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Georgetown Basketball: June 2010 News Archive

UCF and Memphis? Not So Fast... 6/18/10

Sometimes, rumors are just that--rumors.

In an sports era where web sites have consistently scooped major newspapers and media outlets on college football realignment news, WKMG-TV in Orlando joined the scoop wagon, reporting that Central Florida and Memphis were joining the Big East, with an announcement early next week. Unfortunately, the Big East flatly denied the story.

Vitale: #21 6/18/10

Columnist Dick Vitale picks Georgetown #21 in an early pre-season poll on the ESPN.com web site, one of four Big East teams in his top 25.

Basketball At Manley No More 6/17/10

A piece of Georgetown basketball history is no more, as bulldozers at Syracuse University are gutting Manley Field House, site of the Hoyas' epic 52-50 win over the #2-ranked Orangemen in February, 1980, the first season of Big East play.

The arena is being converted into a practice facility for the football team.

Schedule Update 6/17/10

The return game with Temple has been confirmed--a Dec. 9 game at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, per the Temple athletics web site.

2012 Verbal Commit Headed To Rutgers 6/14/10

A verbal commit from the high school class of 2012 has apparently decommitted to join former assistant David Cox at Rutgers, according to various media reports. Forward Jordan Goodman, a 2011 high school recruit since reclassified to 2012, will commit to Rutgers instead, reports the Newark Star-Ledger.

Neither school can comment on the news since Goodman has not signed a letter of intent with either school.

Report: Big East "Open" To Expansion Updated 6/13/10

A member of the Big East advisory board tells the Washington Examiner that the Big East remains open to expansion, but will not poach schools currently in conferences.

The unnamed official told columnist Jim Williams that "We are monitoring what is going on and at the same time formulating our own plans for possible expansion. One thing is certain and that is we will not poach or attempt to talk a school from another conference into joining the Big East. Should there be interest in joining the conference we will always listen but we are not recruiting schools to the Big East."

As to possible displaced Big XII schools such as Kansas or Missouri, the official said "I will not speculate on what happens with those schools until there is some sort of resolution. I will say this about our plans going forward we have always had an open door policy with regards to adding schools and that will continue. There is no doubt in my mind that we will be adding schools to the conference," but noted that no current Big East schools are targeted for removal to accommodate this expansion.

Williams also refuted a claim by a Providence Journal blogger that Georgetown and PC would block any further expansion efforts.

"I talked to Georgetown for God's sake," he told CycloneFanatic.com. "...Paul Tagliabue graduated from Georgetown. Do you honestly think that a Georgetown alum who still goes to their basketball games, is going to work for the Big East just to develop a 12-team [football] conference that would knock out basketball [schools]? That makes no sense. What your getting is blowback from some of the schools who don't like the idea of not getting home and home circumstances...Georgetown is welcoming me with open arms. They understand that at the end of the day, to develop a sports network, that the Big East is attempting to look into, to develop a long-term global plan that makes sense to all of these teams in a new conference, you have to look at eyeballs, synergy and history."

NCAA Releases APR Figures 6/10/10

The NCAA has released its annual Academic Progress Rate reports, the fifth 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, an index that penalize schools with students that either are ineligible or who leave school early.

The Georgetown results are linked here. Ten sports teams scored a perfect 1000 on the rating, men's cross country. including field hockey, women's golf, softball, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's tennis, men's indoor track, and men's outdoor track. 

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 1-Yr Chg
Baseball 955 966 975 978 992 +14
Basketball (Men's) 963 970 945 942 937 -5
Basketball (Women's) 957 970 969 975 982 +7
Cross Country (Men's) 985 991 994 1000 1000 --
Cross Country (Women's) 987 991 993 986 988 +2
Field Hockey 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000  
Football 971 955 961 966 968 +2
Golf (Men's) 1000 1000 1000 1000 993 -7
Golf (Women's) 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000
Lacrosse (Men's) 989 989 985 982 987 +5
Lacrosse (Women's) 990 990 989 989 994 +5
Rowing (Men's, not an NCAA sport) * * * * * *
Rowing (Women's) 1000 1000 1000 1000 980 -20
Sailing (not an NCAA sport) * * * * * *
Soccer (Men's) 988 1000 989 991 977 -14
Soccer (Women's) 993 996 994 991 992 +1
Softball * * * 1000 1000 --
Swimming (Men's) 938 958 969 1000 1000 --
Swimming (Women's) 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 --
Tennis (Men's) NA 923 952 957 1000 +43
Tennis (Women's) 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 --
Track (Men's Indoor) 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 --
Track (Women's Indoor) 989 993 1000 989 992 +3
Track (Men's Outdoor) 1000 1000 994 1000 1000 --
Track (Women's Outdoor) 988 992 1000 989 992 +3
Volleyball 986 991 987 986 993 +7
 

Transfers and early entrants dropped the four year average APR for Georgetown to 11th among Big East schools, down from ninth in 2008. The table below compares the men's basketball APR's at the 16 conference schools, with two of this year's 16 falling below the NCAA minimum of 925. Georgetown's single season APR in 2008-09 was just 929.

Syracuse received a two scholarship penalty by the NCAA for its poor score in 2008-09, but Syracuse officials claimed that it had already assessed the penalty in the 2009-10 season. Its news release downplayed the loss with a headline which read "Orange Athletics Turns in Strong Overall Performance in the Classroom".

