1963–64 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 1963–64 Georgetown Hoyas basketball Georgetown Hoyas logo.svg Independent 15–10 Tommy O'Keefe 4th Tom Coleman 3rd Jim Christy McDonough Gymnasium The 1963–64 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University during the 1963–64 NCAA University Division college basketball season. Tommy O'Keefe coached them in his fourth season as head coach, but Georgetown's head coaching position paid so little that he could only coach part-time and held a full-time job outside of coaching in order to meet his financial obligations, impairing his ability to recruit players.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/coaches/bb-coach.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Head Coaches 2014-02-05 https://web.archive.org/web/20170527235527/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/coaches/bb-coach.htm 2017-05-27 dead http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/t_okeefe.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 46. Tom O'Keefe 2014-02-05 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924031611/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/t_okeefe.htm 2015-09-24 dead The team was an independent and played its home games at McDonough Gymnasium on the Georgetown campus in Washington, D.C. The team finished the season with a record of 15–10 and had no postseason play. Season recap Georgetown looked forward to having senior guard Jim Christy, the team's point guard and team captain, and junior forward Jim Barry – perhaps the best player of Georgetown men's basketball's "Classic Era" (1943–1972) – together again after their high-scoring performances the previous season, raising hopes that they could lead the team to a postseason tournament berth. Barry, however, was forced to miss the 1963–64 season while recovering from knee surgery.The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 8. Jim BarryThe Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 35. Jim Christy Sophomore guard Jim Brown joined the varsity team this year after emerging as a top scorer on the freshman team the previous year. He started the season opener, in which his fast-break style of offense helped the Hoyas to beat Maryland by 21 points.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/j_brown22.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 29. Jim Brown 2014-02-14 2012-11-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20121130143011/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/j_brown22.htm dead Another newcomer to the team, sophomore forward Owen Gillen, scored 14 points and had 10 rebounds in the game.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/o_gillen.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 89. Owen Gillen 2014-02-14 2015-01-12 https://web.archive.org/web/20150112000516/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/o_gillen.htm dead Fifteen days later, Georgetown began play in the Quaker City Classic at the Palestra in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its first opponent was No.1 Loyola of Chicago. Led by John Egan, Loyola was the defending champion from the 1963 NCAA Tournament, entered the game with a 22-game winning streak, and was a 28-point favorite. Jim Brown's defense kept Egan in check, Jim Christy scored 30 points, and the Hoyas led by 12 points at the half and won the game 69–58. It was Georgetown's first-ever victory over a No. 1-ranked opponent. Jim Brown had a season-high 14 points against Navy. He went on to finish the season averaging 12.5 points per game and with a school-record 148 assists; he would break that record himself two seasons later. In the Hoyas' next game, eleven days later against La Salle, Jim Christy scored on eight consecutive field goals. Two weeks after that, Christy scored his 1,000th point in a game against New York University and scored on a late-game layup that helped Georgetown to come from behind to beat NYU, pushing the Hoyas' record to 12–8 and renewing hopes that they could secure an invitation to the 1964 National Invitation Tournament. Sophomore forward John "Jake" Gibbons, meanwhile, scored 26 points in a game against George Washington.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/j_gibbons.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 74. John Gibbons 2014-02-14 2015-01-12 https://web.archive.org/web/20150112000529/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/j_gibbons.htm dead Owen Gillen had a season-high 23 points against Canisius and also had strong performances against Fordham, Boston College, Holy Cross, and Rutgers, finishing the season as the team's leading rebounder. During a 107–92 Georgetown loss to Boston College at the Roberts Center in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, on February 21, 1964, Boston College guard John Austin—a Washington, D.C., native and DeMatha Catholic High School graduate who was the first African American basketball player in Boston College historyReagan, John, "Forgotten Rivals," The Georgetown Basketball History Project, June 4, 2018 Accessed 26 June 2021—scored 49 points, setting a single-game school scoring record for the Eagles as well as the record for points scored against Georgetown by an opponent in a single game. Both records still stood as of 2018. Four days later, Jim Christy had an historic game at Maryland on February 25, 1964. He scored 11 of the game's first 16 points and finished with a school-record 44 points, shooting 14-for-19 (73%) from the field and 16-of-18 (89%) from the free-throw line as the