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Georgetown Basketball: September 2005 News Archive

Big East Budgets 9/29/05

A frequent topic in Big East circles is the impact of athletic budgets among the 16 schools. Thursday's Louisville Courier-Journal discusses the Louisville budget and the bonuses awaiting various Big East football schools to qualify for bowl games.

A listing of total athletic budgets for all 16 schools is also posted, with Georgetown ranking 11th of the 16 in 2004.

Hoya Blue Profile 9/28/05

A feature on the student group Hoya Blue is featured in the current issue of the Georgetown Independent, a monthly newspaper distributed on campus. (A registration form is required to view the article.)

The Fifty Greatest 9/26/05

A extensive run of comments on the HoyaTalk board this weekend discussed the fifty greatest players in the Thompson era (1972-present). The original article is now available for review on the history pages, so give it a look.

Hurricane Relief Auction 9/26/05

The online auction has closed for a pair of Georgetown-related items bid for hurricane relief.

The bid for a visit to a prep-season practice was won for $920.00. The bid for an in-studio visit to the John Thompson Show on WTEM-AM and courtside tickets to the Feb. 9 Georgetown-St. John's game was won for $760.00.

Thanks to all who participated. For a review of other auction items still in progress for this effort, visit this link to eBay.com.

Mutombo Visits Yale 9/21/05

NBA All-Star Dikembe Mutombo (SLL '91) continues to work in the off-season to improve the lives of his native Congo. An article in the Yale Daily News describes a recent visit by Mutombo to the New Haven campus to speak about medical issues facing Africa.

"We are here to share our concern for the people of the African continent," he said. "It is my sincere hope that the Africa of tomorrow will have equal access…to health care. It is our common interest as citizens of the world."

"My visit has been great," Mutombo said following a visit to the Yale-New Haven Hospital. "I got a chance to learn a lot from the faculty."

Brunson Wins WNBA Title 9/21/05

Congratulations to Rebekkah Brunson (C'04) and the Sacramento Monarchs, who won the WNBA title Tuesday night with a 62-59 win over Connecticut in the deciding game of the championship series. Brunson scored 12 points for the Monarchs, 10 in the first half.

Brunson becomes only the third Georgetown player to win a championship ring in the pros, joining Jaren Jackson (B'89) of the 1998-99 San Antonio Spurs and John Mahnken (ex'45), who won a title with the 1945-46 Rochester Royals in the predecessor to the NBA, the National Basketball League. (The Royals' franchise is now known as the Sacramento Kings.)

By The Numbers 9/14/05

The official roster has posted jersey numbers for the four freshmen joining the roster:

  • #21: Jesse Sapp
  • #23: Josh Thornton
  • #24: Octavius Spann
  • #34: Marc Egerson

All other players returning for 2004-05 keep the same jersey numbers.

Recruiting '06: A Class to Remember 9/13/05

The current recruiting efforts for the class of 2010 are gaining some national attention, per a link from CBS Sportsline.

The talent level in the program just multiplied," says recruiting analyst Dave Telep in the article. "Georgetown has done excellent things with this group, and they aren't finished. When it's all said and done, this could be the best Hoyas class in quite a long time."

A New Garden? 9/13/05

The New York Times reports that developers are proposing a new Madison Square Garden one block west of the current facility, ostensibly to build more office towers around Penn Station. A similar plan to move the Garden west to 11th Avenue failed in the late 1980's.

Previous Gardens were built in 1879, 1889, and 1925. The current MSG, the fourth structure to bear the name, was built atop Pennsylvania Station in 1968 after the historic station was demolished five years earlier. For those who never saw the original Penn Station, check these amazing photos from NYC-Architecture.com.

Schedule RPI 9/12/05

With each of the 16 Big East schools having posted its schedules, it's time to look at the relative strength of non-conference schedules.

