1972–73 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 basketball 1972-73 Georgetown Hoyas Georgetown Hoyas logo.svg Independent 12–14 John Thompson 1st Bill Stein 1st George Leftwich 1st Game captains McDonough Gymnasium The 1972–73 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University during the 1972–73 NCAA University Division college basketball season. John Thompson, coached them in his first season as head coach. The team was an independent and played its home games at McDonough Gymnasium on the Georgetown campus in Washington, D.C. The Hoyas finished the season with a record of 12–14 – a significant improvement over the previous seasons record – was not ranked in the Top 20 in the Associated Press Poll or Coaches' Poll at any time,sports-reference.com 1972-73 Independent Season Summarysports-reference.com 1972-73 Polls and had no post-season play. John Thompson arrives The 29-year-old Thompson was only the third African-American head coach in the history of NCAA Division basketball and was the first to take charge of a major college basketball program. He had been a star player for Washington, D.C.s Archbishop Carroll High School and for Providence College, had played for two successful seasons with the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association, and then had returned to Washington, D.C., to coach St. Anthony's High School to a record of 122–28 in six seasons.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/coaches/bb-coach.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Head Coaches 2013-12-14 https://web.archive.org/web/20170527235527/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/coaches/bb-coach.htm 2017-05-27 dead At Georgetown, Thompson inherited a team that had gone 3–23 the previous season, the culmination of a 25-year stretch of mostly undistinguished basketball at Georgetown. Although the team had appeared in the National Invitation Tournament in 1953 and 1970, between the 1947–48 season and the end of the previous season Georgetown had posted an overall record under .500 and its total of 296 wins during those 25 seasons was the lowest among the 32 Catholic universities playing Division I college basketball in the United States. The team also had had no NCAA tournament appearances since 1943.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/history/hist14.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: A Glimpse Into the Future 2014-01-05 https://web.archive.org/web/20131217035644/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/history/hist14.htm 2013-12-17 dead Thompsons arrival heralded the schools rise to the status of a national basketball power; the 12–14 record this season was a significant improvement over the 3–23 finish of the previous year, and the 1972–73 squad was the last Georgetown men's basketball team to finish with a losing record until the 1998–99 season. Georgetown had hired Thompson in the hope that he could guide the Hoyas to an "occasional" National Invitation Tournament (NIT) appearance, but during his 26 1 2 seasons as head coach he would lead the Hoyas to 24 straight post-season tournaments – 19 NCAA tournaments and five NITs – from the 1974–75 to the 1997–98 seasons, and to the national championship in the 1983–84 season. Season recap Thompsons first recruiting class consisted of five players. One of them was center Merlin Wilson, who had played for him at St. Anthonys and followed him to Georgetown to play college basketball. Wilson scored 24 points in the season opener against Saint Francis. At Loyola, the Hoyas outrebounded the Greyhounds 65–33, and Wilson pulled down 24 of Georgetowns rebounds. By mid-season, Wilson was averaging 12 points and 13 rebounds a game, a level of play unknown at Georgetown for many years, and was among the top ten college players in rebounds; a Tampa Tribune columnist wrote that the Hoyas were "a team destined to be one of the next great powers in college basketball"http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/m_wilson.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 17. Merlin Wilson 2014-02-11 2013-02-18 https://web.archive.org/web/20130218070032/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/m_wilson.htm dead because of Wilsons talent. He scored 25 points and had 17 rebounds and eight blocks against Navy, had a 17-point, 17-rebound performance against Fordham in a big win, and had 15 points and 16 rebounds against St. Mary's in the last home game of the season. He finished the season as the teams leader in scoring and rebounds and was ranked 14th in the United States with 14.1 rebounds per game. Another major Thompson recruit for his first season as a collegiate head coach was guard Jonathan Smith. Smith, like Wilson, had played for Thompson at St. Anthonys and followed him to Georgetown. Although some observers expected Smith to be a reserve, he quickly emerged as a major force for the Hoyas, scoring a career-high 25 points twice during the season, against Penn State and George Washington. Smith finished the season second on the team only to Wilson in scoring.http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/j_smith.