Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball

History

Early years (1907–1943)

Founded in the fall of 1906, the Georgetown men's basketball team played its first game on February 9, 1907, defeating the University of Virginia by a score of 22–11. In its first 60-some years, the program displayed only sporadic success. Until McDonough Gymnasium opened on campus for the 1950–51 season, the team changed home courts frequently, playing on campus at Ryan Gymnasium and off campus at McKinley Technology High School, Uline Arena, and the National Guard Armory, as well as playing individual home games at the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum and The Catholic University of America's Brookland Gymnasium, among others. The downtown locations of these venues was also influenced by the number of Law School students who played on the team in this era. From 1918 through 1923, while on campus at Ryan Gymnasium, Georgetown managed a 52–0 home record under coach John O'Reilly. A large on-campus arena was proposed in 1927, but it was shelved during the Great Depression.

The team recruited its first All-American, Ed Hargaden, in 1931. From 1932 until 1939, the Hoyas played in the Eastern Intercollegiate Conference, and they were regular-season conference co-champions in 1939. In 1942, a Hoya went pro for the first time, when three seniors, Al Lujack, Buddy O'Grady, and Dino Martin, were drafted professionally upon graduation.

The next year the team, led by future congressman Henry Hyde, reached new heights and posted its first 20-win season ever, going 22–5 on the year. This success translated into a berth into the 1943 NCAA tournament, the school's first postseason appearance. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Hoyas made it all the way to the National Championship game, where they ultimately lost to Wyoming. Georgetown's coach of this squad, Elmer Ripley, was later inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1973.

World War II and the lean years (1943–1972)

Coming off of the best season in school history, momentum was stalled as the program was suspended from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II. Following the hiatus the program struggled to find its footing, and it was rarely successful over the next three decades, only making two postseason appearances during this time period.

In 1953, former Baltimore Bullets player Buddy Jeannette coached the team to its first National Invitation Tournament invitation, but the team lost in the first round to Louisville. Top players from this period include Tom O'Keefe, the first Hoya to reach 1,000 career points in 1949–50, and future National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who graduated second in Hoya career rebounds in 1962. O'Keefe returned to coach the team from 1960 until 1966. In 1966 the school hired John "Jack" Magee, who had led Boston College as a player to its first NCAA Tournament bid. Magee had some relative success early on, having several winning seasons behind Guard Jim Barry, Forward Richard Manewal and Center Paul Favorite that were capped off with an invite to the 1970 NIT, just its third post-season appearance ever. However, the team lost to LSU in the first round. A losing season the subsequent year, followed up with a three-win season in 1971–72, the worst in school history, ultimately led to his dismissal. This was the last time a Hoyas head coach suffered back-to-back losing seasons for over 35 years.

John Thompson era (1972–1999)

John Thompson Jr., played two seasons with the Boston Celtics before he achieved local notability coaching St. Anthony's High School in Washington, D.C. to several very successful seasons. Thompson was hired to coach Georgetown in 1972, and with recruits from St. Anthony's like Merlin Wilson, quickly and dramatically improved the team. Georgetown, while still independent, participated in the Eastern College Athletic Conference′s 1975 postseason ECAC South tournament, and after a 16–9 regular season found itself facing West Virginia in the conference tournament championship. Derrick Jackson's buzzer beater won Georgetown its first tournament championship, and a bid to the 1975 NCAA tournament. Georgetown repeated as ECAC South tournament champions the following year, beating George Washington University when Craig Esherick's buzzer beater sent the game to overtime, and as ECAC South-Upstate Tournament champions in the 1978-79 season, beating Syracuse University in Jim Boeheim's first game against the Hoyas as Syracuse's coach.

Prior to the 1979–80 season, Georgetown joined with six other schools, Providence, St. John's, Syracuse, Seton Hall, Connecticut, and Boston College to found a conference focused primarily on basketball. The Big East Conference provided Georgetown increased competition, and several of its longest rivalries. For example, prior to the formation of the Big East, Georgetown had only played national powerhouse Syracuse 18 times in the previous 51 years, and only twice in the prior decade. After the start of the Big East, they played Syracuse 27 times in the next 10 years.

