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Georgetown Basketball: November 2008 News Archive

Georgetown 75, Maryland 48 12/1/08

Austin Freeman scored 18 points in a stunning 75-48 rout of Maryland in the 3rd place game at the Old Spice Classic.

The open question entering the game was whether Maryland's outside shooting or its interior game would rise to the occasion as it in an opening round upset of Michigan State. The verdict on both was returned early in the game. From Georgetown's first basket (a Jessie Sapp three at the 18:26 mark), Maryland never led, and its outside shooting floundered as Georgetown quickly built a double digit lead on the strength of driving layups by Austin Freeman and Chris Wright, each of whom were Maryland recruiting targets before they chose Georgetown.

By the midway point of the half, the Hoyas were up 10, but any anticipated run by the Terrapins simply did not materialize. In a 5:10 stretch of the first half, Maryland took only four shots, missed three, and committed two turnovers. During the same stretch, Georgetown was four of five from the field, with two layups and two threes. Georgetown led by as many as 22 in the half before wrapping up the half up 38-20, shooting 52% to Maryland's 32%, but dominating in a statistic in question throughout much of the early season: rebounds. After giving up rebounding margin to Wichita State and Tennessee, Georgetown held a 19-11 advantage on the boards in the first half.

The Hoyas continued to punish the Maryland interior game, taking the lead over 20 with a pair of layups to open the half, then watching Dajuan Summers sink consecutive threes in a 58 second span to build the lead to 25, 49-24. Maryland continued to bank on the three, but the bank was closed: The Terrapins missed 10 of 11 attempts in the half.

Georgetown cleared a 30 point lead at the 11:18 mark, leaving the ESPN announcers at a loss to what to talk about for the remainder of the game. Fellow announcer Len Elmore was called over to give his impression of the game (the 1973 Maryland All-American diplomatically tried to say as little as possible). Analyst Fran Frachilla added stories about the 1978 ECAC Holiday Festival and the longevity of announcers Rich Chvotkin and Johnny Holliday, but there wasn't much going in the game by that point. Georgetown led by as many as 35 before the reserves were brought in midway in the half, 73-38. That Georgetown made one field goal in the final 7:28 and still won by 27 is a measure of how far it had distanced itself from Maryland this day. This could have been much, much worse.

Maryland shot just 32 percent from the field in the game and were outrebounded 39-26. Greivis Vasquez, the team's leading scorer averaging 20.0 a game, scored his only basket of the game at the 9:47 mark of the second half. No less telling was the stat sheet of starting Maryland center Braxton Dupree, who finished with no rebounds in the game.

"I'll take responsibility, we weren’t ready to play," said Maryland coach Gary Williams in post-game comments. "I thought we were slow, we weren't aggressive, we weren't talking and when you play a good team, you pay the price for being that way.”

The 75-48 final is the largest margin of victory in the series since 1974 and the largest by Georgetown over Maryland since Feb. 11, 1967, when Jim Supple's 19 points and 12 rebounds tore up the Terps 80-49 at McDonough Gym, a game where Gary Williams was a Maryland guard.

Here's the Georgetown half of the box score.


            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Wright       31   3-4   0-2   2-2   3   5  4    8
Sapp         23   1-2   2-3   2-4   4   1  3   10
Freeman      28   6-8   1-2   3-3   6   2  2   18
Summers      17   0-0   3-5   5-6   3   2  2   14
Monroe       27   5-8   0-0   2-4   6   2  1   12
Reserves:
Mescheriakov 12   0-1   0-1   0-0   3   0  1    0
Jansen        1   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0  0    0
Clark        25   1-2   1-3   0-0   6   1  2    5
Vaughn       13   2-3   0-1   2-3   2   1  2    6
Sims         10   1-1   0-1   0-0   2   0  0    2
Wattad       13   0-0   0-2   0-0   0   0  4    0
Team Rebounds                       4
TOTALS      200 19-29  7-20 16-22  39  14 21   75

Post-game articles follow below.

Katz Talks GU-Maryland 11/29/08

Andy Katz's ESPN blog talks about the Georgetown-Maryland matchup and introduces this bit of obscure Georgetown trivia--what current college basketball coach actually hosted Patrick Ewing's recruiting visit to Boston College in 1980?

