1994–95 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1994–95 Georgetown Hoyas Georgetown Hoyas logo.svg Big East Conference Big East 16 22 21–10 11–7 John Thompson 23rd Craig Esherick 13th Mike Riley 13th Mel Reid 5th Don Reid USAir Arena Sacramento Classic Champions NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen The 1994–95 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University in the 1994–95 NCAA Division I college basketball season. John Thompson, coached them in his 23rd season as head coach. They played their home games at USAir Arena in Landover, Maryland. They were members of the Big East Conference and finished the season with a record of 21–10, 11–7 in Big East play. Their record earned them a bye in the first round of the 1995 Big East men's basketball tournament, and they advanced to the tournament semifinal before losing to Connecticut. They were awarded a No. 6 seed in the Southeast Region of the 1995 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament – Georgetowns 16th NCAA Tournament appearance in 17 years – and advanced to the Southeast Region Semifinals before losing to regions No. 2 seed, North Carolina. They were ranked No. 22 in the seasons final Associated Press Poll and No 16 in the postseason Coaches' Poll. Season recap Georgetowns transition from relying on feeding the ball to a "big man" at center to playing an uptempo offense focused on play by the guards continued this year. Senior George Butler had transferred to Georgetown from Tyler Junior College the previous season for his junior year to fill a gap at shooting guard that had hurt the Hoyas in 1992-93 and begin the transition. This season, Allen Iverson joined Butler in the backcourt.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/o_harrington.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Top 100: 13. Othella Harrington 2014-03-22 2015-02-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20150203040145/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/o_harrington.htm dead http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/g_butler.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Top 100: 80. George Butler 2014-03-22 2015-03-24 https://web.archive.org/web/20150324011731/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/g_butler.htm dead http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/a_iverson.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Top 100: 5. Allen Iverson 2014-03-22 https://web.archive.org/web/20120214181925/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/a_iverson.htm 2012-02-14 dead Iverson had been a stand-out in high school, but had been arrested and sentenced to prison for his supposed participation in a February 1993 fight in a bowling alley in Hampton, Virginia. Available evidence in the case ranged from doubtful to strongly suggesting his innocence, and his conviction and sentencing were racially charged. Most colleges and universities abandoned any plans they might have had to recruit Iverson. John Thompson had had a tendency over the years to pass on recruiting troubled players, but he responded to an appeal by Iversons mother to give Iverson a chance to attend college by agreeing to sign him if he finished high school and if his legal problems were resolved. Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder granted Iverson clemency and Iverson completed high school in time to participate in Georgetown's Jacob Kenner League, a summer basketball league for Georgetown and other Washington, D.C.-area college players played at McDonough Gymnasium on the Georgetown campus, in 1994. On August 4, 1994, in his first game since his February 1993 arrest, he debuted with a 40-point performance, and by the end of the last of three Kenner League games on August 7 he had scored 99 points against some of the areas best college players. In an exhibition game the Hoyas played at McDonough in November 1994 against the Fort Hood Tankers, a United States Army team from Fort Hood, Texas, Iverson electrified the crowd with 36 points, five assists, and three steals in 23 minutes of play, shooting 19-for-21 (90.5%) from the free-throw line; by the time he reached 24 points in the game, he had scored as many points as the entire Fort Hood team. In the second and final exhibition game of the preseason, he scored 39 points against Croatia and again appeared 21 times at the free-throw line.The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Kenner Leaguehttp://articles.philly.com/1994-11-16/sports/25868545_1_fort-hood-tankers-allen-iverson-georgetown-freshman Smallwood, John, "Have You Hoya'd? Household Name In Waiting Hoyas Freshman Iverson Is Being Compared With Greats," Daily News, November 16, 1994 March 22, 2014 March 4, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160304002444/http://articles.philly.com/1994-11-16/sports/25868545_1_fort-hood-tankers-allen-iverson-georgetown-freshman dead Smallwood, John, "Have You Hoya'd? Household Name In Waiting Hoyas Freshman Iverson Is Being Compared With Greats," Knight-Ridder Newspapers, December 4, 1994Rhoden, William C., "ON BASKETBALL; Saving the Story for the Game," The New York Times, November 10, 1994.Rhoden, William C., "ON BASKETBALL; Iverson's TV Debut Eclipsed," The New York Times, November 28, 1994. Iversons legal troubles and obvious athletic talent focused national attention on him, and he debuted in the regular season with a 19-point game against No. 1-ranked Arkansas in the season opener. Six days later he had 31 points against DePaul, and four days after that he scored 30 points against Providence. He led the team in scoring 22 times and scored in double figures in all but one game, the exception being at Villanova in a game in which he played only ten minutes and Thompson threatened to pull the Hoyas off the court and forfeit after Villanova students mocked Iverson by marching around the arena wearing black-and-white-striped prison uniforms and carrying a sign comparing Iverson to former American football great O. J. Simpson, then under arrest and awaiting trial for murder. After the game, Thompson told the press that the prison taunt was too offensive to tolerate and that he would not hesitate to pull his team off the court if anything like it ever occurred again, and such fan behavior did not recur. Iverson never scored in less than double figures again in his two-year collegiate career. With President Bill Clinton looking on, he had 26 points in a rematch with ninth-ranked Villanova at USAir Arena in which the Hoyas scored the games first 11 points, forced 23 Villanova turnovers, had 16 steals, and upset the Wildcats 77–52 on national television. Iverson later had 21 points against Syracuse and 28 points against St. John's. He finished the year averaging 20.4 points per game, second highest in Georgetown history for a first-year varsity player, 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.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/history/classic.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Classic Games 2014-03-22 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924041705/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/history/classic.htm 2015-09-24 dead Fellow guard George Butler also began the season with high-scoring performances, his best of the year being 15 points against Memphis at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in Georgetowns only regular-season game ever played outside the United States and its territories prior to the opening game of the 2013–14 season. On January 7, 1995, however, he did not suit up for the days game against Miami at USAir Arena, and Thompson announced after the game that he had been dismissed from the team for academic reasons. He left the team averaging 11.2 points per game for the year. In his one-and-a-half-season, 40-game Georgetown career, he had averaged 13.3 points per game. Junior center Othella Harringtons role already had diminished the previous season with Thompsons deemphasis of the center in Georgetowns offense in favor of uptempo guard play provided by Butler, and his performance declined further this season with the arrival of Iverson. He nonetheless contributed to Georgetowns scoring, notably with 27 points against 17th-ranked Syracuse in a game at the Carrier Dome in which the Hoyas came back from a 14-point deficit to upset the Orangemen. He averaged 12.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in his least successful season, but would enjoy a resurgence the following year. Junior forward Jerome Williams arrived as a transfer after two years playing for Montgomery College in Montgomery County, Maryland. He started all 31 games and immediately emerged as a top rebounder for the Hoyas, collecting 65 in the first five games, and averaging 31 minutes and 10 rebounds per game for the year. Displaying great defensive prowess, he scored 15 points and had 17 rebounds against DePaul, scored 17 and pulled down 15 rebounds versus Pittsburgh, and scored 11 points and grabbed 14 rebounds versus Connecticut. In the final two games of the regular season, against Seton Hall at USAir Arena and at Madison Square Garden against St. Johns, he scored a combined 47 points and had 28 rebounds. He finished the year averaging 10.9 points and 10.0 rebounds a game for the season, becoming the first Georgetown forward to lead the team in rebounding since Reggie Williams.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/j_williams.