Georgetown Basketball: June 2006 News Archive
Georgetown University ends the 2005-06 academic year ranked 68th in the annual NACDA Directors Cup (formerly the Sears Cup), emblematic of success across all NCAA sponsored sports. The University's 68th place finish is six places higher than 2005, but still down from 2004 (53rd) and even 2001 (42nd), the last year it qualified for the NCAA men's basketball regionals. The Big East rundown is as follows, with the net change from the 2005 results listed. The NACDA Cup no longer discloses scores below the top 100 schools, so results from Cincinnati, DePaul, Marquette, Syracuse, Seton Hall, and St. John's were not reported.
Earlier this week, USA Today posted a feature on how Notre Dame, which finished 6th this year, has been able to elevate its program. A key to this rise has been a growth in scholarships for non-revenue sports, the results of which were noted by the paper as follows: "Twenty-four of Notre Dame's 26 sports — all but hockey and women's golf — qualified for post season play during the just-completed academic year." In contrast to ND, only five Georgetown teams-- men's basketball, men's and women's lacrosse, and men's and women's cross country/track--accounted for its post-season totals, reflecting an ongoing need to build up a number of Georgetown programs to be successful at the national level, not just men's basketball. Here's a recap of Georgetown's past finishes per the NACDA web site:
An NCAA committee has rejected a request from the National Association of Basketball Coaches to increase the size of the men's basketball tournament from 65 to 128 schools. The coaches had proposed such an expansion, in part, to provide more job security for coaches which do not qualify for the NCAA's.
Summer league play begins this weekend at McDonough Gym with the return of Kenner League action. Ten of the eleven returning Georgetown lettermen will be on teams, according to this link at GUHoyas.com. For a look back at the legacy of the Kenner League, check this link from ESPN.com.
Georgetown forward Brandon Bowman (C'06) was not selected in Wednesday's NBA draft. Bowman, projected as anywhere from a late first round to a late second round candidate, was passed over among the 60 selections, and will hope to catch on a team via free agency. Fellow graduates Ashanti Cook (C'06) and Darrel Owens (C'05, G'06) were not projected as NBA draft picks but may also be free agent candidates. Free agency has been a steep climb for many Georgetown players in recent years. Since 1988, only three Georgetown players have joined an NBA club via free agency, the last being Robert Churchwell (B'94). The Big East contributed 11 selections in the draft, including seven of the first 24 picks. Among those Big East stars not drafted were all-conference selections Mike Gansey (West Virginia), Kevin Pittsnogle (Pittsburgh), and Gerry McNamara (Syracuse).
Incoming freshman Dajuan Summers has been named to the U.S. national team for the FIBA Americas U18 Championship, as announced at the FIBA web site. The team will play in San Antonio from June 28-July 2 with hopes of securing a bid to the FIBA under-18 world championship tourney in 2007.
Incoming freshman Vernon Macklin was named as the "Mr. Basketball" award winner in Virginia for 2006, as noted in this article in Sunday's Roanoke Times, which has hosted the award since 1982. Macklin joins Alonzo Mourning and Allen Iverson as previous winners who attended Georgetown.
The Georgetown ticket office has announced ticket prices for the 2006-07 season in a news release posted at GUHoyas.com. Season ticket prices will remain unchanged, while individual game prices increase from $22.50 to $28 in the lower bowl and $15 to $18 in the mid range seats. Upper level seats will remain at $5. Season ticket seat commitments have increased as well, the first increase since moving to the Verizon (MCI) Center in 1997. "After studying the financial support structures of our competitors in the Big East and nationally, we think that this will help us to remain competitive financially as well as on the court," said athletic director Bernard Muir.
Fourteen years ago, selected second in the 1992 NBA draft, Alonzo Mourning (C'92) had dreams of an NBA championship. No one could have imagined the path that would take him to it. Six years after the onset of life-threatening kidney disease and almost three years after a brief retirement from the NBA, Mourning scored eight points, six rebounds, and five blocks off the bench as the Miami Heat won its first NBA title, 95-92. Mourning was diagnosed with a kidney disorder following the 2000 Olympics, where he helped lead the United States to a gold medal. He was sidelined during the 2002-03 season in an attempt to heal his kidneys and announced his retirement in the fall of 2003, where he underwent a kidney transplant. Despite the concerns of friends and family that a return to the NBA could prove dangerous to his health, Mourning returned to the NBA in a limited role with the singular goal of a championship. Mission accomplished. "Since I left that operating table, my outlook has changed so much about life," Mourning said in this link to Yahoo.com. "I've got to thank God for just giving me the opportunity to play this game of basketball. And for giving me life again." Mourning becomes only the third Georgetown player to win the title, joining Jaren Jackson of the 1998-99 San Antonio Spurs and John Mahnken, who won a title with the 1945-46 Rochester Royals (now known as the Sacramento Kings), in the National Basketball League, the predecessor to the NBA. Various features on Mourning's performance follow below.
Six Big East teams, including Georgetown, are cited by columnist Andy Katz in an ESPN.com column on an early top 25 list heading into the 2006-07 season. The Hoyas, though incorrectly listed with a 22-16 2005-06 record, are listed at #6 in the poll. Other Big East teams include Pittsburgh (4), Connecticut (15), Marquette (20), and Villanova (23).
As noted last month, former player and assistant coach Jaren Jackson (B'89) was a finalist for the University of New Orleans coaching position. Over the weekend, though, Jackson was not selected, as former Texas A&M assistant Buzz Williams was named the new UNO coach Saturday.
The Miami Heat have won three straight as the NBA finals return to Dallas for games six and seven. Monday's Boston Globe talks to Alonzo Mourning on his career, from his recruitment to Georgetown through the kidney transplant changed his outlook on life.
The Big East Conference announced Wednesday a multi-year extension of its basketball broadcasts on CBS through the 2012-13 season. We're very pleased to maintain our partnership with CBS," said commissioner Michael Tranghese in a conference press release. "The length of this agreement guarantees that Big East teams will have a high profile on national broadcast network television well into the future." A similar high-profile contract with the ESPN networks is also scheduled to be announced this summer.
A series of doubleheaders will be scheduled between 2007 and 2009 between representatives of the Big East and Southeastern conferences, according to the Birmingham News. Beginning in the 2007-08 season, the conferences will play two doubleheaders each year at neutral sites in the first or second week of December, with teams and locations to be announced. Games will be broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2. The doubleheader concept is a change from an item reported in April, where the conferences were considering scheduling 8-10 games a year between each other.
Brandon Bowman continues his work in the pre-draft camps. An article from NBA.com suggests Bowman is a potential second round pick after this week's workouts.
With the arrival of the NBA finals, columnist Morris (Will) O'Kelly (B'91) posts some memories of his days as a Georgetown undergrad with Alonzo Mourning in this link to EurWeb.com. "The guy who presumably was the hottest NBA prospect in the world and had said world in the palm of his hands was always respectful, respectable and most importantly sincere," said O'Kelly. "Try to find 10 like him in the NBA these days. No, try to find 5."
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