CBS Sports Preview: Georgetown 10th
Two weeks to the season opener, but the Hoyas still aren't moving up the Big East pre-season polls.CBS Sports Picks
2. Xavier 3. Connecticut 4. St. John's 5. Butler 6. Seton Hall 7. Creighton 8. Providence 9. Marquette 10.Georgetown 11. DePaul The Hoyas were picked ninth by three CBS writers, while two picked them 10th, so it;s not clear how they ended 10th in the final poll. Overall, the consensus CBS picks for the 2020-21 Big East pre-season were very strong, picking five of the top six seeds in the 2021 Big East tournament, but missed on Marquette (picked 6th, finished 9th), St. John's (picked 9th, finished 3rd), and Georgetown (picked 11th, finished 8th). DeGioia Named To NCAA Transformation Committee
Georgetown University president Jack DeGioia (C'79, G'95) has been named to the NCAA's Division I Transformation Committee, who will present significant changes to the NCAA governing structure.The Division I Board of Directors is relying on the Transformation Committee, with their collective expertise and broad and diverse experiences, to do the important work that will be brought to the Division I Board of Directors for final consideration," said Jere Morehead, president of the University of Georgia, in a news release. "The time is now for transformative change, and will require the full engagement and input of the Division I membership to work with the Transformation Committee and Division I Board to address the challenges facing Division I."DeGioia is also a member of the NCAA Constitutional Committee, responsible for by-laws changes to be voted on next summer. In other NCAA news, the Division I Council has introduced legislation to reduce the number of recruiting days in men's basketball and the number of official paid visits per recruit from five to three, citing that "committee members believe many student-athletes are taking official visits because they can and not because they intend to attend a school." Student Podcast Debuts
New from the Thompson's Towel site; a student podcast on basketball."It's another way in which Thompson's Towel is trying to expand its mission of sharing the student perspective on everything Georgetown basketball," reads the site. "The first episode has already dropped, and new episodes will drop every week."The podcast may be found at the web site as well as through Spotify, Amazon, and Apple. Georgetown Introduces COVID Registration For Visitors
Despite declining COVID rates in the District of Columbia, Georgetown University will institute mandatory visitor registration and proof of vaccination for all indoor events, including athletics, beginning October 25."As part of Georgetown's layered approach to protecting the health and safety of our community, and in recognition that with the colder weather more events will be held inside, we are introducing a new protocol for visitors," reads a University announcement. "Visitors to University-owned or operated buildings in Washington, DC, and Maryland must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or attest to having a medical or religious exemption. Beginning Monday, October 25, visitors will need to follow the University's protocol for verifying their vaccination status...and complete a health attestation on the morning of their visit to attest that they are symptom-free. Visitors will also need to continue to comply with all other University public health guidelines, including wearing a mask indoors."According to the site, groups like Athletics would create an event record through the University's portal and send e-mails to all guests, although it may be difficult to presume athletic attendees in advance. A visitor(s) would enter the portal to upload vaccination documentation or an approved exemption. "Visitors who attest to having an exemption or who are under the age of 12 will need to take a COVID-19 PCR test within 72 hours prior to their visit and provide their negative test results to the University," it notes. While this effort involves primarily academic visitors, this would include any indoor athletic event, including those at McDonough Gymnasium or McCarthy Pool, but not for outdoor sites such as Cooper Field or Shaw Field. GUHoyas.com has identified volleyball, swimming, and women's basketball as falling under these requirements. A policy for games at Capital One Arena, which falls outside Georgetown's purview, has not been announced, although the Monumental Sports web site has required vaccination and/or PCR testing for Wizards season ticket holders in close proximity to the arena floor. In the previous week, Georgetown reported an 0.4% test positivity rate, with a total of 17 cases among students and six among faculty and staff. The District-wide alert status as of October 20 is Phase 3 ("green"), signaling minimal community spread, with a 2.5% test positivity rate, with 13 new cases daily per 100,000 residents. Tre King Announces Transfer
One week after expressing hope he could return to Georgetown and play basketball, forward Marvin (Tre) King has reversed course and announced he will enter the transfer portal, according to a Twitter post from Jon Rothstein.
