said. "To just say he's going to hit the ground running next year is probably an understatement."
Additional Thompson comments follow in this link to the Washington Times.
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