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Georgetown Basketball: May 2004 News Archive

Thompson Interview 5/28/04

Coach Thompson sat down for a brief interview in this link to the Vero Beach News Journal.

"I'm extremely excited about the opportunity given to have this job and to hold this position," said Thompson III said. "I'm very excited about the future of Georgetown basketball."

Schedule Talk 5/26/04

The University at Albany is talking with Georgetown about a possible game next season, reports the Albany Times-Union.

"It's late May and we need games, and they need games, so we've got to figure it out," said Georgetown assistant Robert Burke.

It's not clear which non-conference opponents from 2003-04 will actually return in 2004-05. Previous media reports noted that Temple and Penn State would travel to Washington as return games, and there was some limited media discussion during coach Craig Esherick's tenure about a home and home series with Michigan in the future. The annual games with MEAC schools are not long term series.

Courtland Freeman Feature 5/24/04

The Myrtle Beach Sun News has an interesting column on recent graduate Courtland Freeman and his plans after Georgetown.

Freeman, who was recruited by John Thompson and played in parts of five seasons under Craig Esherick, has no regrets about his years at Georgetown.

"Overall, it was definitely worth it," he said. "I've grown a lot as a person, and I've learned that there's a lot more to life than basketball."

Freeman begins a six month overseas program with the State Department beginning in June. "To get to see different countries, different cultures, is going to be cool," he said. "I can't wait to get started."

Driesell Joins Local HS Staff 5/20/04

Former assistant coach Chuck Driesell has been hired as coach at Alexandria's Bishop Ireton HS, reports the Washington Post. Driesell had recently been in consideration for the vacancy at Towson that went to Pat Kennedy.

Coach Thompson Featured In Post 5/8/04

Head coach John Thompson III is featured in a front page sports article in the May 8 Washington Post, with comments from many of his contemporaries at Princeton on the influences of both his father (John Thompson Jr.) and his coach at Princeton (Pete Carril).

"He was coached by two such strong personalities, yet he is his own man," said former Princeton basketball faculty advisor Marvin Bressler."He has respect for his two mentors, and he consults them from time to time as anyone would, but there is no question he is his own man."

"They're so similar in how they approach things, how they look at life, how they deal with their players," said Thompson. "I've been fortunate to learn from and grow from both of them."

"Doctor" Mutombo 5/7/04

Dikembe Mutombo (SLL'91) came to Georgetown seeking a pre-medical major, but the demands of basketball suggested otherwise. On May 15, he'll receive a doctoral title of a different kind, as SUNY-Cortland will present Mutombo with an Doctor of Humane Letters from that university. Details are at this link to NBA.com.

Congratulations to Dikembe on this award.

NBA Feature: Jerome Williams 5/7/04

The Chicago Bulls website has a feature article on Jerome Williams (C'96), who has taken his positive attitude built in stops at Detroit and Toronto to the Chicago area. Recommended reading.

Riley Charged In Alleged Assault 5/7/04

Graduating senior Gerald Riley was charged May 7 in an assault complaint filed by sophomore walk-on Amadou Kilkenny-Diaw.

According to the Washington Post, Riley allegedly struck Diaw in a dispute over money owed Riley by Diaw.

There was no comment from either student, nor from the basketball office.

Scheduling Notes 5/7/04

Virginia may be looking at a game with Georgetown-Virginia in future schedules, according to the Richmond Times Dispatch.

The article discusses Virginia's efforts to upgrade its strength of schedule, which was rated as 45th in this link to RPI Ratings.com. According to the site, Georgetown's 2003-04 strength of schedule was 117th.

"The key word is balance," said head coach Pete Gillen. "You can't play 11 Arizonas, because then you'll be black and blue."

The Rice Report 5/6/04

A consultant's report on the future of Rice University athletics was published on the Internet, detailing the growing financial issues faced by private schools in Division I.

Rice, with an undergraduate enrollment of 2,787, competes in the Western Athletic Conference and will join Conference USA in 2005. Its strongest traditions are academic, as Rice is ranked 16th in the US News survey and is one of only 13 Division I programs (the eight Ivies, plus Georgetown, Stanford, Duke and Northwestern) in the COFHE Group, a consortium of leading national universities.

Despite recent successes, Rice is posting athletic deficits of $7-10 million a year, leading its board of directors to consider everything from increased I-A funding to dropping all sports programs entirely, the latter of which was rejected in the report.

The issues facing Rice are, to an extent, issues bring faced by every other private school in Division I, Georgetown included. The full report is extensive (123 pages) but well worth reading.

A Modest Proposal 5/3/04

Over the weekend, this modest proposal by the Princeton Packet, suggesting a four team tournament with Princeton, Georgetown, Northwestern and Air Force.

"Imagine the demand for tickets for the Pete Carril Classic if you brought together the four programs coached by his proteges," writes columnist Bob Nuse. "A tournament like that would be a basketball purist's dream."

 

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