1977–78 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 basketball 1977-78 Georgetown Hoyas Georgetown Hoyas logo.svg Independent 20 23–8 John Thompson 6th Bill Stein 5th Bob Grier 1st Derrick Jackson McDonough Gymnasium Hoya Invitational Tournament ChampionsECAC Holiday Festival ChampionsNational Invitation Tournament Fourth place The 1977–78 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University during the 1977–78 NCAA Division I college basketball season. John Thompson, coached them in his sixth season as head coach. An independent, Georgetown played its home games at McDonough Gymnasium on the Georgetown campus in Washington, D.C., and finished the season with a record of 23–8. Knocked out of the ECAC South-Upstate Region tournament in the semifinals, the team missed an NCAA tournament bid for the second consecutive season. The Hoyas instead appeared in the 1978 National Invitation Tournament (NIT), their second straight NIT appearance, and finished in fourth place. Season recap After going 2–2 to open the season, the 1977–78 Hoyas set a new school record for most consecutive victories, winning 13 games in a rowhttp://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/d_jackson.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 9. Derrick Jackson 2014-02-04 https://web.archive.org/web/20181005053409/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/d_jackson.htm 2018-10-05 dead between December 7, 1977, and January 28, 1978. Senior guard and team captain Derrick Jackson led the way, continuing a streak of scoring in double figures begun the previous season that stretched to 44 straight games before ending this year. Early in the season, Jackson surpassed Jonathan Smith as the top Hoya scorer of all time; by mid-season, he had become the first Hoya to score more than 1,500 points in his career. During the streak, Georgetown played in the ECAC Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden in New York City, winning both games, one of which was an upset of No. 12-ranked Holy Cross on December 27; sophomore guard John Duren averaged 22 points per game in the two games and was declared the tournaments Most Valuable Player. Duren would go on to score in double figures in 27 of the seasons 31 games.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/j_duren.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 6. John Duren 2014-02-04 https://web.archive.org/web/20100413153618/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/j_duren.htm 2010-04-13 dead In the second game of the tournament, against Alabama on December 29, junior forward Steve Martin scored 18 points.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/s_martin.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 64. Steve Martin 2014-02-07 2013-01-09 https://web.archive.org/web/20130109014006/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/s_martin.htm dead Sophomore forward Craig "Big Sky" Shelton scored 25 points against Maryland in the second game of the year, but suffered a broken wrist early in the season and missed five games. After returning to action, he scored 20 or more points eight times during the last 19 games of the year, finishing the season with an average of 14.1 points per game.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/c_shelton.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 7. Craig Shelton 2014-02-04 https://web.archive.org/web/20120214175742/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/c_shelton.htm 2012-02-14 dead Senior center Ed Hopkins scored 29 points against North Carolina Central.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/e_hopkins.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 75. Ed Hopkins 2014-02-07 2015-03-31 https://web.archive.org/web/20150331010431/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/e_hopkins.htm dead Junior forward Al Dutchs free-throw shooting prowess helped Georgetown in two big wins over Seton Hall and Manhattan, but otherwise he had a difficult season, averaging only 5.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Thompson announced the following summer that Dutch would take the 1978–79 season off for personal reasons and return to the team for the 1979–80 season.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/a_dutch.