Gary's Paradox 11/29/08

OK, let's get this one out of the way.

Sunday's third place game in the Old Spice Classic marks only the third meeting between Georgetown and Maryland since 1980, and it's likely to stay that way. Why? Ask Gary Williams.

At issue is Williams' account of a November 26, 1993 intersectional game arranged by sports promoter Russ Potts, who signed the two schools to a game the day after Thanksgiving at what was then the largest arena available, US Air Arena. Seats were divided equally between the two schools, and Maryland, not Georgetown, was the designated home team when Joe Smith scored 26 points to lead the Terrapins to an 84-83 overtime win before 13,761 at the 19,135 seat arena.

Since then, Williams (as well as Washington Post columnist John Feinstein) have repeated the claim that Georgetown "owes" Maryland a home game before he'll discuss any future series, notwithstanding no such commitment with the 1993 game. That includes any contact at Feinstein's BB&T Classic, either. "Thompson [III] was willing to play Maryland, but [BB&T] tournament officials honor Maryland's refusal to face Georgetown at MCI Center," wrote a 2005 account of the situation.

As to an actual home and away series, it's not likely. There are reports that Williams has expressed concern about filling Verizon Center with paying customers when Maryland can sell out its own arena and keep the ticket revenues to itself. Excepting the BB&T games, Maryland has played 13 games against local teams since 1993, all at home, and really has no intentions to do otherwise. (And, to be fair, Georgetown's last DC area road game was at George Mason in 1985.)

In 2005, we wrote:

"Williams opposed a local-only format, stating that "It's tough playing local teams when you're supposed to be the best team, to be honest with you."

"That's why they should play, to see who's the best team in the area," said DeMatha junior Austin Freeman, who committed to Georgetown over Maryland last month.

And maybe that's the point. Perhaps Williams simply wants no part of a game which would feature an up and coming Georgetown program, mindful how Georgetown's wins over Lefty Driesell's teams of the late 1970's shifted local interest away from Maryland, or conversely, that Maryland's win in the 1993 game began a decade of ascent for the Terps' local support."

Like the 2001 NCAA's, the two teams will meet, but will part soon thereafter. As Williams told Seth Davis in 2005, "We don't need Georgetown to make our schedule complete just because they're 12 miles down the road."

Tennessee 90, Georgetown 78 11/29/08

Freshman Cameron Tatum sank four three pointers in a late game run as the #12 ranked Tennessee Volunteers moved past Georgetown 90-78 in semifinal action of the Old Spice Classic Friday.

Georgetown started the game strong, 5-0, but endured a volley of runs by both teams. Tennessee answered with a 9-0 run, responded by a Georgetown run of its own to tie the score at 14-all. Georgetown opened to score 7 of 10 from the field, but Tennessee was adept at forcing turnovers to stay close. In the first eight minutes of the half, Georgetown gave up the ball six times.

Georgetown center Greg Monroe picked up his second foul of the game at the 11:43 mark with the Hoyas leading 18-16. The Hoyas missed its next five shot attempts as the the Volunteers regained the lead, 23-21, and then sprinted to a 30-23 lead thanks to three more Georgetown turnovers.

Back and forth the teams went, in a game that had the atmosphere of a mid-March game rather than a November tourney. Threes from Austin Freeman and Omar Wattad bookended a Jessie Sapp layup that saw the Hoyas rally to take the lead, 33-32, then see the Vols take the lead on a Bobby Maze basket and foul shot. Tennessee ended the half up 39-37, shooting 54% from the field with four three pointers. Georgetown shot 50 percent but its 11 turnovers could not be ignored.

Tennessee built an early lead in the half by as much as six, 45-39. With 16:23 to play, up five, Tennessee center Wayne Chism picked up his fourth foul and opened a window of opportunity for the hoyas, who had struggled to establish inside position since early in the game. The Hoyas went inside for a pair of layups to close to 48-47, then saw sophomore reserve Omar Wattad stun the largely pro-Tennessee crowd with consecutive three pointers to give Georgetown a 54-47 lead with 13:44 to play. Four minutes later, Georgetown owned an eight point lead and had held UT without a field goal for nearly seven minutes.