On February 13, 1980, Syracuse had won 57 straight games on its home court of Manley Field House: the longest winning streak in Division 1 basketball. The team was about to move to the new Carrier Dome. Its last game of the Big East regular season and its final ever at Manley was supposed to be a celebration of the winning streak and the school's success. With Syracuse ranked #2 in the country and almost invincible at Manley, they were expected to readily beat Georgetown. Syracuse seniors had never lost a home game in their entire careers. Hoyas radio announcer Rich Chvotkin said, "Everybody was pointing to Syracuse continuing that streak, and closing Manley Field House on a high note." Years later, Thompson said in the lead-up to the game, he was extremely nervous because of how crazy the crowd would be: “My nerves were at the height at that point saying: ‘What the hell am I doing closing this place? The place is going to be, you know, going mad.’”

Craig Esherick era (1999–2004)

Craig Esherick coached the Georgetown Hoyas basketball squad from January 1999 to March 2004. Esherick was a four-year player for the men's basketball team from 1974 to 1978 and then the lead assistant coach under John Thompson Jr. from 1981 to 1999. The team finished with a 15–15 record in his first season – going 8–10 after Thompson resigned and Esherick took over –before losing to Princeton in the first round of the 1999 NIT. They improved in 1999-2000, going 19–15 and accepting an invitation to the 2000 NIT. After winning the first-round game in triple overtime over Virginia, the Hoyas lost in the second-round game to California.

In 2000–01, led by future top NBA Draft pick Michael Sweetney, they made the NCAA tournament after finishing 23–7 in the regular season. In the opening round of the NCAA tournament the 7th-seeded Hoyas advanced past 10th-seeded Arkansas on a game-winning shot at the buzzer by Nat Burton. The Hoyas subsequently beat Hampton, and then lost to third-seeded Maryland in the Sweet Sixteen.

In 2001–02, the Hoyas went 19–11, barely missing an NCAA tournament bid. The team rejected a bid to the 2002 NIT bid because of travel-arrangement issues associated with the players' ability to attend classes, resulting in their first season without a postseason tournament since 1973-74. In 2002-03, the Hoyas finished the regular season with a 19–15 record, and accepted a bid to the 2003 NIT, where they made it to the final but lost to Big East rival St. John's. Sweetney was named a second-team All-American and was drafted with the ninth pick in the 2002 NBA draft by the New York Knicks.

In Esherick's final season, 2003–04, the Hoyas struggled to a 13–15 overall record and a dismal 4–12 Big East record, and for the first time since the 1973–74 season received no invitation to either the NCAA tournament or the NIT. The 13 wins were the team's fewest since the 1973–74 season and Esherick was fired after 5+1⁄2 seasons as head coach on March 15, 2004, five days after an opening-round loss in the Big East tournament to Boston College. He had posted a 103–74 (.597) record during his tenure as head coach. Georgetown began a national search for a new coach after Esherick's firing that resulted in the hiring of John Thompson III.

John Thompson era (2004–2017)

On April 21, 2004, John Thompson III was selected as the head coach of the Hoyas. The son of the legendary Hoyas coach took over the position after over a decade at Princeton University. The younger Thompson was a player for the Tigers from 1984 to 1988, was an assistant coach at Princeton from 1995 to 2000, and then took over as head coach at Princeton until his move to the Hoyas. Thompson's head coaching stint at Princeton was marked with success as he led the Tigers to three Ivy League titles, two NCAA Tournament appearances and one NIT appearance.

Thompson brought with him an adaptation of the Princeton offense as an offensive philosophy to Georgetown. He had learned it under the tutelage of legendary coach Pete Carril at Princeton and began to adjust the strategy to the more athletic players he would be coaching at Georgetown. Thompson III also immediately brought two new assistant coaches to Georgetown in Robert Burke and Kevin Broadus.

Thompson inherited four players that Esherick had recruited: Jeff Green, Roy Hibbert, Tyler Crawford and RaMell Ross. He also brought with him a former Princeton recruit, Jonathan Wallace and saw the return of two major contributors from the previous Georgetown team in Brandon Bowman, Ashanti Cook, and Darrel Owens. John Thompson III's first notable win with the team took place on January 21, 2006, in the 16th game of the 2005–06 season, when unranked Georgetown upset No. 1 Duke. This was Georgetown's first win over a No. 1 ranked team in 21 years.

