Georgetown Basketball History: Historical Narrative
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A narrative of the season-by-season story of Georgetown University is part of this historical project. Below is a work in progress on this narrative.

After an absence of two seasons, John O'Reilly reassumed his role at the helm of the Georgetown basketball program in the fall of 1923. The stars of the recent past--Flavin, O'Connell, Florence, and Zazzali--were gone, as senior George Carney was the only roster player with playing experience under the "Silver Fox." O'Reilly's absence also meant a lack of any recruiting by interim coaches James Colliflower and John Maloney, and as such the overall quality of talent simply wasn't there at Georgetown.

Along with a practically new team (only three returning men with varsity experience), another noticeable change for the Blue and Gray was an abbreviated schedule, the cause of which is largely a mystery. Whether due to scheduling conflicts, traveling costs, O'Reilly's health, or a combination of the three, Georgetown scheduled only nine games all season, with road games restricted to George Washington and Navy. The season was the shortest scheduled for the team since the eight game slate of 1907-1908.

The first game of the season, played on Jan.12, 1924 (a late date for the start of a college season), netted GU a 25-22 season-opening win over St. Joseph's. A week later, Lafayette College met a similar fate in their 29-12 loss to the Hilltoppers. Newcomer John O'Keefe and junior Jim Sweeney led scorers with six points apiece--hardly a show of offensive fireworks on either side. An interesting note accompanied the box score to the Georgetown-Lafayette game. The referee for the game was, as he had been for many Georgetown games, James Colliflower. Ernest Colliflower, uncle of James and George Colliflower, acted as umpire for the game.

George Washington, in one of GU's two "road" games, was swept away at the Washington Central Coliseum, a building which invokes thoughts of a spacious arena but which actually seated only 700. Sweeney and O'Keefe again starred for the G-men in a 21-17 win. The win streak, though, was short lived. Traveling to Annapolis, the Midshipmen of Navy handed O'Reilly's five a crushing 44-13 defeat, thwarting any thoughts of a GU comeback by holding the Hilltoppers to five points in the last twenty minutes of play.

The Navy loss was not altogether unexpected, but many a local college basketball fan was shocked to learn of the events of Feb. 4, 1924, as Georgetown lost to Carson-Newman, 32-28...at home. The loss was the first suffered in Ryan Gymnasium since Trinity College (now Duke University) defeated the Blue and Gray in February, 1917. Fifty-two games and nearly seven years later, Carson-Newman would equal Trinity's feat. C-N employed an approach known at the time as "scientific basketball", characterized by slow, deliberate passing followed by pinpoint accuracy when passed to the team's best shooter. According to local accounts, the strategy worked flawlessly, as the Eagles connected on nearly every shot that they attempted despite a good all-around performance by the Blue and Gray. O'Reilly's men learned that day, as a future Blue and Gray team would also learn on a night in Lexington, Kentucky sixty years later, that there's not much a club can do if their opponent simply doesn't miss.

After a tough loss to the aforementioned Carson-Newman club, the bitterness of the G- men was apparently taken out on cross-town rival George Washington. The Hatchetites were butchered, 54-8, the largest margin of victory ever between the two schools. Whether due to the margin of victory or other matters that failed to be disclosed, the two schools suspended athletic relations for the next fifteen years.

A 33-20 win over Lebanon Valley led to a much-awaited match with Princeton University at Ryan, but whatever "magic" in the old gym that helped earlier Georgetown teams conquer the likes of NYU, Kentucky, and North Carolina was now only a memory. Old Nassau left Ryan with a convincing 35-20 victory, the first time Georgetown had lost two games on its home court in a decade.

The season came to a fittingly inglorious end as Davis and Elkins College, the final opponent on the schedule, walked off the court midway through the first half. As Georgetown led, 18-11, the West Virginians were called off the floor by their coach, as he was dissatisfied with the decisions of referee James Colliflower. All scoring that evening was erased from official records to simply read "2-0, Forfeit."

As the season ended the college paper The HOYA reported the presence of widespread but unsubstantiated rumors that intercollegiate basketball would not return to Georgetown for the 1924-1925 season. The origin of the rumor is a mystery to this day, as is the specific reason why such a rumor would have been started at all. Since basketball did return in the fall of 1924, it must be assumed, as Mark Twain put it, "the rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

Despite the return of basketball at Georgetown University for the 1924-1925 season, it was apparent that the program had been deemphasized by the University. Only eight games were scheduled for the entire season, the result of what was cryptically termed "a faculty ruling" by The HOYA. With the cessation of athletic relations with George Washington, the Blue and Gray met only the U.S. Naval Academy on the road this season.