The Vols returned to their earlier success from outside. Following an exchange of free throws, Bobby Maze hit a three to close the lead to one, 63-62. After more free throws, freshman Cameron Tatum took over. Off a Wattad turnover at the six minute mark, Tatum sank a long three to close to 67-66. A minute later, now up one, Tatum connected again from three, 73-69. On the next possession, Tatum stole the ball from Austin freeman and returned it for a dunk, 75-69.

Dajuan Summers answered inside with a dunk, 75-71, but Tatum's eight points in 1:42 had electrified the crowd and reenergized the Volunteers' defense. Tennessee forced a Jessie Sapp turnover answered by a Tyler Smith basket, 77-71, and when the Vols picked Sapp a second time, tatum was ready for another three, 80-71, with 2:00 to play.

After Greg Monroe went 1-2 from the line, Tatum got the ball and sank yet another three, 83-72, capping off a remarkable run that saw Georgetown outscored 26-7 in a four minute stretch. Free throws brought the final score to 90-78, the most by any John Thompson III coached team, and is the most points in any game since the Hoyas lost at Connecticut 94-70 on January 14, 2004.

Tennessee won the game with good shooting and expert defense. The Vols shot 52% from the field and 10 for 15 from three point range, one of the best opponent totals in many years. Tyler Smith led all scorers with 21 points, 9-10 from the line, while Tatum finished with five threes, 17 points, and just one turnover. The Vols forced 20 Georgetown turnovers, with six from Freeman, five from Sapp, and four from Summers.

Endurance may have played a role in it, according to Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl. "Some of those turnovers they just handed to us because they were tired," he said.

John Thompson III disagreed, noting "I don’t think depth or fatigue or any of that had anything to do with it."

The Hoyas bench added only 12 points in this one, with nine from Wattad, but Tennessee's bench came up big, with 37 points and 16 rebounds. "Our (starting) five are good, but our 10 are what makes us better," said Pearl. "We go to the bench and we don't fall off. That's what helps in tournament play."

Georgetown didn't play poorly, but the margin is much tighter against a Tennessee than a Wichita State. The Hoyas gave up 14 offensive rebounds and 12 steals to the Vols in a performance that confirms why Tennessee stands to be a top 10 team this season.

In its last two games, Tennessee has made a strong case for a season near the top, and they look at this early stage to be a team to be reckoned with in March. Georgetown may take a little longer to gain such stature, but clearly show they can stay with the best of them this season.

Or, as Gary Parrish of CBS Sports.com wrote, "Tyler Smith looks like an All-American, Bobby Maze and Renaldo Woolridge are way better than most thought, Cameron Tatum was impressive against Georgetown, Scotty Hopson is an NBA prospect and J.P. Prince and Chism are veterans of an SEC championship team. Add it up, and you can see why UT has gone from the favorite to the overwhelming favorite to win the SEC again, and if the Vols can walk away with the Old Spice Classic trophy on Sunday they'll establish themselves as a legitimate top 10 team..."

Tennessee's win was buried in the sports pages back home, as news that former Oakland Raiders coach Lane Kiffin would succeed Philip Fulmer as coach of the football team next fall dominated the headlines. By March, however, Bruce Pearl's team should have everyone's attention.

Here's the Georgetown half of the box score.


            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Wright       38   5-8   1-4   5-7   1   1  3   18
Sapp         33   1-4   0-2   2-2   6   4  2    4
Freeman      36   4-5   0-3   4-4   5   4  3   12
Summers      30   4-5   2-4   3-4   3   1  4   17
Monroe       27   5-6   0-0   5-9   3   1  3   15
Reserves:
Clark        11   0-0   1-1   0-0   0   1  3    3
Vaughn        7   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0  2    0
Sims          6   0-2   0-1   0-0   1   0  2    0
Wattad       15   0-1   3-3   0-0   5   1  3    9
DNP: Mescheriakov, Jansen
Team Rebounds                       2
TOTALS      200 19-31  7-18 19-26  26  10 25   78

Additional recaps follow below.

