1995–96 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1995–96 Georgetown Hoyas Georgetown Hoyas logo.svg Big East Conference Big East 7 Division Big East 7 4 29–8 13–5 John Thompson 24th Craig Esherick 14th Mike Riley 14th Mel Reid 6th Othella Harrington Jerome Williams USAir Arena Big East 7 Division regular season champions NCAA tournament Elite Eight The 1995–96 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University in the 1995–96 NCAA Division I college basketball season. John Thompson, coached them in his 24th season as head coach. They played their home games at USAir Arena in Landover, Maryland. They were members of the Big East 7 Division of the Big East Conference, were the regular-season champions of the Big East 7 Division, and finished the season with a record of 29–8, 13–5 in Big East play. Their record earned them a bye in the first round of the 1996 Big East men's basketball tournament, and they advanced to the tournament final before losing to Connecticut. They were awarded a No. 2 seed in the East Regional of the 1996 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament – Georgetowns 17th NCAA Tournament appearance in 18 years – and advanced to the East Regional Final before losing to No. 1 seed Massachusetts. They were ranked No. 4 in the seasons final Associated Press Poll and No. 7 in the postseason Coaches' Poll. Season recap This was the Big Easts first season in which it organized its teams into divisions; the two divisions were the Big East 6 and Big East 7 divisions. Georgetown would play as a member of the Big East 7 Division for three seasons before the conference scrapped its divisional structure after the end of the 1997-98 season. For its first year in the Big East 7 Division, Georgetown fielded a powerhouse team that included four future National Basketball Association (NBA) stars and began the season ranked fifth in the country.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/a_iverson.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 4. Allen Iverson 2014-03-29 https://web.archive.org/web/20120214181925/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/a_iverson.htm 2012-02-14 dead Sophomore guard Allen Iverson led the team with a dominant season. The previous year, he had averaged 20.4 points per game despite shooting only 39 percent from the field, 23 percent from three-point range, and 19 percent in three-point shots during Big East play; this year he shot 48 percent from the field and 36.6 percent in three-pointers, with impressive results. In the second game of the year against Temple in the Preseason NIT, he shot 50 percent from the field, scored 24 points, and had a career-high 10 rebounds. In the tournaments third game four days later, he scored 23 points against 25th-ranked Georgia Tech, and two days after that he completed the tournament with a career-high 40-point game against 19th-ranked Arizona. In an early Big East game against Rutgers, he scored 21 points despite playing only 20 minutes. In the last 25 games of the season, Iverson led the team in scoring 21 times, including another 40-point game against Seton Hall, 39 against St. John's, 34 against Providence, and 30 against 23rd-ranked Memphis. Senior center and team co-captain Othella Harrington had had a standout freshman year, but his production had declined over the previous two seasons as Georgetown began to emphasize uptempo guard play rather than feeding the ball to the "big man" at center, and his junior year had been his least successful. He recovered this season, with a shooting percentage from the field (55%) and free-throw line and an offensive rebound total (100) which all were more like those of his freshman year. He scored 25 points and had 12 rebounds against Duquesne, scored 23 at USAir Arena against 17th-ranked Syracuse – a team against which he averaged 17 points per game and three times scored 20 or more points during his four-year career – and had a 27-point, 10-rebound game against Memphis.