The team was beset by roster problems well before the beginning of the season, which was the likely effect of the aforementioned "faculty ruling". The two stars of the 1923-1924 season, captain-elect John O'Keefe and scoring leader Mike Frederici, failed to return to school that fall, suggesting that their academic performance was a source of concern to the college faculty. Newly elected captain Al Brogan and senior Jim Sweeney were the only men with varsity experience, leaving coach O'Reilly with a collection of walk-ons from the intramural ranks.

The team opened its season with a pair of noteworthy victories despite the losses of O'Keefe and Frederici. Georgetown opened its season in January, 1924 with a 32-16 victory over Wake Forest, extending GU's mastery of teams from the amorphous Southern Conference. The next week, in a much awaited match with Western Maryland, the "Terrors" lived up to none of its advanced billing. Georgetown held WMU to only three points in the first half and proceeded to a 25-17 Hilltopper win.

A pair of equally deliberate wins added another pair of "W's" to the Georgetown slate. St. Francis fell, 36-24, as did St. Joseph's, 26-17. Newcomer Frank (Hap) Farley led the Hilltoppers with four (count 'em, four) points over St. Francis while Jim Sweeney chalked up a more respectable 12 points versus St. Joseph's. The first week of February added a little life to the season as the G-men defeated Carson-Newman, 37-21. The win avenged last season's embarrassing home court loss to the "Fighting Parsons", as Jim Sweeney scored 17 while freshman center Bill Finley earned creditable reviews for his defensive performance that evening.

After a series of unfamiliar opponents through the month of January, Georgetown opened the month of February against Fordham University at Ryan Gym. The Maroon were the scourge of Eastern basketball in 1925, having routed Army, Navy, and a host of New York clubs en route to a perfect 12-0 mark. While the Hilltoppers put up a good fight, the home court magic that had once bedeviled North Carolina and Kentucky was long gone. Fordham won rather easily, 22-15, for Georgetown it was the first loss of the season.

After disposing of Bucknell, 27-17, the Hilltoppers journeyed across the Maryland countryside to meet Navy in the annual battle for area supremacy. The Midshipmen were riding high with a 16-4 record, but were surprised early in the game by a high flying GU offense, which stunned the Annapolis crowd when it took a 13-8 lead into intermission. But as had been the case all too often in this frustrating series, Navy shut down the Blue and Gray in the second half to earn the win. The Hilltoppers scored but one field goal in the final twenty minutes as Navy sailed (pun intended) to a 33-18 win. Coach O'Reilly's quint thus ended the season with a 6-2 record, an honorable if not particularly exciting mark for the season.

In retrospect, the 1924-1925 season is among the most forgettable in Georgetown basketball not for a losing record or for controversy but for what didn't happen this year. The schedule, the action, the players, the memories--none of these facets of the game were memorable or noteworthy in the least in 1924-1925. The leading scorer, Jim Sweeney, scored only 71 points for the season while runner-up Al Brogan averaged less than four points a game.

The rumors of Georgetown's basketball death may have been greatly exaggerated, but this was a program in growing need of a transfusion of "new blood" for the team.

After two unassuming years in Hilltop basketball, the 1925-1926 season offered new hope and promise. The schedule was expanded to thirteen games, and the popular (if not always successful) northern road trip returned to the slate. The team itself, however, seemed incapable of meeting the challenges of an expanded schedule.

The great talent that had been the hallmark of John O'Reilly-coached teams during his first decade of coaching was now only a memory. The talent was so lacking that of ten returning varsity men from the 1924-1925 season, nine failed to make the squad the following fall. Only team captain William (Pete) Gitlitz survived the cut, as coach O'Reilly found two young stars in Bob Nork and George Donovan. Nork and Donovan, both sophomores, were members of the 1924-1925 Reserve team but saw no appreciable playing time. Within three games of the new season, these two newcomers would find themselves with starting roles for the Hilltoppers, and they would later be the only two players to hold a starting job the entire season.

As could be expected, a squad with only one returning player is bound to be unpredictable. Yet even the "Silver Fox" could not have imagined the wild ending awaiting his team in the season opener versus Mt. St. Mary's. The Mountaineers led throughout the game on the Ryan floor, but Georgetown had kept the score close throughout much of the second half from the scoring touch of newcomer George Vukmanic, who tied the score at 30-all with under a minute to play. The "Mount" failed to capitalize on its possession, and at a center jump with under five seconds to play sophomore Bob Nork found himself with the ball and no time to set up a play of any kind. Undaunted, he launched a set shot from the center line. To the amazement of everyone in attendance, the shot sailed through the nets, for a 32-30 GU victory. Nork was undoubtedly the hero of the team, and it was a role he would play for the next three years in a Georgetown uniform. The next evening, Nork led the G-men into overtime mon another last minute shot, though certainly without the flair of the previous night's shot. Lafayette escaped with a 21-20 victory in the extra period, and while Nork continued to shine, it was clear that he was the only consistent talent on the entire squad.