Georgetown 58, Wichita St. 50 11/27/08

Georgetown needed free throws late to hold off a tough Wichita State team, 58-50, in the first round of the Old Spice Classic.

The Hoyas started off swiftly,shooting 4 for 5 from the field en route to an early 9-0 lead. The Wheat Shockers were rattled early, going 0-3 with three turnovers in its first seven possessions. Following a Greg Monroe dunk to go up 9-0, WSU coach Gregg Marshall benched all five starters and brought in the second team, which managed to cut the lead in half (10-5) and offer the first string a chance to regroup and focus on what was would soon become two big weaknesses for the Hoyas in this game: rebounding and outside shooting.

To be fair, neither team could hit much of anything from the outside, combining to miss 13 of 18 shots from three point range. But Georgetown's opportunity to pull away was held in check by a run of 10:09 without a field goal, breaking the drought with a Jessie Sapp field goal to go up 16-12 at the 6:33 mark. What the Hoyas lacked in shooting they made up for on the line, going to the lines 13 times in the half compared to just three for Wichita State. Georgetown led by no more than six in the first half entering the final minute, where both teams traded threes en route to a 26-22 halftime score.

The second half developed much like te first, with Georgetown racing out to a 10 point lead and then enduring a number of failed possessions and turnovers that offered Wichita State room to get back into the game. From a 38-28 Georgetown lead at the 13:35 mark, the Hoyas made just one field goal over the next five minutes, and Wichita State took charge, closing the count to 43-42 with 6:02 left.

A basket by Austin Freeman and a three by DaJuan Summers extended the lead to six, 48-42. The Shockers closed to 48-44, answered by a Summers jumper with 2:44 to play, 50-44. From that point, neither team connected on a field goal thereafter, with the Hoyas' 8-8 run from the free throw line putting the game out of reach.

From its 4-5 start early in the first half, Georgetown shot just 4-15 to end the half and finished with a 42% range for the game. Three point shooting was again poor, at 3-18, with 17 turnovers. Wichita State picked up 17 offensive rebounds to Georgetown's six, but did not do any better, connecting on just 28% shooting for the game.

Austin Freeman led all scorers with 18 points, with DaJuan Summers scoring 14 and Greg Monroe 11. Here's the Georgetown half of the box score.


            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Wright       36   1-1   0-4   2-2   6   5  1    4
Sapp         34   1-1   1-4   4-4   4   2  1    9
Freeman      35   6-7   0-3   6-9   4   0  0   18
Summers      36   3-6   2-5   2-2   3   1  2   14
Monroe       29   3-6   0-0   5-6   4   1  5   11
Reserves:
Clark        11   0-0   0-1   2-2   1   0  3    2
Vaughn       10   0-1   0-0   0-2   3   1  1    0
Sims          3   0-0   0-1   0-0   1   0  0    0
Wattad        6   0-0   0-0   0-0   1   0  2    0
DNP: Mescheriakov, Jansen
Team Rebounds                       8
TOTALS      200 14-22  3-18 21-27  35  10 15   58

Additional recaps follow below.

Faith & "Resilience" 11/25/08

Alonzo Mourning's lecture and book signing on campus drew an overflow crowd last week, and during the weekend he stopped by to talk to the Washington Post on the value of faith in his journey through illness and recovery.

"God continues to speak to us and a lot of us don't listen. He continues to speak to us. It's just a matter of us hearing," Mourning said. "God speaks to us through experiences. I think he speaks to us through dreams. I think he continues to communicate with us, but a lot of us don't listen. Going through my particular adversity, my fight with kidney disease, that was God's way of speaking to me. It truly was. He got my attention real quick. He really did, then I realized there was more than me being here to just run up and down the court playing basketball."

Postcard From Slovenia 11/25/08

Widely expected to attend law school after his playing days had concluded, former Georgetown guard Jonathan Wallace (C'08) opted to play professional basketball instead. The HOYA recently talked with Wallace, now playing in Slovenia.

"I miss the fanfare of college basketball and the way college basketball felt," Wallace said. "The innocence of the game is lost when you play professionally."

