The Georgetown Hoyas are a NCAA Division I basketball team that were officially formed in 1907 and they play in the Big East Conference for Georgetown University. In the first nearly 60 years of the program, the team only showed intermittent success and frequently moved its home court until the 1950-51 season when the McDonough Gymnasium opened on campus. The team saw its first All-American player in 1931 with Ed Hargaden and in 1942, three alumni players (Buddy O'Grady, Al Lukack and Don Martin) go into professional basketball. The Hoyas hit another milestone in 1943 when they went all the way to the NCAA Championship game. Despite their challenges, the Hoyas have been regarded historically not only for their team successes but for their consistently successful players that have achieved greatness on and off the court.
The Georgetown Hoyas have reached the NCAA Tournament Final Four five times throughout team history and won the National Championship in 1984. The Hoyas have also been victorious at the Big East Men's Basketball Tournament seven times, winning the Big East regular season title four times. Their most recent appearance in the Final Four was in 2007 where the Hoyas unfortunately lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the semi-final round. A unique tactic the team uses is their own variation of the Princeton offence, which is a slow and more cerebral style of playing that is often unseen in the modern college circuit. The signature offence is the "backdoor" pass, where one player on the wing without warning moves in towards the hoop, receives a bounce pass from a guard and is able to do a layup with no defenders. Head Coach Thompson observed this style while assisting Coach Pete Carril who then coached at Princeton University.
Some notable alumni who have gone on to play professionally in the NBA are Patrick Ewing and Allen Iverson. Patrick Ewing was the NBA first overall draft pick and played for most of his career with the NBA New York Knicks as their center starter. He is now a retired Hall of Fame basketball player and currently aids in coaching for the NBA's Orlando Magic. His son Patrick Ewing Jr. played at his father's alma mater Georgetown and now is playing for the NBA Sacramento Kings. Allen Iverson is a professional basketballer who currently plays for the NBA Philadelphia 76ers and has previously played for the Denver Nuggets. He was NBA first round draft pick in 1996 and was chosen by the 76ers. Throughout his career thus far he is a ten-time NBA All-Star. He has become one of the most magnanimous scorers in the history of the NBA, with a career scoring average of 27.1 points per game.
Other alumni that have made great accomplishments off the court are Brendan Gaughan, General James L. Jones, Paul Tagliabue and Henry Hyde. Brendan Gaughan was a friend and fellow classmate of Allen Iverson who walked onto the Hoyas basketball team. He is now a driver for Rusty Wallace Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide series and has previously driven in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and in the Nextel Cup Series. General James L. Jones is a retired USMC four star general and a former Commandant of the Marine Corps, Supreme Allied Commander Europe and is now a special liaison to the Mideast peace talks with President Barack Obama's National Security Advisor. Paul Tagliabue is an alumni of the Hoyas from the early 1960s and is a former Commissioner of the NFL who he worked with from 1989 until 2006. Henry Hyde played in the 1940s and he helped take the team to the NCAA Championship in 1943. After graduating from Georgetown, was a member of Congress from Illinois from 1975 until 2007. He is a beneficiary of the U.S. Medal of Freedom which is the highest honor granted by the U.S. Government to a civilian.