Georgetown has improved in strength of schedule for a third consecutive year, moving from an average opponent Ratings Performance Index (RPI) of 207.0 in 2003-04 to 188.6 in 2004-05 to 160.9 in 2005-06. The number would have been even better had not Georgetown scheduled three schools with an RPI of 300 or above, the most of any Big East team. (Georgetown also scheduled three 300+ teams last season as well.)

Using the end of regular season RPI at CollegeRPI.com, the 2005-06 schedule has been ranked ninth among the 16 Big East schools, as follows. The RPI review does not include later round opponents in tournament play this season, only those identified in the first round. (Georgetown still has one open date which may affect the RPI if the opponent is in Division I.)

  Non-Conf. Opponent RPI, at end of 2004-05 Season
Team 1-50 51-99 100s 200s 300+ Other* Mean
DePaul 2 3 6 0 0 0 97.7
Cincinnati 3 2 6 0 1 1 122.5
Rutgers 3 2 3 2 1 1 130.5
Villanova 2 4 1 3 1 0 134.5
Marquette 1 2 5 1 0 1 137.7
Providence 3 1 4 1 2 0 153.4
Pittsburgh 2 1 4 4 0 0 157.0
Louisville 1 2 5 2 1 0 159.7
Georgetown 2 2 1 2 3 0 160.9
Syracuse 1 4 2 3 1 0 162.7
Notre Dame 1 3 3 3 1 0 169.1
Seton Hall 0 1 7 3 0 0 183.5
St. John's 1 2 1 5 1 0 188.7
S. Florida 1 1 3 3 1 0 192.7
W. Virginia 2 0 0 4 2 1 193.0
Connecticut 1 1 3 4 2 0 196.6
*Other refers to non-Div. I opponents, not included in RPI.
 
Thompsons Donate To Online Auction 9/12/05

A noted last week, basketball coaches across the country will be donating items for hurricane relief activities. Coach Thompson will be participating, offering for auction a visit to a prep-season practice.

Coach Thompson's father will also be offering an in-studio visit to his WTEM-AM talk show and tickets to the Georgetown-St. John's game.

Additional information on the auction is posted at AllCoachesCare.com

St. John's Opens Practice Facility 9/10/05

The New York Times has a feature article on the opening of the Taffner Field House, the new 43,000 square foot practice facility built at St. John's.

"This building will help us tremendously," Roberts told the Times. "We have Madison Square Garden, which is unbelievable and is a great place to play. But what people would use as a selling point against [us] was, 'How many times do they practice there?' The answer is, very few."

Photos from the grand opening are posted at the St. John's athletic site.

Former Athletic Director Dies 9/10/05

Robert Sigholtz, athletic director at Georgetown from 1969 to 1972, died last week. An obituary is found in this link to the Washington Post.

Sigholtz, a decorated veteran in three wars, arrived at Georgetown in 1968 as the head of the school's ROTC program and as an assistant athletic director. As Hagerty's presumptive successor, Sigholtz angered many students with the cancellation of the 1969 spring track season, which led to the resignation of track coach Steve Benedek. Seven team captains joined then-SAC chairman Pierce O'Donnell and Yard President Dan Hurson in calling for Sigholtz not to be hired as A.D., Sigholtz was nonetheless promoted to director in the summer of 1969.

Sigholtz attempted to upgrade various elements of the Georgetown athletics program but with limited results. Women's basketball was elevated to varsity status during his tenure, but it was men's basketball that received the most attention. Ongoing disputes between Sigholtz and and basketball coach Jack Magee spilled into the 1971-72 basketball schedule that ended Magee's head coaching career. Sigholtz also resigned following the 3-23 season.

"He took over a sleepy moribund department that had never recovered from the football death sentence dealt by the University in 1950," writes Pat McArdle at the Georgetown athletics blog. "An NIT bid and narrow loss to the Pete Maravich-led LSU Tigers provided the high water mark of his directorship. Ironically, the greatest failure on his watch led to the most foreboding and far-reaching changes: a 3-23 basketball record in 1972, causing the demise first of coach Jack Magee and then of the Colonel himself."