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/o_harrington.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 13. Othella Harrington 2014-03-29 2015-02-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20150203040145/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/o_harrington.htm dead Freshman point guard Victor Page joined the Hoyas this season. One of the nations top prospects, he played in all 37 games and started 33. In the first three games of the season, he scored a combined 71 points, including 25 in the Georgia Tech game. He averaged 12.5 points per game for the season.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/v_page.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 21. Victor Page 2014-03-29 https://web.archive.org/web/20130428165244/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/v_page.htm 2013-04-28 dead Senior forward and team co-captain Jerome Williams had another good year, averaging 10 points and 8.8 rebounds a game, shooting 58.8% from the field, and finishing second to Iverson in steals. He completed his two-year varsity career averaging 54.4 percent from the field.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/j_williams.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 23. Jerome Williams 2013-11-24 2014-10-14 https://web.archive.org/web/20141014120105/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/j_williams.htm dead Sophomore center Jahidi White saw only limited action, but began to show his potential, including a 19-point, 11-rebound effort in only 17 minutes of play against Morgan State in December 1995.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/j_white.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 93. Jahidi White 2014-03-29 2015-03-29 https://web.archive.org/web/20150329171230/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/j_white.htm dead Two days after beating Memphis, the Hoyas faced third-ranked Connecticut at USAir Arena. The Huskies came into the game with a chance to break the record for consecutive wins in Big East games set by the 1984-85 Hoyas. Before a national television audience and a sold-out arena, the Georgetown defense held Connecticut junior shooting guard Ray Allen to two points in the first half and forced the Huskies to commit 20 turnovers. Hoya sophomore forward Boubacar Aw scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds, while Iverson scored 26 points, highlighted by a soaring dunk early in the second half that electrified the crowd, and had eight steals and six assists as the Hoyas upset Connecticut 77–65. Connecticut became the highest-ranked team that Georgetown had defeated since the 1987-88 Hoyas defeated second-ranked Pittsburgh in January 1988.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/history/classic.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Classic Games 2014-03-29 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924041705/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/history/classic.htm 2015-09-24 dead http://www.hoyabasketball.com/history/classic.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 70. Boubacar Aw 2014-03-29 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924041705/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/history/classic.htm 2015-09-24 dead The Hoyas closed out the regular season with a 106–68 win at USAir Arena over sixth-ranked Villanova, the sixth-largest margin of victory in Georgetown history and the schools largest margin of victory ever against a Top Ten opponent. Iverson played only 27 minutes but scored 37 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and had three steals. Georgetown finished the regular season as the first-ever Big East 7 Division champion, earning the Hoyas a No.2 seed in the 1996 Big East men's basketball