Wallace talks about the adjustments to live overseas, from the size of cars to the food. And as for law school, "Yes, this is still my ultimate goal…once basketball is over."

Georgetown 81, Drexel 53 11/23/08

In two games this season, it's clear for opponents not to start slowly against the #22 ranked Georgetown Hoyas. Ask Jacksonville.

Better yet, ask Drexel.

The Dragons missed their first five shots and found themselves out of contention as the Georgetown Hoyas coasted to a 81-53 win Saturday before 11,434 at Verizon Center. Four starters collected double figures in a game that was decided early in favor of the Hoyas.

Georgetown began with a 15-2 run to open the game, punctuated by crisp defense and holding the Dragons to just one defensive rebound in the first seven minutes of play. Drexel never got the game under 10 thereafter, as Georgetown was able to effectively work the ball inside and lock down points via the free throw line. Georgetown shot a remarkable 13-15 from two point range in the first half while Drexel could make just four of 14 shots inside the arc. Though Drexel caught up to the Hoyas in rebounds by intermission, they still trailed by 17, 42-25.

The Dragons continued to suffer mightily inside, where size and speed favored the Hoyas. The Dragons missed 19 of 21 two point tries in the second half, relying on outside shooting and free throws to keep pace, which they did not do. Georgetown scored the first 11 points of the second half to lead by 28, 53-25, and the margin never moved below 24 the rest of the way. Coach John Thompson III was able to run a number of combinations with reserve players, which will be helpful as the Hoyas await stronger competition in the Old Spice Classic over Thanksgiving weekend.

Greg Monroe led all scorers for the second time in as many games, scoring 20 points and collecting eight rebounds as well as going 6-6 from the line in 31 minutes of play. Drexel coach James (Bruiser) Flint was especially impressed with Monroe. "He is a good basketball player, not just a good athlete," said Flint. "He knows what he's doing out there and he's going to be a special player." John Thompson III tempered such early plaudits, adding "He's got to be a better dribbler, passer, shooter, defender and rebounder. Let's not get confused here: he's got a long way to go."

Austin Freeman also came up big in the game--following a 1-10 effort against Jacksonville, he was 6-7 from the field for 16 points, joined by Chris Weight's 11 points and seven assists and 10 points from Dajuan Summers. The Hoyas shot a strong 19-22 from the foul line, and collected assists on 18 of 28 scoring possessions.

Here's the Georgetown half of the box score.


            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Wright       30   4-8   1-2   0-0   5   7  1   11
Sapp         23   1-1   2-2   0-0   2   2  2    8
Freeman      21   4-4   2-3   2-3   5   3  2   16
Summers      25   2-3   0-4   6-6   4   2  5   10
Monroe       31   7-9   0-0   6-6   8   4  2   20
Reserves:
Mescheriakov  9   0-1   0-2   1-2   1   0  2    1  
Jansen        2   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0  0    0
Clark        25   2-2   1-4   2-2   3   0  1    9
Sims         19   1-2   0-3   0-0   2   0  2    2
Wattad       15   1-2   0-1   2-3   2   0  2    4
DNP: Vaughn      
Team Rebounds                       2
TOTALS      200 22-32  6-21 19-22  34  18 19   81
2009 Recruit Drops Commitment 11/21/08

A major recruit from the high school class of 2009 has retracted his commitment to Georgetown, reports the Washington Times.

DaShonte Riley, a 6-11 center from Country Day School in Detroit, was the #5 center prospect in the nation as a junior, according to a June report. Riley made a verbal commitment to the Hoyas this summer but opted out after a fall visit to campus, according to the Times.

"[He] just said after he returned from his official visit that he didn't feel like it was the right fit for him," his high school coach told the paper.

Riley did not sign a letter of intent during the early singing period, leaving only one commitment to date for 2009-10, pending the results of the spring signing period.

There was no comment from Georgetown on the matter.

The Name's The Same 11/20/08

Some alert readers at the HoyaTalk board pointed out an item from Monday's recap in the Washington Post: a photo of the uniform of sophomore Nikita Mescheriakov, whose name is spelled "Meshcharakou" on the jersey. As noted in the discussion, "Mescheriakov is his name in Russian. Meshcharakou is his name in Belorussian."