Following Georgetown, Sigholtz served as the manager of RFK Stadium and the DC Armory.

Georgetown Confirms 2005-06 Schedule 9/8/05

Georgetown joined most Big East schools in announcing its schedule Thursday. Some key updates:

  • Dates for all 16 Big East games have been announced. The Hoyas will play only three home games on Saturday, two on Sunday, and one each on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
  • Seven of the eight Big East road games will be in arenas of 10,000 seats or more. Georgetown will return to the Hartford Civic Center on Jan. 14 after two consecutive years at the Gampel Pavilion on the Storrs campus. The St. John's game will be at Madison Square Garden, but Villanova will again schedule GU at the 6,500 seat Pavilion and not at the Wachovia Center.
  • The Dec. 17 game with Stetson will be played at McDonough Gym.
  • A non-conference game with Savannah State has been added for Dec. 21. Following an 0-28 season in 2004-05, Savannah is now coached by Horace Broadnax (B'86).
National TV Appearances 9/8/05

At present, the 2005-06 schedule offers two non-conference and three Big East games for national TV viewers.

The Dec. 8 game at Illinois will be seen on ESPN, with the Jan. 21 game vs. Duke seen on CBS (national clearance TBD). In Big East play, ESPN will show one game (Feb. 16 at Marquette) and ESPN2 will show two (Jan. 28 vs. Cincinnati, Feb. 9 vs. St. John's).

Here's a review of national appearances announced by other Big East schools--some have not announced televised games to date.

Team ESPN  ESPN2  CBS
Villanova (12) 6 3 3
Louisville (11) 5 3 3
Connecticut (11) 5 1 5
W. Virginia (9) 3 5 1
Syracuse (8) 7 0 1
Cincinnati (7) 5 2 0
DePaul (5) 5 0 0
Georgetown (5) 2 2 1
Notre Dame (5) 3 2 0
Pitt (4) 4 0 0
 

Last year's initial schedule featured no national broadcasts, though two Big East games were later picked up by ESPN Classic.

Voice Feature On Muir 9/8/05

Thursday's Georgetown Voice has a feature article on athletic director Bernard Muir.

Muir welcomes the challenge of competing in the expanded Big East. 'It's going to provide many challenges," he told the Voice. "But it will also provide opportunities for us to really be good across the board."

View From The Hilltop 9/7/05

The official athletics web site has launched a new feature titled "View From The Hilltop".

"View" is a blog-style column with features and commentary on Georgetown athletics. "Several times per week, it will offer such features as athletic news, historical anecdotes, individual profiles, and observations," reads the release.

The blog is authored by Pat McArdle (C'72, L'77), a former President of Hoyas Unlimited and a member of the Georgetown Athletic Hall of Fame for men's lacrosse.

The blog has been added to the "Quick Links" at the top of the page. Recommended reading.

Coaches Sponsor N.O. Relief Efforts 9/7/05

Coach John Thompson III and other college basketball coaches are lending their support for an upcoming online auction which will support rebuilding efforts in new Orleans.

"America has the greatest reputation in the world for helping others whenever and wherever disaster strikes," said Texas Tech coach Bob Knight. "Now, more than ever, it's important for us to contribute to those who are in need. Your assistance is really beneficial and will be greatly welcomed and appreciated."

For additional efforts on how you can support short-term and long-term relief efforts, visit the Red Cross and Catholic Charities USA web sites.

Down On The Farm 9/1/05

Before classes resumed this week, sophomore Jonathan Wallace welcomed two teammates to his home town of Harvest, AL, where Wallace grew up on a working farm. GUHoyas.com has a brief feature on how fellow sophomores Jeff Green and Tyler Crawford got a first-hand look at rural life.

"They had the cows confused with lions," Wallace laughed. "They kept looking at them like they were going to attack."

 
 

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