The 2006–07 season marked the centennial of Hoya hoops, which was celebrated by honoring some of the team's most famous alumni at the Georgetown-Marquette game on February 10, 2007. Led by juniors Green, Hibbert, Wallace, Patrick Ewing Jr., the son of the Georgetown player from the elder Thompson era, the Hoyas won their first regular-season Big East Championship since 1992 and defeated Pittsburgh to win their first Big East tournament championship since 1989. Jeff Green was named the Big East Player of the Year and the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. In the NCAA tournament, the Hoyas beat North Carolina in the Regional Final when their defense caused North Carolina to suffer an improbable collapse in which UNC missed 22 of their final 23 field goal attempts. The Hoyas then advanced to the Final Four where they fell to an Ohio State team led by Greg Oden.

The 2007–08 Hoyas finished with a regular season record of 27–5, and again won the conference regular season title. They lost to Pittsburgh in the Big East tournament championship game. They received a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, where they lost their second-round game. After the season, Roy Hibbert, Jonathan Wallace, and Patrick Ewing Jr. all graduated, while Vernon Macklin and Jeremiah Rivers both transferred from the school.

Patrick Ewing era (2017–2023)

On April 3, 2017, Georgetown University announced that it had hired Patrick Ewing, who stands alongside Allen Iverson as arguably the school's most decorated player, as its head coach. In his four years as a player at Georgetown, Ewing led the Hoyas to three Big East championships, three Final Fours, and the 1984 National Championship on his way to become the #1 pick in the NBA draft. Prior to taking over as the program's head coach, Ewing had spent the previous thirteen years as an assistant coach in the NBA, working for four different franchises under the tutelage of coaches such as Pat Riley, Jeff Van Gundy, Stan Van Gundy, and Steve Clifford.

In 2017–18, Georgetown finished with a 15–15 record and 5–13 in the Big East. The Hoyas won the first eight games of Ewing's tenure and finished their non-conference schedule with a 10–1 record, but struggled in conference play. The season ended with a 88–77 loss to St. John's in the first round of the Big East tournament. The team did not participate in any postseason tournament. One bright spot, however, was the play of freshman Jamorko Pickett, who was unanimously named to the Big East All-freshman team.

In Ewing's second season, the 2018–19 team finished 19–12 and 9–9 in the Big East, in a four-way tie for third place in the conference, their highest finish since 2015. At the conclusion of the conference schedule, Jesse Govan was named First Team All-Big East, James Akinjo was named Big East Freshman of the Year, and Mac McClung and Josh LeBlanc were named to the All-Big East Freshman Team. The Hoyas lost their first game in the 2019 Big East tournament to Seton Hall 73–57. They were selected to play in the 2019 NIT, their first postseason appearance since 2015, but dropped their first-round game 71–68 to Harvard.

The following season the 2019–20 Hoyas finished 15–17 and 5–13 in the Big East. In November, the team participated in the Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City where they beat No. 22 Texas 82–66 and moved to the final to face No. 1 Duke. Despite having a double-digit lead in the first half vs Duke, the Hoyas ultimately fell 81–73. Playing with only 9 scholarship players following several defections and injuries, the Hoyas lost their final 7 games, including a 75–62 loss in the opening round of the 2020 Big East tournament to St. John's. All postseason tournaments were subsequently cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ed Cooley era (2023–present)

On March 20, 2023, Ed Cooley accepted an offer to become the new head coach of the Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team after 12 years in the same role at conference rival Providence College. The decision to hire Cooley was praised as a move likely to strengthen the program.

The 2023–2024 Hoyas started the season 7–4, with a notable last second win at Notre Dame, its first victory over the Irish on the road since the 2013 season (when they were a fellow member of the Big East). The team lost several close games in conference play, including its much anticipated matchup against Providence, one of the most watched college basketball games of the season. Ultimately Georgetown finished 2–18 in the league and 9–23 overall. The two league wins however matched the number of wins the Hoyas had the prior two seasons combined in Big East play.

The team's roster was completely overhauled before the 2024–2025 season. Headlined by Top 50 high school recruit Thomas Sorber, reigning Ivy League freshman of the year Malik Mack (from Harvard), and highly regarded graduate transfer Micah Peavy (from TCU), the recruiting class was ranked as the 29th best in the country. The Hoyas got out to their best start in over a decade, as they began the year 12–2. The strong start included Cooley's first win at rival Syracuse in the 100th matchup of the storied rivalry, and a 3–0 record to begin Big East play with wins over Creighton, Seton Hall and Xavier.