It's not the first time a player's roster and uniform spellings differed. Fans of a certain age will remember Michael Tate (1989-90), who changed his last name to "Venson" on his jersey, but Georgetown always referred to him in official releases by his former name.

USA Today Studies Athlete Majors 11/20/08

A cover story in Wednesday's USA Today examined the trend where scholarship athletes tend to cluster in certain majors, such as the 80% of men's basketball players that are communications arts majors at St. John's or the 83% of basketball players at UNLV in a program called "university studies".

Two Georgetown teams were cited in the study, but neither found these players in obscure programs. It turns out most Georgetown football players major in business and finance, while 4 of 6 men's basketball players surveyed were government majors.

As a newspaper columnist once observed about Georgetown, there wasn't a "parks and recreation" major to be found.

Georgetown 71, Jacksonville 62 Updated 11/18/08

Greg Monroe scored 14 points and seven rebounds in his college debut, as the #22 Georgetown Hoyas withstood a run from Jacksonville, 71-62, at Verizon Center.

As it did Saturday against Florida State, Jacksonville put itself in a hole with poor early shooting. As Georgetown went up 8-0 in this game, Jacksonville missed its first eight shots of the game. The Dolphins closed to three at 15-12, but a 9-0 run by the Hoyas built the lead into double digits, where the Hoyas cruised to a comfortable 12 point lead despite generally poor efforts at the three point and foul lines. Jacksonville shot only 28 percent in the half, mostly as a result of a 1-11 effort outside the arc.

Georgetown led by as many as 16 at 43-27 early in the half, but Jacksonville used a strong rebounding effort with some patient defense in working down the lead. Georgetown's lead fell from 12 at the 11:22 mark to eight at the 8:00 mark, and closed to four, 55-51, with 5:19 to play. Georgetown did not score a field goal in the last 4:24 of the game, but hit 14 of its last 17 free throws to extend the lead for good.

Four starters were in double figures, despite the team shooting a ragged 21 percent from three point range (5-23). The Hoyas were outrebounded 44-37, which allowed the Dolphins to hang around in the middle of the half when Georgetown was expected to pull away.

We played hard tonight and I really liked our effort tonight,” said Jacksonville coach Cliff Warren, who played in the Washington area in high school. “There are a lot of positives for us to take out of this game, but you have to give Georgetown credit. They did the little things it takes to win games like this.”

Here's the Georgetown half of the box score.


            MIN   2FG   3FG   FT  REB  A  PF  PTS
Starters:                                 
Wright       36   2-3   3-5   3-8   5   4  1   16
Sapp         34   2-3   1-4   6-6   6   3  1   13
Freeman      33   0-5   1-5   4-6   7   2  3    7
Summers      28   4-5   0-1   5-6   4   1  3   13
Monroe       28   6-10  0-0   2-3   7   1  4   14
Reserves:
Mescheriakov  4   0-1   0-0   0-0   0   0  1    0  
Clark        12   1-1   0-1   2-2   3   0  1    4
Vaughn       11   1-1   0-1   0-0   1   0  1    2
Sims          2   0-0   0-1   0-0   0   0  0    0
Wattad       12   0-0   0-5   2-2   2   0  1    2
DNP: Jansen      
Team Rebounds                       2
TOTALS      200 16-29  5-23 24-33  37  11 16   71

Additional articles follow below.

Students Dispute Travel Plans To Verizon Ctr. 11/14/08

Approaching Monday's opener, The HOYA notes student dissatisfaction that the Department of Athletics is no longer providing complementary Metro cards for students to travel to the game.

The card plan was a victim of its own success: in the days when only several hundred students had season tickets, the Metro cards incented students to attend games. Now, with 3,500 student season ticket holders in 2008 (more than half the undergraduate population), the cost for transit cards would exceed $130,000.

Georgetown Voice Preview 11/13/08

The annual basketball preview of The Georgetown Voice is online Thursday, with coverage on the 2008-09 team, senior Jessie Sapp, and an early look at the 16 Big East teams. Here's a link to the preview article.

