1946–47 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 basketball 1946–47 Georgetown Hoyas Georgetown Hoyas logo.svg Independent 19–7 Elmer Ripley 8th Dan Kraus Uline Arena The 1946–47 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University during the 1946–47 NCAA college basketball season. Elmer Ripley returned to coach it in the first season of his third stint as head coach, his eighth overall season as the Hoyas head coach. The team was an independent and for the first timeThe Georgetown Basketball History Project: Home Courts played its home games at Uline Arena in Washington, D.C., although because of conflicts at Uline Arena it played four home games on the campus of The Catholic University of America at Brookland Gymnasium, which had been its home court the previous season. Ripley previously had coached Georgetown from 1927 to 1929, leaving to coach Yale for six seasons, and again from 1938 to 1943, leading the Hoyas to what at the time was their only postseason tournament appearance in the 1943 NCAA Tournament. He then left to coach at Columbia and Notre Dame when Georgetown suspended its basketball program for two seasons during World War II. This time he would coach the Hoyas for three seasons, and the 1946–47 team was by far the most successful of his third stint as Georgetowns coach. Season recap With neither Ripley nor the varsity players of 1942–43 available the previous season, Georgetown had fielded a virtually all-walk-on team in 1945–46 with its only veteran player, Ken Engles, serving as player-coach. None of those players returned for 1946–47 except for junior guard George Benigni; instead, the returning Ripley brought back those members of the nucleus of the 1942–43 team who still had eligibility – senior guards Lloyd Potolicchio and "Miggs" Reilly, junior guard Dan Kraus,http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/d_kraus.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 26. Dan Kraus 2014-02-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20120214174410/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/d_kraus.htm 2012-02-14 dead and junior forward Andy Kostecka,http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/a_kostecka.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 25. Andy Kostecka 2014-02-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20181005053119/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/a_kostecka.htm 2018-10-05 dead who all came back from World War II military service to play this season. He also brought with him from Notre Dame sophomore guard Tommy O'Keefehttp://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/t_okeefe.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 46. Tom O'Keefe 2014-01-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924031611/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/t_okeefe.htm 2015-09-24 dead and sophomore forward Ray Corley,http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/r_corley.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 73. Ray Corley 2014-02-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20120502005630/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/r_corley.htm 2012-05-02 dead both of whom transferred to Georgetown to continue to play for him. Given the success of the 1942–43 Georgetown and 1945–46 Notre Dame teams – the former had gone 22–5 and the latter 17–4. The outlook for 1946–47 was promising. Kostecka was the teams top scorer all season, as well as in almost two-thirds of the individual games during the year; he set a school record by scoring 35 points against Niagara on January 25, 1947, and he scored 28 against Catholic, 22 against Nevada, and 20 against Penn State. When Duquesne came to Washington on March 4, 1947, to play Georgetown with a 19-game winning streak – one of which had been a victory over the Hoyas four days earlier – Kostecka scored 16 points in a 57-39 Georgetown victory that ended the Dukes streak. Kostecka broke his arm in a game at Villanova two days later, ending his season, but he finished with 17.8 points per game, the highest average for a Georgetown player in 29 years. Meanwhile, Dan Kraus, although a defensive specialist, finished the year scoring 12 points a game. Beginning the season with a 5-1 start, the Hoyas lost three of their next five games to fall to 7–4. They went 12–3 after that, finishing the season by winning eight of their last nine, to post a final record of 19–7. They barely missed invitations to the NCAA Tournament and National Invitation Tournament and had no postseason play. Despite falling just short of a post-season tournament appearance, the 1946–47 team was one of the best in Georgetown history. No other Georgetown team would win 19 games in a season again until the 1975–76 team won 21, and no Georgetown team would exceed its 9–2 road record until the 1983-84 national championship team posted an 11–1 road record during its regular season. Roster Sourceshttp://www.hoyabasketball.com/players/roster-40s.htm#1948 The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Rosters 1940-41 to 1949-1950 2014-01-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20140102212530/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/players/roster-40s.htm#1948 2014-01-02 dead The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Player Directory: Jersey Numbers From the 1943–44 season through this season, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) suspended its freshman ineligibility rule. Georgetown had no basketball program during the 1943–44 and 1944–45 seasons, having suspended all competitive athletic programs in 1943 for the duration of World War II, so this was the last Georgetown team to play during this early period of freshman eligibility. After the conclusion of this season, the NCAA reinstated the rule that freshmen were ineligible to play on varsity teams, and they would remain ineligible until the 1972–73 season. Sophomore guard Tommy O'Keefe would later serve as Georgetowns assistant coach for four seasons from 1956 to 1960 and as head coach for six seasons from 1960 to 1966. Senior guard Lloyd Potolicchio, who had served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, resumed his military career after graduation, serving in the United States Air Force and seeing duty during the Korean War.hoyabasketball.com Player Bio: Lloyd Potolicchio (1942-1943) He was killed on January 17, 1966, when the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker he was aboard collided with a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress it was refueling over the Mediterranean Sea off Palomares, Spain, and crashed. The B-52, carrying four hydrogen bombs, also crashed, resulting in the Palomares Incident. #NameHeightWeight (lbs.)PositionClassHometownPrevious Team(s)4Andy Kostecka6'3"200FJr.Bloomfield, NJ, U.S.Saint Benedict's Preparatory School5Lloyd Potolicchio5'10"N/AGSr.Staten Island, NY, U.S.Curtis HS8Dan Kraus6'0"175GJr.New York, NY, U.S.DeWitt Clinton HS11Jim "Miggs" Reilly5'6"N/AGSr.New York, NY, U.S.St. Peter's Boys HS13Dick Falvey6'0"N/AGFr.New York, NY, U.S.La Salle Academy15Ken "Bud" Brown6'4"N/ACJr.Muncie, IN, U.S.Burris Laboratory School16Tommy O'Keefe6'0"180GSo.Jersey City, NJ, U.S.University of Notre Dame17Ray Corley6'2"180FSo.New York, NY, U.S.La Salle HS21George Benigni6'3"N/AGJr.Chicago, IL, U.S.Notre Dame University24Eddie Brembs6'4"N/AFJr.New York, NY, U.S.N/AN/AJoe Connors6'0"N/AGJr.New York, NY, U.S.Regis High SchoolN/ATom GrahamN/AN/AN/ASo.Philadelphia, PA, U.S.N/A 1946–47 schedule and results SourcesThe Georgetown Basketball History Project: 1940s SeasonsJuly 2026 InternetArchiveBot http://www.hoyabasketball.com/opponents.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Records vs. All Opponents 2014-01-03 2013-11-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20131103211101/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/opponents.htm dead sports-reference.com 1946-47 Georgetown Hoyas Schedule and Results2012-2013 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide, p. 60. The March 13, 1947, game against Boston College was a post-season fundraiser which counted in the term's official final record. no no no no no |- !colspan=9 style="background:#002147; color:#8D817B;"| Regular Season Thu., Dec. 5, 1946 no w no Idaho Uline Arena Washington, DC no 59–52 1-0 Sat., Dec. 7, 1946 no l no Penn State Brookland Gymnasium Washington, DC no 37–40 1-1 Tue., Dec. 10, 1946 no w yes no Boston College Boston Garden Boston, MA no 70–56 2-1 Thu., Dec. 12, 1946 no w no Nevada Uline Arena Washington, DC no 55–46 3-1 Tue., Dec. 17, 1946 no w yes no Richmond Richmond Arena Richmond, VA no 46–38 4-1 Fri., Dec. 20, 1946 no w no Davis & Elkins Uline Arena Washington, DC no 70–31 5-1 Thu., Jan. 2, 1947 no l no North Carolina State Uline Arena Washington, DC no 41–52 5-2 Wed., Jan. 8, 1947 no w no Merchant Marine Brookland Gymnasium Washington, DC no 53–38 6-2 Fri., Jan. 10, 1947 no w no Villanova Brookland Gymnasium Washington, DC no 68–50 7-2 Mon., Jan. 13, 1947 no l yes no George Washington Riverside Stadium Washington, DC no 37–45 7-3 Wed., Jan. 15, 1947 no l no Saint Louis Uline Arena Washington, DC no 42–52 7-4 Thu., Jan. 23, 1947 no w no Western Kentucky Uline Arena Washington, DC no 57–46 8-4 Sat., Jan. 25, 1947 no w yes no Niagara Buffalo Memorial Auditorium Buffalo, NY no 66–64 OT 9-4 Mon., Jan. 27, 1947 no w yes no Scranton Watres Armory Scranton, PA no 61–31 10-4 Thu., Jan. 30, 1947 no l no Fordham Uline Arena Washington, DC no 42–58 10-5 Sat., Feb. 1, 1947 no w yes no Catholic Brookland Gymnasium Washington, DC no 65–28 11-5 Tue., Feb. 4, 1947 no l yes no Maryland Ritchie Coliseum College Park, MD no 49–55 11-6 Fri., Feb. 14, 1947 no w yes no La Salle Philadelphia Convention Hall Philadelphia, PA no 65–59 12-6 Mon., Feb. 17, 1947 no w no George Washington Uline Arena Washington, DC no 51–44 13-6 Wed., Feb. 19, 1947 no w no Scranton Uline Arena Washington, DC no 68–36 14-6 Fri., Feb. 21, 1947 no w yes no Merchant Marine Kings Point Gymnasium Kings Point, NY no 52–36 15-6 Fri., Feb. 28, 1947 no l yes no Duquesne Duquesne Gardens Pittsburgh, PA no 38–47 15-7 Sat., Mar. 1, 1947 no w yes no Penn State Recreation Hall State College, PA no 50–42 16-7 Tue., Mar. 4, 1947 no w no Duquesne Brookland Gymnasium Washington, DC no 57–39 17-7 Thu., Mar. 6, 1947 no w yes no Villanova Villanova Field House Villanova, PA no 63–55 18-7 Thu., Mar. 13, 1947 no w yes no Boston College 69th Regiment Armory New York, NY no 61–54 19-7 no no References Category:Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball seasons Georgetown Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team