Among the other schools penalized nationwide, Portland State (with a four year APR of 865) was banned from the 2010-11 post-season.

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
W. Virginia 911 899 915 932 960 990
DePaul 808 865 893 918 940 987
Notre Dame 957 977 977 971 982 983
Villanova 1000 1000 993 990 985 980
Marquette 920 918 927 954 970 975
Rutgers 881 933 943 953 968 963
Pittsburgh 885 905 907 935 965 962
St. John's 826 884 909 918 959 961
Louisville 833 908 920 941 965 951
Cincinnati 916 872 838 872 902 945
Georgetown 975 963 970 945 942 937
Seton Hall 979 930 921 924 918 936
Providence 960 936 938 938 939 935
Connecticut 851 889 934 946 939 930
S. Florida 1000 893 898 904 818 915
Syracuse 977 967 948 955 932 912
 
The Distinguished All-Met 6/9/10

Head coach John Thompson III will be honored at the 26th annual Washington Post All-Met banquet, which salutes the outstanding regional high school athletes of the season. Thompson, a 1984 All-Met while at Gonzaga, is profiled in this link to the Washington Post.

R. Thompson Wins Broadcasting Award 6/9/10

In the article linked above, John Thompson III speculated in 1983 that he might go into broadcasting after college. He chose coaching, but a second career for his younger brother has earned former GU player and assistant coach Ronny Thompson (C'92) a regional Emmy for his work with Comcast Sports, according to GUHoyas.com.

The younger Thompson moved into broadcasting following over 10 years as an assistant at Oregon, Loyola, Georgetown and Arkansas, and a season as head coach at Ball State.

And, perhaps as a sign to age or the new career, the article refers to the awardee as "Ron" Thompson and not Ronny, as nicknames have a way of fading as people get older. (Over the weekend of tributes to UCLA coach John Wooden, for example, NBC announcer Curt Gowdy frequently called him "Johnny Wooden" in 1970's era broadcasts, but that seems quite unfamiliar now.)

Nebraska, Big XII On The Clock 6/7/10

A number of major athletic conferences have circled 5:00 pm on its calendars this Friday. Why?

CBS Sports.com is reporting that Nebraska officials have been given until Friday to commit to staying in the Big XII conference and to decline any future offer from the expansion-friendly Big Ten. If Nebraska is unable or unwilling to do so, the University of Texas will lead a group of six schools out of the league and join the Pacific-10, which could affect the possible plans of the SEC, ACC, Big East, Mountain West, and Conference USA.

Following a report at Rivals.com Thursday, various media outlets reported that the Pacific-10 will extend invitations to half of the Big XII Conference and create a 16 school, two division setup, anticipating a similar expansion by the Big Ten Conference which may involve Big East schools. One division would encompass the original Pac-8 prior to 1978 (Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, California, UCLA, USC) along with Arizona, Arizona State, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Colorado in the second division. A later report suggested Baylor could take Colorado's place under some scenarios.

In other inter-conference news:

  • Big Ten officials are trying yet another effort to persuade Notre Dame to join, claiming they will not expand beyond 12 (and presumably, consider no other Big East schools) if ND joined. This may or may not affect the status of Nebraska and Missouri, both of whom would be candidates if a Big XII schism takes place.
  • The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the Mountain West could vote as early as Monday to add Boise State to its conference. The Broncos are 112-17 (.868) in the last ten seasons in football and finished 2009 ranked #4 in the nation.
  • A column at the Orlando Sentinel suggests the University of Louisville could have influence in any Big East realignment moves. "Louisville's endorsement of [South Florida] ended up keeping longtime rival Memphis out of the Big East," it writes. "The Cardinal's powerful voice in the Big East could once again prove to be an advantage for [Central Florida] if the league needs to add more members. Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino, a high-profile member of the conference, already suggested UCF as an expansion candidate early this year."

As they say, stay tuned.

John R. Wooden (1910-2010) 6/5/10

A life well lived. Please visit this online archive at UCLA.edu dedicated to this monumental figure in the history of basketball.

Bryant Resigns at Georgetown Prep 6/2/10

Former Georgetown guard Dwayne Bryant (C'90) has resigned as head men's coach at Georgetown Prep, reports the Washington Post. Bryant coached the Little Hoyas for 11 seasons and was the high school coach to former Georgetown center Roy Hibbert.

Despite the obvious ties between the schools, it may surprise readers that Georgetown Prep has never served as a feeder school for GU basketball. In fact, since Prep moved off the Hilltop to settle in Garrett Park in 1919, only two Prep grads have made the Hoya basketball varsity, with a third (Markel Starks) joining this fall.

Thinking Big 6/1/10

Late last week, a blog item at ESPN.com pointed out some of the big-picture thinking that Paul Tagliabue (C'62) is trying to instill in Big East executives.

When commissioner John Marinatto suggested building a Big East television studio in Providence, Tagliabue corrected him. "John," he said, "we're not building a studio in Providence. We'll build a studio next to the 'Today' show in Rockefeller Center."

"Because we're sitting where we are in the Northeast corridor, we have people from our schools who are involved in the business world who are working at the right places," Marinatto said. "Maybe that can help create some partnerships that would make us unique."

 

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