Big East Names New Commissioner Updated 11/13/08

Multiple news sources are reporting that the Big East Conference will name John Marinatto as the new commissioner of the Big East conference, succeeding the retiring Michael Tranghese.

Marinatto continues the Providence College lineage of the commissioner's post. A 1979 PC grad, he served as a student manager for the Friars under Dave Gavitt, who became the league's first commissioner, and later worked for Tranghese in PC's sports information department. Marinatto served as athletic director at PC from 1987 through 2001 and is currently the conference's senior associate commissioner.

"John was pretty much the runaway [choice]. I think it’s terrific,” said Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich to the New York Times, noting a search led by Georgetown president Jack DeGioia and Pittsburgh chancellor Mark Nordenberg. “ I think he’s going to do a fantastic job. He knows the league well inside and out.”

I think that we’re in a good position right now,” said Jim Boeheim, the remaining original coach from the founding of the league in 1979. “I don’t think there’s anyone talking about splitting the league at all. I think there’s always going to be some challenges on the horizon, but the league is in a great position.”

The conference has some audio coverage from the event, as well as an interview with Marinatto from WFAN-AM.

Additional coverage follows below:

W. Times: Early Expectations 11/12/08

Despite some lofty rankings in pre-season polls, coach John Thompson III knows the severity of the task to return to the top of the Big East standings in 2008-09.

"We've got a serious challenge on our hands," Thompson told theWashington Times.

Freshmen will be counted upon early. "As far as the freshmen are concerned, I expect Greg, Jason and Henry to produce immediately,” said Thompson. “They do not have the luxury of time. They have to produce.”

The Georgetown preview from the Times can be followed here.

MASN Announces 2008-09 Schedule 11/12/08

Nine Georgetown men's basketball games and one women's game will be televised by the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), which released its 2008-09 broadcast schedule on the regional cable network.

Three non-conference games (Jacksonville, American, Mount St. Mary's) and six Big East games (Seton Hall, Marquette, Rutgers, Cincinnati, South Florida, St. John's) will be shown by MASN, which also also available via DirecTV. In addition, the Feb. 14 women's game at Providence will be shown on tape delay.

Sports Illustrated: #14 11/11/08

Georgetown is ranked 14th in the Sports Illustrated preview issue, according to a magazine release.

Other conference teams in the preview's Top 20 include Connecticut (2), Louisville (4), Notre Dame (6), Pittsburgh (7), Marquette (15), and Villanova (20).

HOYA Preview Issue 11/11/08

The annual basketball preview of The HOYA is online and is also available for order. In lieu of specific articles, here's a link to the front page of the section with all the coverage.

Pitino's Georgetown Blog 11/6/08

It's not often that a coach's son focuses on sports writing, but Ryan Pitino is giving it a try. But not at Louisville.

Pitino is writing for The HOYA, and has debuted a blog on college basketball cited in an article from ESPN The Magazine.

"I came back to visit Georgetown my senior year and just fell in love," said Pitino, whose older brother graduated from Georgetown in 2003. This is my dream school academically. It's just the place I wanted to be."

"I'm going to focus on the Big East as a whole, what's going on in the conference. I want to keep people up to date and not be too biased."

Sapp: Doing It All 11/6/08

Entering his senior season, guard Jessie Sapp isn't getting the media attention other Big East seniors have received to date, but other players definitely take notice.

He gets you two steals, five assists, five rebounds, 13 points, a couple of charges, a couple of assists that lead to assists,” said Pitt guard Levance Fields in this link to an article at Five Boro Sports. “I guess that goes unnoticed to some people.”

All the big plays that needed to be made for Georgetown last season he made,” said Notre Dame's Kyle McAlarney. “He's a tough player. He defends, he rebounds and he's going to get his points and he's going to try and win. Georgetown is lucky to have him."

"He's always working hard, making that extra pass, he's very savvy as a New York guard is,” said junior forward Dajuan Summers. “He's just so many things. I love playing with Jessie. He's one of the best guards I've had the luxury of playing with."

 

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