Hoyas upset the Terrapins. The win gave Georgetown the so-called "Big Three" title for the year among the Washington, D.C., area's three major college men's basketball teams (Georgetown, George Washington, and Maryland). As impressive as a 44-point game was, Christy's record would stand for only a year and two days until Jim Barry scored 46 points in a game in late February 1965. The team played inconsistently most of the season and finished with a record of 15–10 and no postseason play. The 15 wins were the most by a Georgetown team since the 1951–52 team won 15, leaving observers to contemplate whether the 1963–64 team might have made the postseason if forward Jim Barry had been available to play. The team was not ranked in the Top 20 in the Associated Press Poll or Coaches' Poll at any time.sports-reference.com 1963-64 Independent Season Summarysports-reference.com 1963-64 Polls Roster From the 1958–59 season through the 1967–68 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.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/players/roster-60s.htm#1964 The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Rosters 1960–61 to 1969–1970 2013-12-22 https://web.archive.org/web/20130109014342/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/players/roster-60s.htm#1964 2013-01-09 dead SourceThe Georgetown Basketball History Project: Player Directory: Jersey Numbers #NameHeightWeight (lbs.)PositionClassHometownPrevious team(s)10Jim Christy6'1"185GSr.Brooklyn, New YorkSaint Pascal HS12Joe Franz6'5"N/AFJr.Baltimore, MarylandLoyola HS14John Prendergast N/AN/AGJr.Utica, New YorkNotre Dame Junior Senior HS20Joe Mazelin6'2"N/AGSr.Indianapolis, IndianaSacred Heart HS22Jim Brown5'10"170GSo.Ridgewood, New JerseyDon Bosco Preparatory HS24Charles "Buddy" O'Donnell6'3"N/AFSr.Upper Darby Township, PennsylvaniaMonsignor Bonner HS30James L. "Jim" Jones6'4"N/AFSo.Groveton, VirginiaGroveton HS32Chuck Devlin6'5"N/AFSr.Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaGermantown Academy34Ed Solano6'3"N/AFSo.Bellerose, New YorkSt. Mary's HS40Dave Philbin6'4"N/AFSo.Clinton, MassachusettsPortsmouth Priory School42John "Jake" Gibbons6'5"200F/CSo.Cambria Heights, Queens, New YorkSaint Francis HS44Owen Gillen6'5"210F/CSo.Totowa, New JerseyPassaic Valley Regional HS52Tom Carroll6'3"N/AFSo.New York, New YorkSt. Nicholas of Tolentine HS54Tom Hamm6'4"N/ACSo.St. Cloud, MinnesotaCathedral HS 1963–64 schedule and results SourcesThe Georgetown Basketball History Project: 1960s Seasonshttp://www.hoyabasketball.com/opponents.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Records vs. All Opponents 2013-12-22 2013-11-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20131103211101/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/opponents.htm dead sports-reference.com 1963-64 Georgetown Hoyas Schedule and Results2012-2013 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide, p. 61. no yes no no no |- !colspan=9 style="background:#002147; color:#8D817B;"| Regular season Wed., Dec. 4, 1963 no w Maryland McDonough Gymnasium Washington, D.C. no 83–72 1-0 Sat., Dec. 7, 1963 no w Fairleigh Dickinson McDonough Gymnasium Washington, D.C. no 81–67 2-0 Tue., Dec. 10, 1963 no w American McDonough Gymnasium Washington, D.C. no 109–79 3-0 Thu., Dec. 12, 1963 no w yes Manhattan Madison Square Garden New York, New York no 98–87 4-0 Mon., Dec. 16, 1963 no w yes Delaware Delaware Field House Newark, Delaware no 93–65 5-0 Thu., Dec. 19, 1963 no l yes Loyola New Orleans Loyola Field House New Orleans, Louisiana no 78–92 5-1 Sat., Dec. 21, 1963 no l yes Georgia Tech Alexander Memorial Coliseum Atlanta, Georgia no 71–96 5-2 Fri., Dec. 27, 1963 no w yes Loyola Chicago 1 Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Quaker City Tournament no 69–58 6-2 Sat., Dec. 28, 1963 no l yes La Salle Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Quaker City Tournament no 69–80 6-3 Sun., Dec. 29, 1963 no l yes Drake Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Quaker City Tournament no 61–89 6-4 Sat., Jan. 4, 1964 no l yes George Washington Fort Myer Gymnasium Fort Myer, Virginia no 69–77 6-5 Tue., Jan. 7, 1964 no w Canisius McDonough Gymnasium Washington, D.C. no 87–78 7-5 Sat., Jan. 11, 1964 no w yes Fordham Rose Hill Gymnasium Bronx, New York no 76–70 8-5 Tue., Jan. 14, 1964 no l Navy McDonough Gymnasium Washington, D.C. no 64–67 8-6 Sat., Jan. 25, 1964 no w La Salle McDonough Gymnasium Washington, D.C. no 85–81 9-6 Sat., Feb. 1, 1964 no l yes Seton Hall Walsh Gymnasium South Orange, New Jersey no 90–94 9-7 Wed., Feb. 5, 1964 no l yes St. Joseph's Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania no 70–79 9-8 Sun., Feb. 9, 1964 no w Saint Peter's McDonough Gymnasium Washington, D.C. no 120–73 10-8 Wed., Feb. 12, 1964 no w George Washington McDonough Gymnasium Washington, D.C. no 83–81 11-8 Sat., Feb. 15, 1964 no w New York University McDonough Gymnasium Washington, D.C. no 79–72 12-8 Mon., Feb. 17, 1964 no w Fairfield McDonough Gymnasium Washington, D.C. no 79–73 13-8 Fri., Feb. 21, 1964 no l yes Boston College Roberts Center Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts no 92–107 13-9 Sat., Feb. 22, 1964 no l yes Holy Cross Worcester Memorial Auditorium Worcester, Massachusetts no 77–95 13-10 Tue., Feb. 25, 1964 no w yes Maryland Cole Field House College Park, Maryland no 81–78 14-10 Sat., Feb. 29, 1964 no w Rutgers McDonough Gymnasium Washington, D.C. no 79–67 15-10 AP Poll References Category:Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball seasons Georgetown Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team