Georgetown struggled with injuries down the stretch, most significantly losing Sorber for the season in early February. Georgetown was selected to play in the inaugural 2025 College Basketball Crown postseason tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Hoyas won their opening round game versus Washington State, 85–82 before losing in the Quarterfinals to Nebraska 81–69. The finished the year 18-16 (8-12 in the Big East).

In June, two Hoyas were selected in June at the 2025 NBA Draft. Sorber was chosen 15th overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Peavy went 40th overall to the New Orleans Pelicans. Sorber's selection made him the first player in program history to be drafted directly into the NBA as a freshman. The 2025 draft marked the sixth time since 1980 (and the first time since 2008) that a pair of Georgetown teammates were selected in the same draft.

Season-by-season results

Conference Championships: 11

Eastern Intercollegiate Conference (1932-1939): 1

Big East Conference (1979–2013): 10

Big East Conference (2013–): 0

Conference tournament championships: 11

ECAC Regional Tournaments: 3

Big East Conference (1979–2013): 7

Big East Conference (2013–): 1

NCAA Tournament

Appearances: 31

Final Four appearances: 5

National runners-up: 3

National championships: 1

Overall record: 47–30

National Invitation Tournament

Appearances: 13

Runners-up: 2

Championships: 0

Overall record: 15–14

Postseason history

NCAA tournament seeds

The NCAA began seeding the tournament with the 1979 edition.

NCAA tournament results

Georgetown has made 31 appearances in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. They have a record of 47–30. The Hoyas won the national championship in 1984.

NIT results

The Hoyas have gone to the National Invitation Tournament 13 times and declined their invitation on a 14th occasion. They have a record of 15–14.

CBC results

Georgetown has appeared in the College Basketball Crown once. Their overall record is 1–1.

Coaches

No coach (1906–1907) – student manager Lou Murray ran the team

Maurice Joyce (1907–1911)

James Colliflower (1911–1914, 1921–1922)

John D. O'Reilly (1914–1921, 1923–1927)

Jock Maloney (1922–1923)

Elmer Ripley (1927–1929, 1938–1943, 1946–1949)

Bill Dudak (1929–1930)

John T. Colrick (1930–1931)

Fred Mesmer (1931–1938)

Program suspended (1943–1945) due to World War II

Ken Engles (1945–1946)

Buddy O'Grady (1949–1952)

Buddy Jeannette (1952–1956)

Tommy Nolan (1956–1960)

Tommy O'Keefe (1960–1966)

Jack Magee (1966–1972)

John Thompson Jr. (1972–1999)

Craig Esherick (1999–2004)

John Thompson III (2004–2017)

Patrick Ewing (2017–2023)

Ed Cooley (2023–present)

Traditions

Rivalries

Syracuse University

Georgetown's biggest rival is Syracuse. The two schools have been playing each other since 1930, but their rivalry was solidified in the 1980s as the respective programs were the leading powers during the infancy of the newly formed Big East conference. In 1980, the first season of new conference, Georgetown famously ended Syracuse's 57-game home winning streak in the final game to be played at Manley Field House before moving to the Carrier Dome. After the win, Georgetown coach John Thompson declared, "Manley Field House is officially closed". Weeks later, the two schools met in the inaugural Big East Championship, with Georgetown prevailing 87–81. The teams met in four Big East tournament championship games during the 1980s, with Georgetown winning all four contests.

The animosity between the programs was further extended when Syracuse announced their decision to leave the Big East effective in 2013 to join the ACC, forcing the split of "Catholic Seven" and the football-playing schools. This led to the creation of the reformed Big East Conference and the American Athletic Conference. However, Georgetown and Syracuse have continued to play each other in all but one of the years following their exit from the conference. The rivalry is currently renewed through the 2024–25 season.

Villanova University

As a fellow Catholic institution and conference foe, Villanova has been a natural rival for the Hoyas for many years. The schools are the two winningest programs in Big East Conference history. The rivalry is best known for the 1985 NCAA Championship Game where No. 8-seeded Villanova upset the highly favored and top-ranked Hoyas 66–64, preventing Georgetown from winning back-to-back titles.

Among current Big East Conference foes, Georgetown and Villanova are the closest in proximity, with roughly 100 miles separating the campuses.