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 55. Al Dutch 2014-02-07 2015-09-24 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924031440/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/a_dutch.htm dead A highlight of the regular season was the visit of No. 17-ranked Detroit – led by Terry Duerod, John Long, and Terry Tyler, and coached by Dick Vitale – to McDonough Gymnasium on February 11, 1978. Detroit had a record of 19-1 and the longest winning streak in the nation at the time and was averaging 93.5 points per game, while Georgetown had just dropped out of the Top 20 entirely – plunging from No. 14 the week before – thanks to a pair of losses to begin the month. Shelton played an outstanding defensive game and scored 20 points, while Steve Martin scored 22 and Ed Hopkins pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds. Although the Hoyas trailed with less than a minute to play, they came back to tie the game and then Shelton dunked over Tyler to give Georgetown an 82–80 lead. The Hoyas upset Detroit 83–82.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/history/classic.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Classic Games 2014-01-28 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924041705/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/history/classic.htm 2015-09-24 dead Eleven days later, George Washington visited McDonough. After the Colonials scored to take the lead with two seconds left to play, Thompson put senior reserve guard Craig Esherick into the game. Esherick caught the inbounds pass at halfcourt and put up a 40-foot (12-meter) shot that scored as time expired to tie the game and force overtime. Eshericks shot was arguably the greatest of the 1970s for the Hoyas, and Georgetown went on to win in overtime, 78–77. Although retaining its status as an independent, Georgetown was in its fourth season as a member of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), a loosely organized sports federation that held three regional post-season Division I basketball tournaments in 1978 for independent Eastern colleges and universities similar to the end-of-season conference tournaments held by conventional college basketball conferences, with each tournament winner receiving an at-large bid to the 1978 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Georgetown had won the ECAC South Region tournament in 1975 and 1976 to secure an NCAA bid; this year the Hoyas participated in the ECAC Upstate-South Region tournament as a heavy favorite to win a third ECAC regional title. However, just before the opening tip of the first game of the tournament, a semifinal contest against Virginia Commonwealth, Derrick Jackson was rushed to the hospital with what was thought to be an attack of acute appendicitis but turned out to be a duodenal ulcer. The illness brought his senior season to an end, and the Hoyas sorely missed him in the game; although Duren scored 23 points, Virginia Commonwealth beat Georgetown 88–75. Jackson ended the season with a school-record 88% free-throw shooting percentage for the year that has yet to equalled, and a 49% field-goal and 77% free-throw shooting percentage for his career. He had been the schools leading scorer in three seasons. The ECAC Tournament loss meant that the Hoyas missed an NCAA tournament bid for the second year in a row. Georgetown instead accepted an invitation to the 1978 National Invitation Tournament (NIT), its second consecutive NIT appearance. In the first round, played at Virginia, the Hoyas fell behind the Cavaliers, but Duren scored 22 points and had 11 assists and Georgetown came back to tie the game and force overtime. With seconds left in overtime and the game tied 68-68, senior guard Mike Riley managed to draw an offensive foul on a Virginia inbounds pass, then sank both his free throws to give Georgetown a 70–68 win. The 1977–78 squad thus became the first Georgetown men's basketball team to win a game in either the National Invitation Tournament or NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament since the 1942–43 team advanced to the final of the 1943 NCAA tournament. Georgetown next beat Dayton in the second round, with Duren scoring 17 points and Steve Martin shooting 10-for-10 from the free-throw line and scoring 18. The Hoyas faced North Carolina State in the semifinal. Duren had a 26-point game, Shelton scored 25, and Esherick again scored on a last-minute shot to tie the game as the clock expired and force