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Georgetown Basketball: October 2002 News Archive

Big East Media Day 10/23/02

Despite a lack of national media attention, Georgetown certainly has the attention of its conference.

The Hoyas were picked second in its division in the annual coaches pre-season poll released at Big East Media Day last week in New York. Connecticut and Pittsburgh were named at the top of each division.

Here's the results of the poll:

  West Division Points
1. Pittsburgh 90
2. Georgetown 72
3. Syracuse 68
4. Notre Dame 59
5. Rutgers 41
6. Seton Hall 36
7. West Virginia 19
  East Division Points
1. Connecticut 85
2. Boston College 71
3. Villanova 67
4. St. John's 66
5. Miami 46
6. Providence 31
7. Virginia Tech 19

Also from Media Day, junior Mike Sweetney was named to the Big East pre-season all-conference team. No Georgetown players made the second team.

Conference media days tend to draw a wide variety of stories in the press, so a sample of coverage is provided below. As of early Thursday morning, neither the Washington Post nor Washington Times had articles posted online from the event.

For the women's team, the Hoyas were picked 11th in a one-division Big East women's pre-season poll. Junior Rebekkah Brunson was named as a second team all-conference selection.

Rebounding from a 12-16 record in 2001-02, the Hoyas are aiming for their first post-season bid since the 2001 WNIT and the first NCAA bid since its lone appearance in 1993.

Here's the results of the women's poll:

T1. Connecticut 161
T1. Notre Dame  161
3. Boston College 143
4. Villanova 128
5. Virginia Tech 110
6. Rutgers 107
7. Miami 104
8. West Virginia 81
T9. Seton Hall 69
T9 Syracuse 69
11. Georgetown 64
12. Providence 33
13. Pittsburgh 29
14. St. John's 15
 
NBA: Reid Injured 10/22/02

The ranks of Hoyas in the NBA will dwindle this year, whether by retirement, illness, and now, injury.

Seven year NBA veteran Don Reid (C '95) is out for the season after tearing his Achilles tendon Sunday night in an exhibition, according to the Detroit Free Press.

"Every player in this locker room knows what a loss this is to us," said Detroit's Michael Curry. "I don't think the fans or the media realize how important he was to us. Any time he was on the floor, the energy picked up with his hustle plays."

"It's very disappointing," said coach Rick Carlisle. "I really believe that he'll be back as a Detroit Piston to help us next year."

Sweetney Accolades 10/20/02

Although the season is a month away, pre-season honors are pointing to Mike Sweetney as a All-America candidate.

Sweetney was named to Dick Vitale's first team and a recent finalist for the John Wooden Award candidate.

"I feel good about the fact that I have Wesley Wilson and Mike Sweetney and no one else in our league has Wesley Wilson and Mike Sweetney," said Coach Craig Esherick in the Washington Times (link below). "They know Mike and Wesley are special and should be given the ball."

Media Day 10/20/02

"Remember how you feel right now," said Coach Esherick to his team as the 2002 NCAA's were announced and Georgetown wasn't there. "And don't let this happen next year."

The thoughts of Coach Esherick and some key returning players are featured in this link to the Washington Post from Media Day, held Tuesday on campus.

"I feel good about our team," he told the Post. "I like our chances this year."

Other related articles on the media day:

Harvey Thomas To NE Oklahoma 10/19/02

As reported earlier, former Georgetown forward Harvey Thomas has transferred to a second junior college. The HOYA reports in Friday's edition that his next transfer won't be back to Georgetown.

When Thomas transferred to Daytona CC, it was reported that he might have the opportunity to return to Georgetown after one year. Coach Esherick told The HOYA that "He is not going to go [back] to Georgetown."

Daytona coach Frank Burnell told the paper that "It was just a communication problem between me and him. It just wasn't going to work out.” Thomas is now enrolled at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M.

New Uniforms For 02-03 10/10/02

Following the appearance of 1982-era jerseys in four games last season, Nike appears to be rolling out three new Georgetown jerseys for the 2002-03 season. None feature the Union blue and Confederate gray which are the official colors of the University.

The three designs are:

  • A home white jersey in the same general style as seen since 1997, with a different color on the numerals;
  • A black road jersey with light blue numers, and
  • An alternate jersey with the "Carolina blue" hue seen on Georgetown road jerseys from 1974 through 1982.

Here's a look at the three jerseys at a link to Champs Sports.com. (The sweatpants shown in this link are not part of the jersey setup.)

Esherick: Starting PG Still Undecided 10/10/02

Entering the 2002-03 pre-season, the starting point guard position is still to be determined, Coach Esherick told the Washington Post.

As many as four players could play the point this year, all with limited experience. "We have a lot of people who can play that position," ESherick said. "Sometimes, I may play two point guards, three point guards together."

Game Times Announced 10/2/02

-Georgetown has also listed times for its 2002-03 games, according to GUHoyas.com.

Saturday home games in January and February will have a variety of start times as opposed to 12:00 pm, which has been the case for a few years. In non-conference play, most games will be in the evening, although the Dec. 31 game versus VMI will be an afternoon game.

Georgertown Grad Rates 2nd Overall 10/2/02

Georgetown University was noted for a 90% athletic graduation rate in USA Today's NCAA Academic Achievement Awards, announced last week on its web site. The 90% rate was one point less than Davidson, which received the award for Division I-AA.

Other Division I schools at or above 90 percent include Rice, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Duke, and Holy Cross.

Best Sports Colleges 10/1/02

Sports Illustrated has ranked Georgetown 88th in its 200 "Best Sports Colleges" list, on newsstands this week.

Although the list is said to consider a number of factors, the results appear subjective. Georgetown is #88 because, it reads, "Paul Tagliabue's alma mater [finished] 0-6 in Patriot League football". Some other unusual numbers in the poll include Rice ranked higher than Texas A&M, Maine over Fresno State, and Florida Atlantic topping Georgetown, Tulane and Louisville.

Number one in the poll was Texas, with its $50 million athletic budget. At #200 was St. Peter's.

The Big East rankings, in order: Notre Dame (15), Miami (16), UConn (31), BC (54), Syracuse (58), Pitt (67), Villanova (77), Virginia Tech (78), Georgetown (88), Rutgers (98), West Virginia (105), St. John's (116), Providence (139), and Seton Hall (152).

 

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