tournament and a bye in its first round. The Hoyas beat Miami in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, they faced ninth-ranked Villanova. The Wildcats got Iverson into foul trouble and held Harrington, Williams, and Aw to a combined 1-for-8 (12.5%) shooting from the field. Page responded by putting the Hoyas into a slowdown offense, focusing on quick scoring attempts as the shot clock ran down, grabbing nine rebounds, and shooting 12-for-19 (63.2%) from the field to score a career-high 34 points. Georgetown won 84–76 to advance to the tournament final the next evening. The final was another meeting with third-ranked Connecticut. Georgetown was ahead 74–63 with 4:46 left in the game when the Hoyas again began to play a delay game, trying to get the ball inside to Iverson for scoring opportunities just before the shot clock expired. Iverson, however, shot only 4-for-15 (26.7%) from the field for the evening, and Georgetown did not score again for the rest of the game. Connecticut closed the gap. With the Hoyas leading 74-73 and thirteen seconds remaining, Ray Allen barely beat the shot clock with an off-balance shot that scored to give the Huskies a 75–74 lead. Georgetown failed in two attempts to score in the final seconds, and Connecticut took its third Big East tournament championship. It was the fourth time the Hoyas had lost in the tournaments final game since 1991. Page, however, became only the second player to receive tournament Most Valuable Player honors without playing for the championship team. The loss prevented Georgetown from receiving a No. 1 seed in the 1996 NCAA tournament, but the Hoyas were seeded No. 2 in the tournaments East Region. The Hoyas defeated Mississippi Valley State in the first round and New Mexico in the second round, and Harrington scored 23 points as Georgetown beat eighth-ranked Texas Tech in the East Region semifinal. The Hoyas thus advanced to an NCAA regional final (the "Elite Eight") for the first time since 1989 to face the regions No. 1 seed, top-ranked Massachusetts. Although Harrington scored 13 points, Iverson shot only 6-for-21 (28.6%) from the field against the Minutemen, and Massachusetts won 86–62 to knock Georgetown out of the tournament. Despite his poor tournament performances against Connecticut and Massachusetts, Iverson finished the year having scored 926 points, breaking the previous single-season record by 124 points, and also setting single-season records for field goals (312), field goal attempts (650), three-point shots (87), three-point attempts (238), steals (124), minutes played (1,214), and scoring average (25.0 points per game), and he ranked seventh in the United States in average points scored per game for the season. Citing a need to earn money for his family with which to pay one of his sisters medical bills, Iverson opted after the season to forgo his remaining two years of college eligibility and leave school to enter the NBA draft, the first Georgetown player to do so since John Thompson became head coach in 1972. The move was controversial, as Georgetown fans had come to expect the teams great players to fulfill a full four-year commitment to play for the school. His departure presaged a decline in Georgetowns basketball fortunes over the next decade. The team finished the year ranked fourth in the Associated Press Poll and seventh in the Coaches' Poll. Roster Junior reserve guard Brendan Gaughan later became a successful NASCAR driver. Sourcesports-reference.com 1995-96 Georgetown Hoyas Roster and Statshttp://hoyasaxanation.com/georgetown-basketball/roster/1995-1996 hoyasaxanation.com 1995-1996 Georgetown Basketball Roster 2013-11-24 https://archive.today/20131124225546/http://hoyasaxanation.com/georgetown-basketball/roster/1995-1996 2013-11-24 dead The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Player Directory: Jersey Numbershttp://www.hoyabasketball.com/players/roster-90s.htm#1996 