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Georgetown Basketball: September 2008 News Archive

Mourning Autobiography Released 9/30/08

The much-awaited autobiography from Alonzo Mourning, "Resilience", debuts today online and at bookstores.

"Everybody has a story," Mourning said in this link to USA Today. "And if everybody had an opportunity to put their story on paper, everybody reading those stories would find something that they would connect with. And I know there's so many positive things throughout my whole life that can help inspire and help people overcome certain adversities in their lives."

A blog item on Mourning and Georgetown's center legacy follows at the Hoya Hoop Club blog.

Basketball Receives Scholarship Gift 9/17/08

A $1 million gift from Tom (C'69, L'72) and Barbara Napolitano has established men's basketball's first endowed scholarship, reports GUHoyas.com.

The gift allows the interest from the endowment to cover the cost of a scholarship each year, and opens up current use dollars to be used for other needs for the program or department.

"We have always wanted to find a way to do something to strengthen the University's endowment," Tom Napolitano said. "I recognized the importance of the endowment from my days as a student in the late 1960s. Endowing a basketball scholarship allows us to express our enthusiasm for Georgetown basketball, while addressing the long-term needs of the University."

Class of 2010 Verbal Commit 9/26/08

Georgetown has received an early commitment from junior Markel Starks, a 6-1 guard from nearby Georgetown Prep, reports the Washington Post and various recruiting web sites.

Starks, who averaged 14.1 points for Prep last year, took visits to Maryland, Wake Forest, Georgia and Georgia Tech but committed to Georgetown after a visit this week.

Zormelo Joins Bulls Staff 9/24/08

Congratulations to former team manager Justin Zormelo (B'06), joining the Chicago Bulls as its Assistant Video Coordinator. Additional details follow in this link to NBA.com.

Georgetown Schedule Finalized 9/24/08

The three remaining slots on the 2008-09 conference schedule were announced Wednesday, with home games with Drexel, Savannah State, and Florida International added to the slate.

Of the three, the Savannah State game will be a home and away series, with Georgetown traveling to Savannah next season. "Just knowing John, I asked him if this was something he would want to do and he said, 'Hey, why not?'" said Savannah State coach Horace Broadnax (B'86) in this link to the Savannah Morning News."There was almost a schedule where we could have gotten them down here on the opening date [this year] but it just didn't work out."

Georgetown's Out Of Conference RPI 9/24/08

Here's a comparison of the non-conference schedules of recent seasons by the RPI of teams from the preceding season:

  Non-Conf. Opponent RPI
Team 1-50 51-99 100s 200s 300+ Mean
2002-03 4 0 1 5 1 171.3
2003-04 1 0 4 5 1 207.0
2004-05 1 1 4 1 4 199.8
2005-06 2 2 1 2 3 160.9
2006-07 2 2 2 6 1 182.3
2007-08 3 1 3 3 1 148.2
2008-09 2 0 3 3 1 170.7
 
Big East Schedule Dates Announced 9/5/08

The Big East conference announced its conference slate for 2008-09, with three potential Top 20 opponents to open the season.

Georgetown begins conference play in late December, opening in Hartford versus Connecticut, followed by a home game Jan. 3 versus Pittsburgh and a Monday night game at Notre Dame, all of which are seen on ESPN or ESPN2. Five of GU's first six Big East games get national ESPN coverage, but only three the rest of the season, with remaining games going to ESPNU, ESPN Regional, or the ESPN360 broadband service available on selected cable systems.

Four of the nine home games are on Saturdays, with starting times to be announced. Three of the four will be at 12 noon or close to it, owing to NBA and NHL commitments in the evenings which take precedence at Verizon Center. The March 7 home finale versus DePaul has no NBA or NHL game scheduled that evening.

More on the schedule follows at this link to The HOYA.

Ewing Inducted Into Hall Of Fame 9/4/08

Friday night in Springfield, MA, Patrick Ewing (C'85) was inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame, the first Georgetown player ever selected.

Ewing joined Adrian Dantley, William Davidson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Pat Riley, Cathy Rush, and Dick Vitale in the 2008 ceremonies.

"When I look back at my career I fell that I had a great career, naturally I'm disappointed that I didn't win a [NBA title] ring, but I don't think that defines me," Ewing said in comments at the event. "I think my whole body of work, from grade school to high school to college to the Olympics to the NBA. I think that if you look at my whole body of work I consider myself a winner. There are a lot of people who have won who really haven't been winners and there have been people who are winners and haven't won, and I think I'm one of them."

The eleven time NBA All-Star played 16 years in the league after being named a three time All-American and National Player of the Year in his four years at Georgetown from 1981-1985. Joined at the event by a number of former teammates and coaches, Ewing remains grateful for the education and opportunities provided during his college years.

"My four years at Georgetown were the best of my life," said Ewing. "I came to college a boy and left a man."

A sample of links from the event follow below.

 

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