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Top 100: 23. Jerome Williams 2013-11-26 2014-10-14 https://web.archive.org/web/20141014120105/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/j_williams.htm dead Senior center and team captain Don Reid led the team in scoring once with a 21-point performance against Morgan State in the second game of the season, and he averaged 7.2 points and 5.7 rebounds a game for the year.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/d_reid.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Top 100: 77. Don Reid 2014-03-22 2015-09-24 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924031503/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/d_reid.htm dead Freshman forward Boubacar Aw, meanwhile, played in 30 games, all in a reserve role. He played particularly well against Connecticut late in the year, averaging 15.5 points and five rebounds per game in the final regular-season game against the Huskies and 1995 Big East tournament semifinal game combined.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/b_aw.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Top 100: 70. Boubacar Aw 2014-03-22 2015-02-01 https://web.archive.org/web/20150201150454/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/b_aw.htm dead In the Big East tournament, Georgetown had a bye in the first round and defeated Miami in the quarterfinals behind a 31-point performance by Iverson, who outscored the entire Miami team during the first half. In the semifinals, Connecticut defeated the Hoyas, but Iverson scored 27 points. Georgetown was the No. 6 seed in the Southeast Region of the 1995 NCAA tournament, and defeated Xavier in the first round. In the second round, Georgetown faced Weber State. The Hoyas had not advanced beyond the second round of the NCAA tournament since the 1988–89 season, losing to its second-round opponent all four times it had gone to the tournament over that span. It looked as though the Hoyas would repeat the pattern when they fouled Weber States leading scorer, guard Ruben Nembhard, with the score tied 51–51 and eight seconds left in the game. Nembhard missed his first free throw, however, and Iverson sped down the court to put up a shot for the win. It missed, but Reid grabbed the rebound and scored on a layup as time expired to win the game 53–51 in perhaps the highlight of the year. It was Georgetowns first last-second win since 1988, and Thompson was seen performing a courtside victory dance as his players celebrated. The win allowed Georgetown to advance to meet the Southeast Regions No. 2 seed, 4th-ranked North Carolina, in the regions semifinals. Iverson scored 24 points against the Tar Heels and held North Carolinas sophomore guard Jeff McInnis to a 1-for-8 (12.5%) shooting performance from the field, but North Carolina prevailed to knock Georgetown out of the tournament and bring the Hoyas season to an end. Georgetowns December 3, 1994, victory over DePaul began a 14-game Hoya winning streak against the Blue Demons over the next 20 years. DePaul would not finally break the streak until the Blue Demons upset the Hoyas in the first round of the 2014 Big East tournament in March 2014.Wang, Gene, "Georgetown ousted from Big East in first round by DePaul, 60-56," washingtonpost.com, March 13, 2014. Roster Sophomore reserve guard Brendan Gaughan later became a successful NASCAR driver. Sourcehttp://www.hoyabasketball.com/players/roster-90s.htm#1995 The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Rosters 1990-91 to 1999-2000 2013-11-26 https://web.archive.org/web/20141122153349/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/players/roster-90s.htm#1995 2014-11-22 dead sports-reference.com 1994-95 Georgetown Hoyas Roster and StatsThe Georgetown Basketball History Project: Player Directory: Jersey Numbershttp://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/j_williams.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 23 – Jerome Williams 2013-11-26 2014-10-14 https://web.archive.org/web/20141014120105/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/j_williams.htm dead #NameHeightWeight (lbs.)PositionClassHometownPrevious Team(s)3Allen Iverson6'0"165GFr.Hampton, VA, U.S.Bethel HS4John Jacques6'3"175FSr.Delco, NC, U.S.Acme-Delco HS10Eric Myles5'10"185GFr.Napoleonville, LA, U.S.Assumption HS11Irvin Church6'1"185GSr.Parkdale, MD, U.S.Parkdale HS12Dean Berry5'10"168GFr.Brooklyn, NY, U.S.Episcopal HS13Brendan Gaughan5'9"180G/FSo.Las Vegas, NV, U.S.Bishop Gorman HS22Boubacar Aw6'7"195FFr.Thiès, SenegalEast Columbus HS (Lake Waccamaw, NC)25Jerry Nichols6'4"210G/FFr.Jackson, MS, U.S.Lanier HS30George Butler6'2"225GSr.Gary, IN, U.S.Tyler Junior College (Texas) Lamar University32Kevin Millen6'6"185FSr.Memphis, TN, U.S.Raleigh-Egypt HS42Jerome Williams6'9"200FJr.Germantown, Maryland, U.S.Colonel Zadok A. Magruder HS Montgomery County Community College (Maryland)44Cheikh Ya-Ya Dia6'9"210F/CSo.Dakar, SenegalSt. John's Prep-Prospect Hall (Maryland)50Othella Harrington6'9"240CJr.Jackson, MS, U.S.Murrah HS52Don Reid6'8"270FSr.Largo, MD, U.S.Largo HS55Jahidi White6'9"270CFr.St. Louis, MO, U.S.Cardinal Ritter College Prep HS Rankings 1994–95 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings Source1994-95 Big East Conference Season Summarysports-reference.com 1994-95 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 15 14 19 18 15 12 12 12 10 10 14 13 20 23 24 22 –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 16 1994–95 Schedule and results Sourceshttp://www.hoyabasketball.com/records/bb-1990.