The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Team Rosters, 1990-91 to 1999-2000 2013-11-25 https://web.archive.org/web/20141122153349/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/players/roster-90s.htm#1996 2014-11-22 dead #NameHeightWeight (lbs.)PositionClassHometownPrevious Team(s)3Allen Iverson6'0"165GSo.Hampton, VA, U.S.Bethel HS4Joseph Touomou6'2"195GFr.Yaounde, CameroonWilliamston HS (Williamston, NC)10Eric Myles5'10"185GSo.Napoleonville, LA, U.S.Assumption HS11Daymond Jackson6'4"195GFr.Alexandria, VA, U.S.T. C. Williams HS12Dean Berry5'10"168GFr.Brooklyn, NY, U.S.Episcopal HS13Brendan Gaughan5'9"185GJr.Las Vegas, NV, U.S.Bishop Gorman HS14Cheikh Ya-Ya Dia6'9"225FJr.Dakar, SenegalSt. John's Prep-Prospect Hall (Maryland)22Boubacar Aw6'7"228FSo.Thiès, SenegalEast Columbus HS (Lake Waccamaw, NC)25Jerry Nichols6'4"210GSo.Jackson, MS, U.S.Lanier HS32Godwin Owinje6'8"205FJr.Benin City, NigeriaBismarck State Junior College (North Dakota)34James Reed6'0"190GJr.Trenton, NJ, U.S.Princeton Day School42Jerome Williams6'9"205FSr.Germantown, Maryland, U.S.Colonel Zadok A. Magruder HS Montgomery County Community College (Maryland)44Victor Page6'3"205GFr.Washington, DC, U.S.McKinley Technology HS (Washington, DC)Winchendon Prep (Winchendon, MA)50Othella Harrington6'9"240CSr.Jackson, MS, U.S.Murrah HS55Jahidi White6'9"270CSo.St. Louis, MO, U.S.Cardinal Ritter College Prep HS Rankings 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings Source1995-96 Big East Conference Season Summarysports-reference.com 1995-96 Polls + Ranking movementLegend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes. Poll Pre Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Wk 16 Final Post AP 5 5 6 6 7 6 6 6 5 8 6 9 8 14 11 8 6 4 –No Associated Press Poll this week. Coaches N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 5 7 1995–96 Schedule and results Sourceshttp://www.hoyabasketball.com/records/bb-1990.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: 1990s Seasons November 24, 2013 November 12, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131112045956/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/records/bb-1990.htm dead http://www.hoyabasketball.com/opponents.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Records vs. All Opponents 2013-11-24 2013-11-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20131103211101/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/opponents.htm dead "PRESEASON NIT: Georgetown Is an Easy Winner," Associated Press, November 19, 19952012-2013 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide, p. 65.GEORGETOWN HOYAS 95-96 SCHEDULEOfficial Basketball Box Score Syracuse vs Georgetown 1/24/96 7:0 p.m. at USAir Arena, Georgetown, Washington, DCOfficial Basketball Box Score Georgetown vs Syracuse 2/10/96 2:00 p.m. at Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY All times are Eastern yes |- !colspan=9 style="background:#002147; color:#8D817B;"| Preseason Sat., Nov. 4, 1995 7:30 p.m. w yes 5 Fort Hood (U.S. Army) McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC none N/A exhibition N/A Sat., Nov. 11, 1995 4:00 p.m. w yes 5 Croatia McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC none N/A exhibition N/A |- !colspan=9 style="background:#002147; color:#8D817B;"| Regular Season Thu., Nov. 16, 1995 7:30 p.m. yes 5 Colgate USAir Arena Landover, MD Preseason NIT First round ESPN 106−57 1–0 7,193 Sat., Nov. 18, 1995 3:30 p.m. yes 5 Temple USAir Arena Landover, MD Preseason NIT Quarterfinal ESPN2 74−49 2–0 7,319 Wed., Nov. 22, 1995 N/A yes yes 5 Georgia Tech 25 Madison Square Garden New York, NY Preseason NIT Semifinal ESPN 94−72 3–0 15,249 Fri., Nov. 24, 1995 N/A yes yes 5 Arizona 19 Madison Square Garden New York, NY Preseason NIT Final ESPN 81−91 3–1 12,949 Wed., Nov. 29, 1995 7:30 p.m. yes 6 Southern-New Orleans USAir Arena Landover, MD