St. John's University

Having first played each other in 1909, St. John's is one of Georgetown's oldest rivals. The two teams played off and on since that first contest until 1965, when they began annually scheduled games, and they only intensified when both programs became founding members of the Big East Conference in 1979. The rivalry was brought to national attention during the 1984-85 NCAA Division I men's basketball season when both programs were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 throughout the season and met on a total of four occasions, including the famous "Sweater Game" at Madison Square Garden, the 1985 Big East Championship, and the 1985 Final Four. The Hoyas won 3 of the 4 matchups that year.

Blue and gray

Georgetown's official colors are blue and gray. The colors were selected in 1876 by the Georgetown College Boat Club (the original crew team) in honor of Georgetown students and alumni who wore the Union blue and Confederate gray in the Civil War. A student committee declared blue and gray "as appropriate colors for the Boat Club and expressive of the feeling of unity between the Northern and Southern boys of the College", and recommended its adoption for the team. By the time the men's varsity basketball team was formed, the blue and gray colors were already widely adopted by the school.

Presently, Georgetown is one of the few teams to wear gray as their primary home uniform color, as traditionally teams wear white uniforms at home (though the Hoyas do have a white alternate jersey that is worn on occasion). Fans are generally encouraged to wear gray to home games, and sellouts are referred to as a "gray out."

Kenner League

Each summer Georgetown University's McDonough Gymnasium hosts the Kenner League. Named after one of the founders and first director of the Metropolitan Police Boys' and Girls' Club of Washington, D.C., the Kenner league is the only NCAA sanctioned summer league in Washington, D.C. Formed in 1982, the league allows Georgetown players to continue their development in an NCAA-structured environment, and to stay within view of watchful eyes on a college campus (even if the coaches were not allowed there by NCAA rules). From its humble beginnings, the Kenner legacy continued to build throughout the 1980s, with coverage in The Washington Post beginning around 1986, then a high school bracket following soon thereafter, and ultimately the arrival of "senior" teams featuring a mix of former Georgetown players, visiting NBA stars, and local hoop legends.

Kenner continued to grow, with more fans making the trip weekly to the gymnasium for a series of weeknight and weekend games each summer. As new recruits arrived at Georgetown, following them at the Kenner League became a priority for fans. Many fans might think Georgetown runs the Kenner League, but it does not. The league is an independent effort, whose organizers must raise money from Nike and team sponsors to cover the cost of officials, jerseys, and other organizational costs, and maintain NCAA certification. As summer leagues go, Kenner is among the longest running of its kind. Since the league has been in existence, nearly 200 Georgetown players have played in the Kenner League. After nearly a two-year break due to COVID-19, Kenner League returned in the summer of 2022.

Alumni

The Hoyas have an excellent history of preparing players for the NBA. Two Hoyas were the NBA first overall draft picks: Patrick Ewing in 1985 and Allen Iverson in 1996. Alonzo Mourning was the second overall pick in the 1992 draft. Dikembe Mutombo also was drafted in the first round, 4th overall Other alumni have gone undrafted, but entered the NBA later, such as Jaren Jackson in 1989 and Henry Sims and Chris Wright in 2013, and 3-time NBA Dunk Contest champion, Mac McClung

Several Hoya basketball players are famous purely for their off-court accomplishments. Brendan Gaughan, who walked onto the basketball squad, is a driver in NASCAR's Truck Series and also raced one season in the Cup Series. James L. Jones, who played for the Hoyas in the mid-1960s before joining the Marine Corps, went on to become Commandant of the Marine Corps, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and President Obama's National Security Advisor. Paul Tagliabue, who played in the early 1960s and was one of the leading rebounders in school history, became Commissioner of the National Football League from 1989 to 2006 and later served as Georgetown's Chairman of the board of directors. Henry Hyde, who led Georgetown to its first national final, was elected a member of Congress from Illinois and Chairman of House Judiciary Committee. He received the nation's highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom. William Shea, who played in the 1920s, was the New York attorney who brought the New York Mets to the city. Shea Stadium, now demolished and replaced on-site by the Mets' current home of Citi Field, was named in his honor.

Basketball Hall of Fame inductees

Elmer Ripley (coach) - inducted in 1973

Buddy Jeannette (coach) - inducted in 1994 (as a player)

John Thompson (coach) - inducted in 1999

Patrick Ewing - inducted in 2008

Alonzo Mourning - inducted in 2014

Dikembe Mutombo - inducted in 2015

Allen Iverson - inducted in 2016