Nork scored 12 of his team's 18 points in a 23-18 loss to Bucknell, and accounted for 11 more in a 47-20 rout at the hands of Army. While Nork's effort received praise from the West Pointers as one of the best opponent performances of the year against their team, the rest of Georgetown's bench was of much help. The entire team added but nine points among the other four starters and three reserves.

The Hilltoppers returned home from West Point for pair of encouraging victories--a 26-22 decision over Lebanon Valley, and a surprising 27-23 upset of Washington (Md.) College, the 1925 small college national champions. Next on the schedule was Navy. As usual, Georgetown put up a good fight. As usual, Navy won, 42-23.

Sporting a record of 3-4, the O'Reilly quint hoped that the final three games of the homestand would prepare the team for its first road trip to New York City in six years. The team may have learned a little from the homestand, but its record of one win and two losses was an education of a different kind. After beating Dickinson, 24-15, two presumed wins fell by the wayside. Penn State, in returning to the Georgetown schedule for the first time in a decade and a half, shocked the G-men in a 30-19 upset. The Lions (5-2) proved to be too experienced for the young GU quint, and the same could be said for William and Mary, who returned to the GU schedule for the first time since 1908 with a 25-23 upset of the Blue and Gray.

The northern road trip, which over the years had proven to be a nemesis for GU over the years, proved elusive once again. Crescent Athletic Club and Fordham University dealt the G- men a pair of convincing defeats, 44-35 and 35-18, respectively. A final victory was added at the hands of Pennsylvania Military College (later known as Widener University), 44-35, in a game scheduled as the team returned home from New York. The win was one of the better performances of the year for the team, though few ever knew that the unscheduled contest had taken place because of a lack of newspaper coverage. The win helped to salvage some pride out of a stretch that had seen the G-men win only one of their last six games prior to Penn Military.

Many disappointing statistics can be gleaned from the 1925-1926 Georgetown basketball campaign: most losses in one season in the school's history, first losing season in fifteen years, fewest wins since 1909-1910, et al. But a silver lining could be found amidst these dark clouds of disappointment, and his name was Bob Nork. Nork's 10.3 points per game average was a sign of encouragement for the team, and Nork could legitimately be called the first "star" for the Blue and Gray since Andy Zazzali and Jack Flavin. Having begun school in 1924 just prior to Georgetown's arrival in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the new three year eligibility requirements for college athletes, the two remaining years of Nork's eligibility was a source of optimism for a program seemingly deep in despair.

With the exception of Bob Nork, the 1926-1927 Georgetown basketball team continued to struggle amidst mediocrity and lack of interest. Holding the distinction of being a rare three- letter athlete to star in football, baseball, and basketball, Nork was counted on to provide consistent and noteworthy play for the team in the upcoming. Whether the rest of the team would be even half as promising remained the great question for Coach O'Reilly and the school.

The Hilltoppers opened their season with a 24-18 win over tiny Lynchburg College. Once again, Bob Nork led all scorers with ten points. Once again, the other starters offered little in the way of offense to supplement Nork's effort. Starters Tom Glenn, Joe DiLeo, Robert Mountain, and Joe Griffin combined for seven points throughout nearly forty minutes of play. Facing Mount St. Mary's, the Mountaineers offered considerably more resistance than the listless Lynchburgers in streaking to a 7-1 lead, in hopes of an upset over the home team. As hopes began to fade for the G-men, reserve forward George Donovan breathed new life in the form of nine first half points that gave Georgetown an 18-13 halftime that they never relinquished en route to a 27-21 win.

Two more wins buoyed the spirits of the Blue and Gray over the weekend of January 21- 22, 1927, knocking off Lebanon Valley, 36-30 and St. Joseph's, 17-14. The 31 combined points between GU and St. Joe's was the fewest total points scored in one game since Georgetown fell to NYU 16-4 in 1912. But Georgetown's 4-0 record was deceptive, since the caliber of teams faced was not as it had been in the past. A road trip to Annapolis would prove a better test of the undefeated Blue and Gray, with predictable results.

Navy walloped the Hilltoppers, 31-17, the Academy's fifteenth straight win over Georgetown since 1908. The HOYA suspended its customary long-winded accounts of Georgetown-Navy showdowns to sum up a school's continuing frustrations over the Navy games. The HOYA's account read as follows:

"Navy wins again."

