1967–68 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

1967–68 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball
ConferenceIndependent
Record11–12
Head coach
  • John Magee (2nd season)
Assistant coachBob Reese (2nd season)
Captains
  • Dennis Cesar
  • Bruce Stinebrickner
Home arenaMcDonough Gymnasium
1967–68 NCAA University Division men's basketball independents standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 Houston –   – 31 – 2   .939
No. 3 St. Bonaventure –   – 23 – 2   .920
Army –   – 20 – 5   .800
Marquette –   – 23 – 6   .793
New Mexico State –   – 23 – 6   .793
St. Francis (PA) –   – 19 – 6   .760
Oklahoma City –   – 20 – 7   .741
Duquesne –   – 18 – 7   .720
Florida State –   – 19 – 8   .704
Fordham –   – 19 – 8   .704
St. John's –   – 19 – 8   .704
Dayton –   – 21 – 9   .700
Notre Dame –   – 21 – 9   .700
Boston College –   – 17 – 8   .680
Villanova –   – 19 – 9   .679
Holy Cross –   – 15 – 8   .652
Loyola Chicago –   – 15 – 9   .625
Fairfield –   – 16 – 10   .615
Texas Western –   – 14 – 9   .609
Miami (FL) –   – 17 – 11   .607
Rutgers –   – 14 – 10   .583
Utah State –   – 14 – 11   .560
VPI –   – 14 – 11   .560
Southern Illinois –   – 13 – 11   .542
DePaul –   – 13 – 12   .520
Detroit –   – 13 – 12   .520
Seattle –   – 14 – 13   .519
Jacksonville –   – 13 – 13   .500
Niagara –   – 12 – 12   .500
Tulane –   – 12 – 12   .500
Penn State –   – 10 – 10   .500
Georgia Tech –   – 12 – 13   .480
–   – 11 – 12   .478
West Texas State –   – 10 – 11   .476
Colorado State –   – 11 – 13   .458
Navy –   – 9 – 11   .450
Butler –   – 11 – 14   .440
Denver –   – 11 – 14   .440
Loyola (LA) –   – 11 – 14   .440
Providence –   – 11 – 14   .440
Syracuse –   – 11 – 14   .440
Boston University –   – 10 – 14   .417
Northern Illinois –   – 10 – 14   .417
Colgate –   – 10 – 16   .385
Hardin–Simmons –   – 10 – 16   .385
Xavier –   – 10 – 16   .385
Air Force –   – 9 – 15   .375
NYU –   – 8 – 16   .333
Creighton –   – 8 – 17   .320
Pittsburgh –   – 7 – 15   .318
Canisius –   – 7 – 17   .292
Portland –   – 5 – 21   .192
Centenary –   – 3 – 23   .115
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1967–68 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University during the 1967–68 NCAA University Division college basketball season. John Magee coached them in his second season as head coach. The team was an independent and played its home games at McDonough Gymnasium on the Georgetown campus in Washington, D.C. It finished with a record of 11–12 and had no post-season play.

Season recap

The 1967–68 season saw the beginning of an annual series between Georgetown and Holy Cross.[1] It continued through the 1979–80 season, after which the rivalry between the schools came to an end.[1]

Only five lettermen returned from the previous season's 12–11 team, none of them taller than 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm) tall. After a strong season on the freshman team, sophomore center Charlie Adrion joined them on the varsity this season. In mid-December 1968, Magee moved sophomore forward Paul Favorite to center and moved Adrion to forward. The switch was successful; at forward, Adrion excelled on both offense and defense. In the third game of the season, at Syracuse, he led the Hoyas in scoring for the first time with 18 points. He followed this up with 21 points and 19 rebounds against Loyola, 15 points and 13 rebounds against Rutgers, 18 points and 17 rebounds three days later against Xavier, and, in arguably the best performance by a Georgetown player in a single game, 30 points and 29 rebounds on February 22, 1968, against George Washington. He scored 20 or more points in six of the last eight games of the year and finished the season averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds a game.[2]

Eight games into the season, senior guard and team co-captain Bruce Stinebrickner was shooting 63% from the field – among the top ten in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) – and he averaged 12.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game this year. He scored in double figures in 16 games, twice scored a career-high 23 points, and against New York University (NYU) had 16 points and 13 rebounds, a rebounding effort matched by only two other Georgetown guards. He finished the year shooting 51.7% from the field for his career – still the second highest for a Hoya guard – never having shot under 50% for a season.[3]

Like Adrion and Stinebrickner, senior guard and team co-captain Dennis Cesar, known for his free-throw-shooting prowess, got off to a hot start this season, leading the team in scoring in six of the first 10 games. His 25-point performance on December 6, 1967, against St. Joseph's at the Palestra in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the second game of the season, including shooting 9-for-9 from the free-throw line, led Georgetown to its first victory over the Hawks since 1956. The long-awaited win prompted about 250 Georgetown students to meet the team's bus for an impromptu celebration when it arrived at McDonough Gymnasium at 2:45 a.m. after the drive back to campus.[4]

Junior forward Jim Supple scored in double figures in 16 games, including the last seven games of the season. Among the latter were 20-plus-point performances against NYU and Fairleigh Dickinson.[5]

The 1967–68 Hoyas were the first Georgetown team to play at the new Madison Square Garden, meeting Manhattan there on February 15, 1968, four days after the new arena opened.