overtime. Georgetown was leading 85–84 in overtime with almost no time left and on the brink of going to the first NIT final in school history when North Carolina States Clyde Austin scored on a 40-foot (12-meter) last-second shot to give the Wolfpack an 86–85 win. The Hoyas had to settle for an appearance in the third-place game against Rutgers, which Georgetown lost for a fourth-place finish despite John Durens 23-point effort. During the NIT, Craig Shelton had shot 61 percent from the field and averaged 16 points and nine rebounds per game. Unranked in the Associated Press Poll at the end of the year, the Hoyas were ranked No. 20 for the season in the Coaches' Poll. They would not play in the NIT again until the 1992–93 season. During each of the 14 intervening seasons, Georgetown would receive an NCAA Tournament bid. Although English bulldogs named Jack have appeared along the sidelines of Georgetown basketball times during various seasons since 1962, the 1977–78 season was the first in which a human in a bulldog costume portrayed Jack the Bulldog. Originated by Georgetown freshman Pat Sheehan, who was Jack for four seasons before graduating in 1981,Sheehan went on to a banking career in New York City and died in an automobile accident on November 9, 2013. the human Jack the Bulldog has been a fixture at Georgetown games ever since.Campbell, Dakin, "Pat Sheehan, Wells Fargo Banker, Georgetown Mascot, Dies," Bloomberg News, November 15, 2013, 11:10 AM ET. Roster Sourcehttp://www.hoyabasketball.com/players/roster-70s.htm#1978 The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Rosters 1970-71 to 1979-1980 2013-12-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20131213081949/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/players/roster-70s.htm#1978 2013-12-13 dead The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Player Directory: Jersey Numbers Senior guard Craig Esherick would later serve as an assistant coach for the Hoyas from 1982 to 1999 and as head coach from 1999 to 2004. Senior guard Mike Riley would later serve as a Hoya assistant coach from 1982 to 2004. #NameHeightWeight (lbs.)PositionClassHometownPrevious team(s)10Craig Esherick6'3"N/AGSr.Silver Spring, MD, U.S.Springbrook HS12Mike Riley5'8"N/AGSr.Washington, DC, U.S.United States Navy20Steve Martin6'4"175FJr.New Orleans, LA, U.S.St. Augustine HS22Derrick Jackson6'0"180GSr.Wheaton, IL, U.S.Wheaton Central HS24Lonnie Duren6'1"N/AGSo.Washington, DC, U.S.Augusta Military Academy (Fort Defiance, VA)25Al Dutch6'7"190FJr.Washington, DC, U.S.Archbishop Carroll HS33Craig "Big Sky" Shelton6'7"210FSo.Washington, DC, U.S.Dunbar HS34Terry Fenlon6'2"N/AGSo.Washington, DC, U.S.Mount St. Mary's University42Felix Yeoman6'7"N/AF/CSr.Washington, DC, U.S.St. Anthony's HS44John Duren6'3"150GSo.Washington, DC, U.S.Dunbar HS51Mike Frazier6'7"N/AFSo.Cleveland, OH, U.S.University School52Ed Hopkins6'9"225CSr.Baltimore, MD, U.S.Edmondson-Westside HS55Tom Scates6'11"N/ACJr.Alexandria, VA, U.S.St. Anthony's HS, (Washington, DC) Rankings 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings Sourcesports-reference.com 1977-78 Independent Season Summarysports-reference.com 1977-78 Polls The 1977-78 squad was only the second team in Georgetown men's basketball history to be ranked in the Associated Press Poll, and the first one to be ranked since the 1952-53 team's No. 20 ranking for a week in January 1953.sports-reference.com 1952-53 Georgetown Hoyas Schedule and Results It also ended the season ranked No. 20 in the Coaches' Poll, becoming the first Georgetown men's basketball team in history to finish a season with a national ranking. + 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 Final AP 20 17 19 16 14 18 18 17 Coaches –No Coaches' Poll this week. 15 12 15 14 11 15 15 16 14 20 – 1977–78 schedule and results Sourceshttp://www.hoyabasketball.com/records/bb-1970.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: 1970s Seasons 2013-12-10 2020-07-04 https://web.archive.org/web/20200704090730/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/records/bb-1970.htm dead http://www.hoyabasketball.com/opponents.