none 96−65 4–1 6,905 Sat., Dec. 2, 1995 4:00 p.m. yes 6 West Virginia WVU Coliseum Morgantown, WV HTS 83−80 OT 5–1 (1–0) 15,193 Mon., Dec. 4, 1995 7:30 p.m. 6 Rutgers USAir Arena Landover, MD HTS 83–52 6–1 (2–0) 7,869 Fri., Dec. 8, 1995 7:30 p.m. yes 6 Sacramento State USAir Arena Landover, MD HTS 113–58 7–1 10,213 Mon., Dec. 18, 1995 7:30 p.m. yes 6 Saint Francis USAir Arena Landover, MD HTS 88−55 8–1 8,415 Wed., Dec. 20, 1995 7:30 p.m. yes 6 Morgan State USAir Arena Landover, MD HTS 104–60 9–1 8,435 Thu., Dec. 28, 1995 7:30 p.m. yes yes 6 Duquesne Lakeland Civic Arena Lakeland, FL none 88−86 10–1 N/A Sat., Dec. 30, 1995 7:30 p.m. yes yes 6 Saint Leo Lakeland Civic Arena Lakeland, FL none 123−65 11–1 N/A Wed., Jan. 3, 1996 N/A yes yes 6 DePaul Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, IL HTS 81–61 12–1 N/A Sat., Jan. 6, 1996 2:00 p.m. 6 Seton Hall USAir Arena Landover, MD HTS 85–76 13–1 (3–0) 18,303 Wed., Jan. 10, 1996 7:30 p.m. away 5 Pittsburgh Civic Arena Pittsburgh, PA HTS 56–75 13–2 (3–1) 12,080 Sat., Jan. 13, 1996 12:00 noon 5 Miami USAir Arena Landover, MD BES 72–69 14–2 (4–1) 9,168 Mon., Jan. 15, 1996 7:30 p.m. yes 5 Notre Dame Edmund P. Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN ESPN 74–69 15–2 (5–1) 11,418 Sat., Jan. 20, 1996 12:00 noon yes 8 Seton Hall Brendan Byrne Arena East Rutherford, NJ BES 82–62 16–2 (6–1) 11,867 Wed., Jan. 24, 1996 7:00 p.m. 6 Syracuse 17 USAir Arena Landover, MD Rivalry ESPN 83–64 17−2 (7–1) 18,753 Sat., Jan. 27, 1996 2:00 p.m. yes 6 St. John's Madison Square Garden New York, NY CBS 72–83 17−3 (7–2) 13,888 Wed., Jan. 31, 1996 7:00 p.m. 9 West Virginia USAir Arena Landover, MD BES 91–67 18–3 (8–2) 14,303 Sat., Feb. 3, 1996 12:00 noon 9 Notre Dame USAir Arena Landover, MD BES 70–53 19–3 (9–2) 10,149 Mon., Feb. 5, 1996 7:30 p.m. yes 8 Villanova 16 Spectrum Philadelphia, PA ESPN 66–79 19–4 (9–3) 18,433 Sat., Feb. 10, 1996 2:00 p.m. away 8 Syracuse 18 Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY Rivalry CBS 64–85 19–5 (9–4) 32,589 Tue., Feb. 13, 1996 7:30 p.m. yes 14 Boston College 23 Silvio O. Conte Forum Chestnut Hill, MA ESPN2 66–63 20–5 (10–4) 8,606 Sat., Feb. 17, 1996 3:00 p.m. yes 14 Memphis 15 USAir Arena Landover, MD CBS 81–60 21–5 17,529 Mon., Feb. 19, 1996 7:30 p.m. 11 Connecticut 3 USAir Arena Landover, MD Rivalry ESPN 77–65 22–5 (11–4) 19,035 Sat., Feb. 24, 1996 12:00 noon 11 Boston College 20 USAir Arena Landover, MD BES 67–64 23–5 (12–4) 19,035 Tue., Feb. 27, 1996 7:00 p.m. yes 8 Providence Providence Civic Center Providence, RI ESPN2 77–84 23–6 (12–5) 13,106 Sat., Mar. 2, 1996 2:00 p.m. 8 Villanova 6 USAir Arena Landover, MD CBS 106–68 24–6 (13–5) 19,035 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#002147; color:#8D817B;"| Big East tournament Thu., Mar. 7, 1996 N/A yes 6 Miami Madison Square Garden New York, NY Quarterfinal ESPN 92–62 25–6 19,544 Fri., Mar. 8, 1996 N/A yes 6 Villanova 9 Madison Square Garden New York, NY Semifinal ESPN 84–76 26–6 19,544 Sat., Mar. 9, 1996 N/A yes 6 Connecticut 3 Madison Square Garden New York, NY Final/Rivalry ESPN 74–75 26–7 19,544 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#002147; color:#8D817B;"| NCAA tournament Fri., Mar. 15, 1996 N/A yes 4 Mississippi Valley State Richmond Coliseum Richmond, VA East Regional First round N/A 93–56 27–7 11,859 Sun., Mar. 17, 1996 N/A yes 4 New Mexico Richmond Coliseum Richmond, VA East Regional Second Round N/A 73–62 28–7 11,859 Thu., Mar. 21, 1996 N/A yes 4 Texas Tech 8 Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA East Regional semifinal N/A 98–90 29–7 34,614 Sat., Mar. 23, 1996 N/A yes 4 Massachusetts 1 Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA East Regional Final N/A 62–86 29–8 32,328 Notes note References Category:Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball seasons Georgetown Hoyas Georgetown Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team