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: 1990s Seasons November 26, 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 2013-11-26 2013-11-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20131103211101/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/opponents.htm dead 2012-2013 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide, p. 65.Official Basketball Box Score Syracuse vs Georgetown 1/30/95 7:30 p.m. at USAir ArenaOfficial Basketball Box Score Georgetown vs Syracuse 2/26/95 2:08 p.m. at Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY All times are Eastern yes |- !colspan=9 style="background:#002147; color:#8D817B;"| Preseason Tue., Nov. 8, 1994 14 Fort Hood (U.S. Army) McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC 101−58 exhibition N/A November 1994Sources do not provide an exact date for this game, but it occurred after the Fort Hood game. 14 Croatia McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC 89−83 exhibition N/A |- !colspan=9 style="background:#002147; color:#8D817B;"| Regular Season Sun., Nov. 27, 1994 yes yes 14 Arkansas 1 Pyramid Arena Memphis, TN CBS 79−97 0–1 18,245 Wed., Nov. 30, 1994 yes 19 Morgan State USAir Arena Landover, MD 99−63 1–1 8,109 Sat., Dec. 3, 1994 yes 19 DePaul USAir Arena Landover, MD 74−68 2–1 N/A Wed., Dec. 7, 1994 18 Providence USAir Arena Landover, MD 76−74 3–1 (1–0) 8,657 Sat., Dec. 10, 1994 yes yes 18 Memphis Maple Leaf Gardens Toronto, Ontario, Canada 83−80 OT 4–1 10,830 Sat., Dec. 17, 1994 yes 15 Maryland Eastern Shore USAir Arena Landover, MD 85−46 5–1 8,367 Wed., Dec. 28, 1994 yes yes 12 Grambling State ARCO Arena Sacramento, CA Sacramento Classic 83–66 6–1 8,989 Thu., Dec. 29, 1994 yes yes 12 Fairfield ARCO Arena Sacramento, CA Sacramento Classic 87–42 7–1 8,190 Wed., Jan. 3, 1995 yes 12 Pittsburgh Civic Arena Pittsburgh, PA 55−46 8–1 (2–0) 10,296 Sat., Jan. 7, 1995 12 Miami USAir Arena Landover, MD 71–64 9–1 (3–0) 10,551 Tue., Jan. 10, 1995 yes 10 Seton Hall Brendan Byrne Arena East Rutherford, NJ 80−68 10–1 (4–0) 11,541 Sat., Jan. 14, 1995 10 Boston College USAir Arena Landover, MD 75−60 11–1 (5–0) 11,558 Mon., Jan. 16, 1995 yes 10 Connecticut 2 Hartford Civic Center Hartford, CT Rivalry 73–93 11–2 (5–1) 16,294 Thu., Jan. 19, 1995 yes 10 Florida Atlantic USAir Arena Landover, MD 70–55 12–2 8,466 Sun., Jan. 22, 1995 away 10 Villanova Spectrum Philadelphia, PA CBS 60–66 12–3 (5–2) 17,332 Tue., Jan. 24, 1995 14 St. John's USAir Arena Landover, MD 88–71 13–3 (6–2) 12,081 Sat., Jan. 28, 1995 14 Pittsburgh USAir Arena Landover, MD 74–69 14–3 (7–2) 14,101 Mon., Jan. 30, 1995 7:30 p.m. 14 Syracuse 6 USAir Arena Landover, MD Rivalry 75–76 14–4 (7–3) 16,352 Sat., Feb. 4, 1995 yes 13 Miami Miami Arena Miami, FL 61–67 14−5 (7–4) 5,084 Wed., Feb. 8, 1995 yes 20 Boston College Silvio O. Conte Forum Chestnut Hill, MA 67–78 14−6 (7–5) 8,606 Tue., Feb. 14, 1995 Connecticut 1 USAir Arena Landover, MD Rivalry 85–91 14–7 (7–6) 17,690 Sat., Feb. 18, 1995 yes Providence Providence Civic Center Providence, RI 77–74 15–7 (8–6) 13,106 Mon., Feb. 20, 1995 Villanova 9 USAir Arena Landover, MD 77–52 16–7 (9–6) 17,969 Sun., Feb. 26, 1995 2:08 p.m. away Syracuse 17 Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY Rivalry CBS 81–78 17–7 (10–6) 31,143 Wed., Mar. 1, 1995 23 Seton Hall USAir Arena Landover, MD 96–92 18–7 (11–6) 15,012 Sun., Mar. 5, 1995 yes 23 St. John's Madison Square Garden New York, NY CBS 77–86 18–8 (11–7) 17,238 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#002147; color:#8D817B;"| Big East tournament Fri., Mar. 10, 1995 yes 24 Miami Madison Square Garden New York, NY Quarterfinal 69–58 19–8 19,554 Sat., Mar. 11, 1995 yes 24 Connecticut 6 Madison Square Garden New York, NY Semifinal/Rivalry 81–88 19–9 19,554 |- !colspan=9 style="background:#002147; color:#8D817B;"| NCAA tournament Fri., Mar. 17, 1995 yes 22 Xavier Leon County Civic Center Tallahassee, FL Southeast Regional First round CBS 68–63 20–9 7,875 Sun., Mar. 19, 1995 yes 22 Weber State Leon County Civic Center Tallahassee, FL Southeast Regional Second Round CBS 53–51 21–9 7,875 Sat., Mar. 25, 1995 yes 22 North Carolina 4 Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, AL Southeast Regional semifinal CBS 64–74 21–10 17,458 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