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Records vs. All Opponents 2013-12-10 2013-11-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20131103211101/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/opponents.htm dead sports-reference.com 1977-78 Georgetown Hoyas Schedule and Results2012-2013 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide, p. 63.http://jonfmorse.com/wiki/index.php?title=1978_ECAC_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournaments jonfmorse.com 1978 ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments December 10, 2013 December 14, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131214112326/http://jonfmorse.com/wiki/index.php?title=1978_ECAC_Men%27s_Basketball_Tournaments dead All times are Eastern no yes no no yes |- !colspan=9 style="background:#002147; color:#8D817B;"| Regular season Sun., Nov. 27, 1977 no w yes Navy Capital Centre Landover, MD Tip-Off Tournament no 71–56 4,500 1-0 Mon., Nov. 28, 1977 no l yes Maryland 14 Capital Centre Landover, MD Tip-Off Tournament no 87–91 6,500 1-1 Wed., Nov. 30, 1977 no w Dickinson McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 50–33 1,600 2-1 Sat., Dec. 3, 1977 no l yes St. Bonaventure Reilly Center Olean, NY no 67–71 5,319 2-2 Wed., Dec. 7, 1977 no w Wagner McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 96–65 1,468 3-2 Sat., Dec. 10, 1977 no w Xavier of Louisiana McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC Hoya Invitational Tournament no 108–68 2,178 4-2 Sun., Dec. 11, 1977 no w Georgia McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC Hoya Invitational Tournament no 66–60 3,079 5-2 Sun., Dec. 18, 1977 no w yes St. Joseph's Palestra Philadelphia, PA no 61–55 2OT 1,856 6-2 Tue., Dec. 27, 1977 no w yes Holy Cross 12 Madison Square Garden New York, NY ECAC Holiday Festival no 79–65 16,411 7-2 Thu., Dec. 29, 1977 no w yes Alabama Madison Square Garden New York, NY ECAC Holiday Festival no 83–73 11,006 8-2 Tue., Jan. 3, 1978 no w 20 North Carolina Central McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 107–65 2,895 9-2 Sat., Jan. 7, 1978 no w 20 St. John's McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 72–61 3,859 10-2 Wed., Jan. 11, 1978 no w 20 Navy McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 56–53 2,200 11-2 Sat., Jan. 17, 1978 no w 17 South Carolina McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 47–43 3,495 12-2 Wed., Jan. 18, 1978 no w yes 19 Seton Hall Walsh Gymnasium South Orange, NJ no 70–69 3,200 13-2 Wed., Jan. 25, 1978 no w 16 American McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 72–68 3,532 14-2 Sat., Jan. 28, 1978 no w 14 New England College McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 80–30 1,851 15-2 Wed., Feb. 1, 1978 no l yes 14 Boston College Roberts Center Chestnut Hill, MA no 76–81 3,300 15-3 Sat., Feb. 4, 1978 no l yes 14 Loyola (Illinois) Alumni Gym Chicago, IL no 65–68 OT 3,052 15-4 Mon., Feb. 6, 1978 no w 14 Stonehill McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 77–55 968 16-4 Sat., Feb. 11, 1978 no w Detroit 17 McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 83–82 4,500 17-4 Thu., Feb. 16, 1978 no w yes 18 Manhattan Madison Square Garden New York, NY no 81–80 10,630 18-4 Sat., Feb. 18, 1978 no w 18 St. Peter's McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 55–38 2,841 19-4 Wed., Feb. 22, 1978 no w 18 George Washington McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 78–77 OT 4,500 20-4 Sat., Feb. 25, 1978 no w 18 Holy Cross McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 77–61 4,500 21-4 Sun., Feb. 26, 1978 no l yes 18 Fordham Rose Hill Gymnasium Bronx, NY no 59–63 N/A 21-5 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#002147; color:#8D817B;"| ECAC Upstate-South Region tournament Wed., Mar. 1, 1978 no l yes 17 Virginia Commonwealth Charles E. Smith Athletic Center Washington, DC Semifinal no 75–88 N/A 21-6 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#002147; color:#8D817B;"| National Invitation tournament Wed., Mar. 8, 1978 no w yes Virginia University Hall Charlottesville, VA First Round no 80–78 OT 8,500 22-6 Tue., Mar. 14, 1978 no w yes Dayton University of Dayton Arena Dayton, OH Second Round no 71–62 13,458 23-6 Sun., Mar. 19, 1978 no l yes North Carolina State Madison Square Garden New York, NY Semifinal no 85–86 OT N/A 23-7 Tue., Mar. 21, 1978 no l yes Rutgers Madison Square Garden New York, NY Third Place no 72–85 N/A 23-8 AP Poll Eastern Time Notes note References Category:Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball seasons Georgetown Georgetown Hoyas Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team