King was dismissed from the University last week for an undisclosed offense, which King referred to as "inadvertent". In his statement on social media, he remarked that "I truly appreciate that the University has given me the opportunity to return to campus in the near future. And I hope that after I return, Coach Ewing will see me as a valuable addition to the Georgetown basketball team." With this unusual exit, King becomes the first scholarship player to leave the University before playing a varsity game since Joe Holmes, a junior college transfer who arrived in the summer of 1977 but left mysteriously a month later, arriving at Central Washington and playing two seasons there from 1978-1980. King has two years eligibility remaining. NBA 75th Anniversary TeamTwo former Georgetown players were named to the NBA 75th Anniversary team announced Thursday.Included were Patrick Ewing (C'85), an 11-time All-Star who played from 1985-2002, and Allen Iverson (ex'98), who was also an 11 time All-Star selection in a career from 1996 to 2010.Ewing and Iverson were among six former students at other Big East schools on the list, joining Connecticut's Ray Allen, Villanova's Paul Arizin, DePaul's George Mikan, and Marquette's Dwayne Wade. The NBA retroactively traces its roots to the 1946-47 season, but there was no NBA then and numerous basketball historians have politely called foul on this. Three current NBA franchises (Celtics, Knickerbockers, and Warriors) trace their heritage to the Basketball Association of America (BAA) that ran from 1946-1949, but the NBA was formed by a merger of the BAA and the National Basketball League (NBL), which itself was founded in 1937 and included teams such as today's Hawks, Pistons, Kings, 76ers, and Lakers. Contemporary articles clearly cited the NBA as having been formed in 1949, but the NBA currently ignores this.
Post-Haste: Where Is The Local Coverage?
Madison Square Garden was busy with Big East Media Day, with representation from press covering teams from Nebraska to New England. Where was the Washington coverage?
MEDIA DAY REPORTS
It's no secret that times are tough for print journalism, even for the heavyweights, but Georgetown fans are justified in concerns that local coverage of the Hoyas into the 2021-22 season is lacking. The front page of the Washington Post's sports page contains links to 81 different stories, covering the gamut from palace intrigue with the Redskins to to a feature on the commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference. None of them references Georgetown. In fact, a search for the phrase "Georgetown Hoyas" on the Post's web site brings up just one article of any kind in the last 90 days: the indictment of former tennis coach Gordie Ernst. Since Qudus Wahab's transfer in March, there's literally been nothing about Georgetown basketball in the local newspaper of record, from the freshmen arriving to Tre King departing, and anything in between. Tuesday's Media Day was tailor-made for the Post to reintroduce its readers to the fifth season of the Ewing era, but as of this morning there is nothing listed. The Georgetown beat reporter with the Post, Kareem Copeland, was most recently covering the WNBA finals and no free lance reporter was called to duty. However bleak, the Post coverage can be counted upon to exceed that of the Washington Times, which ran an Associated Press story from New York and promptly put up a pay wall offer for its skeleton coverage--just $7.99 per month. But for two dailies with far more resources than most Big East dailies, Georgetown (and Washington) fans deserve better. Closer to home, GUHoyas.com posted just one article, without any quotes or video from Ewing, Donald Carey, and Dante Harris, all of whom took questions at the event. In case you missed it, three hours of coverage from John Fanta was streamed, with GU coverage at the 43:15 mark:
Big East Media Day: Georgetown #10
Georgetown was picked 10th in the 2021-22 Big East pre-season poll by its fellow coaches.Georgetown totaled 25 votes across ten voters, one short of Marquette. The 2021-22 Hoyas return one starter from last season's 13-13 team which swept the Big East tournament before a first round NCAA loss to Colorado. Villanova earned 10 of 11 first place votes, Connecticut one. Xavier and St. John's rounded out the top four.
