209th Commencement Weekend
Congratulations Class of '08
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| Friday Update | 5/16/08 |
Graduating senior Kyle Van Fleet (B'08) was named Thursday the 54th annual recipient of the Robert A. Duffey Memorial Award emblematic of athletic and academic excellence at the University. Awarded annually, it the highest honor given to a Georgetown student-athlete.
A double major in finance and management, Van Fleet finished his academic career with a 3.648 GPA average. On the field, Van Fleet played three different positions over his four year football career with the Hoyas, and was named the Patriot League Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 2007.
| Commencement Weekend | 5/16/08 |
Welcome the newest members of the alumni community, the class of 2008. Courtesy of the 2007-08 men's basketball media guide, here are four that Georgetown fans will long remember:
Congratulations to all the graduates and their families this weekend.
| Scates Funeral Information | 5/15/08 |
Funeral arrangements for Tom Scates (C'79) have been posted. Visitation will be held Saturday, May 17 at 11 am at the Mt. Jezreel Baptist Church, 317 N. Payne Street in Alexandria, VA, with services to follow at 12 noon.
Additional coverage follows below.
| Travel Plans For Old Spice Classic | 5/15/08 |
GUHoyas.com has posted various travel packages available for fans interested in attending the Old Spice Classic from Nov. 27-30. Visit the Anthony Travel link for more information.
| Braswell Returns For Prep Year | 5/15/08 |
As discussed in Barker Davis' article Monday, ESPN.com has confirmed that forward recruit Chris Braswell will not attend Georgetown in 2008-09 and will continue at Hargrave Prep in the fall.
| Green Named To NBA All-Rookie Team | 5/14/08 |
Congratulations to former Georgetown forward Jeff Green, named to the NBA All-Rookie Team on Tuesday.
Green started in 51 games for the Sonics in 2007-08, averaging 10.5 points and 4.7 rebounds. "He may have been the second best rookie on his team [to Kevin Durant], but he certainly had a better season than the vast majority of the rest of the rookie field," wrote NBA.com.
| Tom Scates (1957-2008) | 5/14/08 |
Tom Scates (C'79), a four year lettermen on Georgetown teams of the late 1970's, died of a heart attack suffered this past Saturday. The announcement was made Tuesday night at GUHoyas.com.
Despite his imposing 6-11, 255 lb. frame, Scates' scoring and agility were a work in progress throughout his four years at Georgetown. As a freshman, Scates played in just seven games as a backup to Merlin Wilson.
In 1976-77, Scates stepped up his game with action in 27 contests, including a 14 point, 13 rebound effort against Chicago State, and a 12 point, 11 rebound effort against Alabama. As a junior, Scates' scoring average slipped to 1.6 points per game, but his impact on the floor grew as a result of a new defensive weapon: the blocked shot.
"Tommy was very effective in shutting down the opposition's inside game," said head coach John Thompson prior to the 1978-79 season. "He is very intimidating, and few people want to go to the hoop against him."
Scates' senior season saw him start 25 games, with a then-record 62 blocks in 1978-79, breaking his own mark of 54 set the year before. Scates was a defensive presence throughout the season, if not an offensive one--he took only six field goal attempts in his final ten games.
At the end of February, with a 23-4 record, Georgetown saw Scates suffer a season-ending knee injury minutes into the ECAC South playoff game against Old Dominion.
"Without him, we were unable to control Rutgers All-American center James Bailey and we lost in the first round of the NCAA," wrote Chris Sortwell in this link to the Georgetown Basketball History Project. "Had we prevailed, we would have been in a regional final four along with Penn (who we had beaten), St John's (who we had beaten) and Syracuse (who we had beaten.) For a program that had never been to the mountaintop this felt like a massive missed opportunity."
Scates played basketball overseas for three years (1979-82) but his initial post-basketball career often elicited disapproving tones in the media: Tom Scates had become a doorman in the Marriott hotel chain. If some looked down on the job, Scates did not.
"I started doing this because when I came back to DC... I found that I really enjoyed the work," said Scates in an article posted in the 1986-87 Georgetown media guide. "It took me from an introverted and quiet person to a more extroverted outlook because that's what is needed to do my job well. I found that at my size I was going to be remembered and I wanted the impression to be positive. I also found that a job which could mean $200.00 a day was worth keeping.
"As long as I am comfortable with my niche in life what do I care what someone else thinks?" he asked. "I meet new people all of the time, I make good money and I'm free of a lot of the worries that go with judging your worth by the status of your job."
In recent years, Tom Scates worked as a representative for Comcast. A remembrance is posted at the View From The Hilltop blog.
| Schedule Update | 5/14/08 |
The Stamford Advocate reports that Connecticut and Providence will be on the Stags' upcoming schedule, but not Georgetown. The two schools completed a three year series in the 2007-08 season.
| Thompson Discusses Recent Transfers | 5/12/08 |
With five transfers in the past two seasons, and two in the past two weeks, head coach John Thompson III continues to look ahead.
"Everybody wants to play. Everybody expects to play. In many respects, you want them to have that attitude. But there are only so many minutes available," said Thompson in this link to the Washington Times, his first public comments following the departures of Vernon Macklin on April 28 and Jeremiah Rivers last week.
"I'm not going to make promises about playing time," he noted. "That's a fluid situation for every player on the roster, from seniors who have started before to freshmen who are just walking in the door. Those minutes are earned, not promised."
The Times article also reports that forward Chris Braswell has not qualified for what the newspaper called "ongoing academic issues".
"Down to just nine available scholarship players and only one returning frontcourt player with any experience, the Hoyas aren't likely to earn any three-peat votes in what perhaps will be the deepest conference in America," writes Times reporter Barker Davis.
"Obviously, we will not have the sheer number of bodies up front that we have had the past couple of years. But I have confidence in the people returning and in those arriving," said Thompson. "We'll be OK. We'll figure it out...That's what we do."
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