The team played inconsistently all season, finishing with a record of 11–12. The first losing record by a Georgetown men's basketball team since the 1959–60 season – and had no post-season play. It was not ranked in the Top 20 in the Associated Press Poll or Coaches' Poll at any time.[6][7]

Roster

From the 1958–59 season through this season, Georgetown players wore even-numbered jerseys for home games and odd-numbered ones for away games; for example, a player would wear No. 10 at home and No. 11 on the road. Players are listed below by the even numbers they wore at home. (The following season, this practice was discontinued, and players wore the same number at home and on the road.)[8]

Source[2][3][4][5][8][9]

# Name Height Weight (lbs.) Position Class Hometown Previous Team(s)
10 Jerry Pyles N/A N/A G So. Oxon Hill, MD, U.S. Oxon Hill HS
12 Bruce Stinebrickner 6'1" 180 G Sr. West Hempstead, NY, U.S. St. Agnes Boys HS
14 Dennis Cesar 6'1" 180 G So. Clifton, NJ, U.S. Clifton HS
20 Jim Higgins 6'1" N/A G So. Dumont, NJ, U.S. Don Bosco Preparatory HS
24 Paul Favorite 6'8" N/A F So. Moorestown, NJ, U.S. Saint Joseph's Preparatory School
30 Bernard White 6'1" N/A G Jr. Ann Arbor, MI, U.S. George Mason University
34 Mike Laska 5'11" N/A G So. Worcester, MA, U.S. Assumption Preparatory School
40 Rick Cannon 6'4" N/A F Sr. Elwood, IN, U.S. Wendell Willkie HS
50 Bill Stewart N/A N/A C Sr. Villanova, PA, U.S. Saint Joseph's Preparatory School
52 Jim Supple 6'4" 185 F Jr. Summit, NJ, U.S. St. Peter's Preparatory School
54 Charlie Adrian 6'8" 225 C So. Hillsdale, NJ, U.S. Don Bosco Preparatory HS

1967–68 schedule and results

Sources[10][11][12][13]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular Season
Sat., Dec. 2, 1967
no, no
American L 67–80  0-1
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Wed., Dec. 6, 1967
no, no
at St. Joseph's W 86–74  1-1
Palestra 
Philadelphia, PA
Tue., Dec. 12, 1967
no, no
Syracuse L 78–95  1-2
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Dec. 16, 1967
no, no
at Saint Peter's L 78–82  1-3
Jersey City Armory 
Jersey City, NJ
Mon., Dec. 18, 1967
no, no
Columbia W 65–63 2OT 2-3
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Thu., Dec. 21, 1967
no, no
Fairfield W 78–61  3-3
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Fri., Dec. 22, 1967
no, no
Holy Cross W 93–59  4-3
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Wed., Jan. 3, 1968
no, no
Loyola Maryland W 69–53  5-3
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Fri., Jan. 5, 1968
no, no
Army L 59–60  5-4
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sun., Jan. 7, 1968
no, no
Catholic W 78–76 OT 6-4
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Wed., Jan. 10, 1968
no, no
St. John's L 61–65  6-5
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Jan. 13, 1968
no, no
at Seton Hall L 57–77  6-6
Walsh Gymnasium 
South Orange, NJ
Sat., Jan. 27, 1968
no, no
at Fordham L 67–84  6-7
Rose Hill Gymnasium 
Bronx, NY
Thu., Feb. 1, 1968
no, no
Rutgers W 80–62  7-7
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sun., Feb. 4, 1968
no, no
at Xavier L 68–87  7-8
Schmidt Field House 
Cincinnati, OH
Wed., Feb. 7, 1968
no, no
at Navy L 85–89 OT 7-9
Halsey Field House 
Annapolis, MD
Sat., Feb. 10, 1968
no, no
George Washington W 76–49  8-9
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Thu., Feb. 15, 1968
no, no
at Manhattan W 78–77  9-9
Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
Sat., Feb. 17, 1968
no, no
at Boston College L 79–103  9-10
Roberts Center 
Chestnut Hill, MA
Thu., Feb. 22, 1968
no, no
at George Washington L 61–65  9-11
Fort Myer Gymnasium 
Fort Myer, VA
Sat., Feb. 24, 1968
no, no
New York University W 81–69  10-11
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Mon., Feb. 26, 1968
no, no
Fairleigh Dickinson W 104–74  11-11
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Mar. 2, 1968
no, no
at Maryland L 60–68  11-12
Cole Field House 
College Park, MD
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

  1. ^ a b Reagan, John, "Forgotten Rivals," The Georgetown Basketball History Project, June 4, 2018 Accessed 26 June 2021
  2. ^ a b "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 24. Charlie Adrion". Archived from the original on January 16, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  3. ^ a b "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 63. Bruce Stinebrickner". Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  4. ^ a b "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 54. Dennis Cesar". Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  5. ^ a b "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 63. Jim Supple". Archived from the original on February 1, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  6. ^ sports-reference.com 1967-68 Independent Season Summary
  7. ^ sports-reference.com 1967-68 Polls
  8. ^ a b "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Rosters 1960-61 to 1969-1970". Archived from the original on January 9, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  9. ^ The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Player Directory: Jersey Numbers
  10. ^ The Georgetown Basketball History Project: 1960s Seasons
  11. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Records vs. All Opponents". Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  12. ^ sports-reference.com 1967-68 Georgetown Hoyas Schedule and Results
  13. ^ 2012-2013 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide, p. 62.