Georgetown had no selections for the Big East's first team, second team or honorable mention. Aminu Mohammed was named as the pre-season all-freshman selection. Here are the pre-season honorees: First Team Nate Watson, Providence, C, Gr., 6-10, 260, Portsmouth, VA Julian Champagnie, St. John's, G-F, Jr., 6-8, 215, Brooklyn, NY Jared Rhoden, Seton Hall, G-F, Sr., 6-6, 210, Baldwin, NY Paul Scruggs, Xavier, G, Sr., 6-4, 196, Indianapolis, IN Zach Freemantle, Xavier, F, Jr., 6-9, 216, Teaneck, NJ Second Team R.J. Cole, Connecticut, F, Gr., 6-1, 185, Union, NJ Tyrese Martin, Connecticut, G, Sr., 6-6, 215, Allentown, PA Posh Alexander, St. John's, G, So., 6-0, 200, Brooklyn, NY Justin Moore, Villanova, G, Jr., 6-4, 210, Fort Washington, MD Jermaine Samuels, Villanova, F, Gr., 6-7, 230, Franklin, MA Honorable Mention Chuck Harris, Butler, G, So., 6-2, 190, Ashburn, VA Adama Sanogo, Connecticut, F, So., 6-9, 240, Bamako, Mali
Grad Transfer Dismissed From Team
The "Friday news drop" is a Washington institution, when bad news is released with hopes that it will be soon forgotten over the weekend.
In a statement released late Friday night, King accepted the decision, calling it "an inadvertent mistake that did not involve another person," but suggested that he was suspended instead of expelled, citing that "I truly appreciate that the University has given me the opportunity to return to campus in the near future. And I hope that after I return, Coach Ewing will see me as a valuable addition to the Georgetown basketball team."The 6-9, 225 lb. King arrived at Georgetown this summer as a grad transfer, earning first team all-OVC honors and averaging 14.9 points and 6.2 rebounds a game at Eastern Kentucky. He was widely tabbed as a candidate to start at center given his experience and the relative inexperience of juniors Timothy Ighoefe, Malcolm Wilson, or freshman Ryan Mutombo. King was the subject of online chatter earlier this month when it was noted by web sites that King was not appearing on Instagram posts from the basketball office, and that basketball office assistant Clinton Crouch had not tagged King when showing players on his feed. To date, Georgetown has made no mention of the announcement at GUHoyas.com. No News Isn't Good News
A column at SB Nation's Casual Hoya calls Georgetown to task for its lack of transparency entering the 2021-22 season."Outreach in the pandemic era seems to be as important as ever and a has shown to be a great investment in businesses stake holders, it writes. "Brand leaders everywhere have embraced the virtual touch point and not hesitated from producing interviews, videos, and calls for engagement. Waiting COVID out isn't going to work. We have had a year and a half of this mess under our belts and should know how to plan months ahead, right? Other programs in the Big East seem to have figured it out. Georgetown seems to have stepped backwards."As to form, there have been no announcements by the basketball as to fan outreach prior to the season opener in five weeks including Midnight Madness (already held by many Big East schools), an open practice, or even a full public scrimmage, which was webcast last evening by Villanova for all to see. "When I walked in tonight, I was just hit with a jolt of energy having so many people back in here," said Villanova coach Jay Wright. "We practice in here and it's quiet...So to be here tonight, with the students and fans was just awesome." Joseph P. Carroll (1933-2021)
Joe Carroll (C'54), the co-captain of the 1953-54 Georgetown Hoyas, died September 25 at the age of 88.Carroll's family moved from Philadelphia to Baltimore in the late 1940's, where he was the hero of an epic football upset by Calvert Hall over Loyola in 1948, passing for one touchdown and throwing another. Carroll was coached by former Georgetown end Joe Mellendick, and followed Mellendick's path to the Hilltop to play football. When football was dropped after his freshman year, Carroll opted to stay at Georgetown, becoming a starter on the Hoyas' baseball and basketball teams. In 1953-54, Carroll was a basketball co-captain for the Hoyas and averaged 6.9 points per game as a senior.In his years after Georgetown, Carroll served as an attorney, lobbyist, and an assistant attorney general for the State of Maryland. At the time of his death in 2021, Carroll was well known for his 26 years as as a college football official (including Doug Flutie's famous 1984 game versus Miami), as a high school coach at Calvert Hall and Gilman, and most recently, with 11 years as an assistant coach at Johns Hopkins until his retirement in 2007. Upon his death, his obituary noted that Carroll "passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 25, 2021 after, in his words, a long happy life." A requiem Mass is scheduled for October 12. (Portions excerpted from the Georgetown Basketball History Project.) Georgetown Announces NIL Updates