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 32. Jonathan Smith 2014-02-11 2015-03-29 https://web.archive.org/web/20150329171307/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/features/top100/j_smith.htm dead Roster 1972 Georgetown Hoyas y yes Greg Brooks 40 G 6 6 Fr Washington, D.C. St. Anthony's Tom Dooley 12 F 6 5 Jr Rumson, NJ Rumson–Fair Haven Marc Edwards 54 F 6 5 Sr Hyattsville, MD DeMatha Catholic Ed Fitzgerald 12 G 6 2 So Manchester, CT East Catholic Vince Fletcher 24 G 6 1 Sr New York, NY Clinton Mark Gallagher 50 F 6 5 So Lynbrook, NY Archbishop Molloy Rick Kentz 22 G 6 1 Jr Summit, NJ Delbarton Tim Lambour 10 G 5 8 Jr Altoona, PA Bishop Guilfoyle Aaron Long 42 G 6 2 Fr Washington, D.C. St. Anthony's Bill Lynn 14 F 6 9 185 Fr Washington, D.C. Spingarn Ron Lyons 32 C 6 8 Jr Philadelphia, PA Northwest College Jonathan Smith 30 G 6 1 185 Fr Washington, D.C. St. Anthony's Mike Stokes 20 G 6 2 Fr Washington, D.C. St. John's College Don Willis 34 G 6 1 Jr Hyattsville, MD DeMatha Catholic Merlin Wilson 44 C 6 9 215 Fr Washington, D.C. St. Anthony's http://www.hoyabasketball.com/players/roster-70s.htm#1973 2016-Jan-30 John Thompson 1972–73 schedule and results Sourceshttp://www.hoyabasketball.com/records/bb-1970.htm The Georgetown Basketball History Project: 1970s Seasons 2013-12-14 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 2013-12-14 2013-11-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20131103211101/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/opponents.htm dead sports-reference.com 1972-73 Georgetown Hoyas Schedule and Results2012-2013 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide, p. 62. no yes no no no |- !colspan=9 style="background:#002147; color:#8D817B;"| Regular Season Mon., Nov. 27, 1972 no w Saint Francis McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 61–60 1-0 Wed., Nov. 29, 1972 no l yes Rutgers College Avenue Gymnasium New Brunswick, NJ no 83–98 1-1 Sat., Dec. 2, 1972 no w Wheeling Jesuit McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 58–46 2-1 Wed., Dec. 6, 1972 no w St. Bonaventure McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 73–70 OT 3-1 Sat., Dec. 9, 1972 no l yes St. John's Alumni Hall Queens, NY no 68–109 3-2 Tue., Dec. 12, 1972 no l Maryland 2 McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 73–99 3-3 Wed., Dec. 27, 1972 no l yes Virginia Kiel Auditorium St. Louis, MO St. Louis Invitational Tournament no 58–72 3-4 Fri., Dec. 29, 1972 no w yes Army Kiel Auditorium St. Louis, MO St. Louis Invitational Tournament no 74–70 4-4 Sat., Jan. 6, 1973 no l yes South Florida Curtis Hixon Hall Tampa, FL no 66–70 4-5 Mon., Jan. 8, 1973 no l yes Florida State 19 Tully Gymnasium Tallahassee, FL no 70–101 4-6 Sat., Jan. 13, 1973 no l yes Connecticut University of Connecticut Field House Storrs, CT Rivalry no 64–78 4-7 Wed., Jan. 17, 1973 no w Randolph–Macon McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 57–56 5-7 Sat., Jan. 20, 1973 no l yes Holy Cross Worcester Memorial Auditorium Worcester, MA no 100–116 5-8 Wed., Jan. 24, 1973 no l St. Joseph's McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 59–70 5-9 Sat., Jan. 27, 1973 no w Seton Hall McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 80–62 6-9 Wed., Jan. 31, 1973 no w yes Loyola Maryland Alumni Gymnasium Baltimore, MD no 74–59 7-9 Sat., Feb. 3, 1973 no l yes Penn State Recreation Hall State College, PA no 64–74 7-10 Wed., Feb. 7, 1973 no l Roanoke McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 57–73 7-11 Sat., Feb. 10, 1973 no w yes Dickinson Alumni Gymnasium Carlisle, PA no 66–65 8-11 Wed., Feb. 14, 1973 no w Navy McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 55–52 9-11 Sat., Feb. 17, 1973 no w Boston College McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 56–55 10-11 Wed., Feb. 21, 1973 no w Fordham McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 77–71 11-11 Sat., Feb. 24, 1973 no l yes American Fort Myer Gymnasium Fort Myer, VA no 68–90 11-12 Tue., Feb. 27, 1973 no l yes George Washington Fort Myer Gymnasium Fort Myer, VA no 78–91 11-13 Thu., Mar. 1, 1973 no w St. Mary's of Maryland McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 54–43 12-13 Sat., Mar. 3, 1973 no l Manhattan McDonough Gymnasium Washington, DC no 64–71 12-14 AP Poll References Category:Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball seasons Georgetown Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team