The Georgetown University Department of Athletics has provided an update on its ability to support a name, image, and likeness (NIL) program.Titled The Blueprint, "the three-pronged approach of INFLCR, Athliance and Georgetown's Sports Industry Management program will utilize different partnerships and University assets to ensure that all aspects of the legislation will be covered from student-athletes' strategy and education to compliance and financial literacy," reads a release.Neither INFLCR, a social media branding service, nor Athliance, a compliance software provider, is a NIL sponsor. Georgetown has not announced any NIL agreement through the University. There remains considerable uncertainty about how NIL will affect college athletics. With 750 student-athletes at Georgetown across 30 teams, most are not likely to be major targets for personal branding efforts but are still encouraged to do so. Times Announced For 2021-22 Games
Game times and networks have been updated for all but two games on the 2021-22 season at GUHoyas.com.Georgetown will play on Fox Sports 2 for four of its first six games and five overall. Thirteen games will be found on Fox Sports 1, four on Fox broadcast TV, four on cable's CBS Sports Network, two on CBS broadcast, two on ESPN2, and two games (game 2 of the Wooden Legacy tournament and Dec. 5, at South Carolina) still to be determined.Earlier in the week, Georgetown has announced it is moving the home game versus Siena from Saturday afternoon, November 20, to a 6:30 pm start on Friday, November 19. No further comment was provided as to what caused the move. The Washington Wizards have a 7:00 game start on Saturday but afternoon games in advance of the NBA have been scheduled in the past. As a result, the Hoyas will play three home games in six days to open the season. Season Opener Offers Free Tickets
The press release announcing Georgetown's 2021-22 schedule offered a tempting offer to fans, but some questions remain."All Fans Free On Nov 13!" reads the end of the release. "As a thank you to all Hoyas fans for supporting the team from afar last year and to celebrate having fans back in the arena, all fans will be able to request a free ticket to attend the Georgetown men's basketball 2021-22 home opener against Dartmouth on Saturday, November 13th. To request your free ticket for the Hoyas' home opener, fill out the form at wearegeorgetown.com/freehoyasgame."The link notes that fans who request tickets "are agreeing to be added to our email and text message ticket offers." The home opener is one of six non-conference games not offered as part of the season ticket package, which could negatively affect attendance if season ticket holders opt not to attend. The issue not addressed in the offer is whether the free tickets only apply to those who fill out the form, or if anyone who walks up to Capital One Arena that day will be waived in regardless of requesting a ticket in advance. (Prices on StubHub for the game range from $25 to $103.) The form notes that "All tickets will be mobile entry. Please ensure you enter a valid cell phone number. Seat locations may be either reserved or general admission." The location of a general admission section has not been, to date, announced. The November 13 game will mark Georgetown's first home game at Capital One Arena since March 7, 2020. Twenty Five Years Online
Nothing says "time flies" like running a web site.In 1996, I was 12 years out of Georgetown and a local alumni club volunteer, whose offer to build a web site for the Georgetown Club of Dallas-Ft. Worth was politely declined by the University, citing its online plans for alumni clubs as "coming soon". At the time, there were fewer than one million web sites worldwide. Google didn't exist, certainly not social media.But with 10MB of web space and nothing much to do with it, I decided to convert the proposed alumni club site into a series of links for Georgetown sports. On October 1, 1996, this site, the first independent Web site for Georgetown sports, made its debut, ahead of a home football game at Kehoe Field versus Marist. Following the 25th anniversary of the basketball pages later this year, we'll share a commemorative section with some moments and memories of 25 years of Georgetown sports online. More than mere thanks, I offer my gratitude to all those who have stopped by and followed the site over these years. As I wrote in 1997, "The potential of HoyaSaxa.com to serve as an electronic "homecoming", to facilitate and encourage a lively mix of news, views, and information to spark increased interest among the on-line alumni population as a whole, offers a great opportunity to expand and diversify alumni communication... There are a lot of directions on where this can all go, but at least there's a place we all can start from." --JR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||