Returning to Ryan Gym, fans saw the Blue and Gray drop an unprecedented three straight at home, though the caliber of the opposition was a prime factor in the defeats. Fordham belted the G-men once again, 30-12, while Davis and Elkins stole a 37-35 overtime decision and NYU took a last minute win, 38-37, continuing another streak of domination by one of Georgetown's more well-known basketball rivals.

The 1926-1927 schedule provided a two week break between the next game, versus William and Mary, and it was during that break that it was announced that John O'Reilly was being "relieved" of his duties as basketball and baseball coach at the conclusion of the academic year.

O'Reilly had assumed the helm of the basketball and track programs in 1914, and became head baseball coach soon afterward. His coaching record for basketball was 85-47 over eleven seasons exclusive of the two seasons he missed due to illness. Still, his winning percentage was an admirable 64.9%. Under his tutelage on the diamond, Georgetown University was unanimously awarded the 1922 Intercollegiate baseball championship, the first team ever unanimously awarded this long-forgotten honor. Over thirteen years of coaching baseball, O'Reilly-coached teams averaged over 23 wins a season and over 300 victories overall, against what the HOYA called "only a handful of losses" over his career.

O'Reilly's first love was track and field, and it was agreed by the University Provost that O'Reilly be allowed to continue in that position, which he did for two more years. O'Reilly trained some of the greatest names not only in Georgetown track and field, but among the greatest names in all of track and field. Five O'Reilly-coached Georgetown men competed in the 1924 Olympics in Paris--Emerson Norton, Bill Downing, Jimmie Burgess, Jim Connolly, and the legendary Bob LeGendre--perhaps the largest group of track stars from one school to compete in an Olympic event up to this time. Under his reign as coach Georgetown captured the 1925 national indoor track title, and finished a close second on two other occasions. Georgetown runners captured the South Atlantic regional track title an unprecedented nine consecutive years, and dominated the world renowned Penn Relays during his tenure.

There were a number of reasons, in all likelihood, why O'Reilly was removed from the Georgetown basketball helm. The official explanation was that the University wished to return to its pre-World War I policy of individual coaches for each sport; an explanation that pales when one considers that the World War ended nine years earlier, and that O'Reilly coached three sports prior to the War.But the recent slide of the basketball program and his advancing age could not have helped O'Reilly very much. As new blood had entered the Athletic Department in football coach Lou Little, so too that new blood would be sought for the basketball program.

At the request of the team, the school canceled all remaining games of the 1926-1927 season in order that coach O'Reilly could conclude his career at home. The finale appeared to be a fitting sendoff for the "Silver Fox", and it also appeared to be a chance to end the season with a winning record--something that seemed to be highly doubtful given the remaining schedule that awaited the team. A standing-room only crowd packed Ryan for the first time since the Georgetown-Kentucky clash of 1922 to bid Mr. O'Reilly farewell.

While W&M posed a serious threat to the Blue and Gray, Bob Nork and the Hilltoppers played inspired, battling the very same W&M team that had beaten them last year and earning a 20-13 halftime advantage. In the second half, the Indians were nearly shut out, scoring only one field goal and two free throws as they watched O'Reilly conclude his career with a 40-17 triumph.

The starting five had long since returned to the sideline, their places filled by capable if not altogether famous reserves such as Richie Ryan, Frank Odlum, and Norbert Berry. With the final minutes approaching, the assemblage of students, faculty, and fans began to give Mr. O'Reilly a well deserved ovation which lasted through the last minute of play and after the final whistle. It was an ovation of respect and one of thanks, for John O'Reilly's contributions to basketball in particular and athletics in general at Georgetown University was legendary. It is no surprise, therefore, that John D. O'Reilly was among the first to be inducted into the Georgetown University Athletic Hall of Fame upon its inception in 1953.

The arrival of the 1927-1928 season was greeted with much anticipation at the Hilltop, for this was a season that "change" was in the air.

Leading this change was the selection of a new coach to replace the retired John O'Reilly. Many capable candidates were available to Georgetown athletic director Lou Little, especially among the school's alumni. A number of former Hilltoppers had coaching experience on the collegiate level, from coaching posts at Georgetown (James Colliflower, John Maloney), George Washington (Frank Schlosser, George Colliflower), Catholic (Fred Rice), Navy (Arthur Devlin), and St. Bonaventure (Jack Flavin), among others. Yet, in spite of al this intra-University experience, Little decided to hire a real "pro"--and he found one in Elmer Ripley.

Ripley, 36, had been a touring professional in basketball circles for almost twenty years. A former member of the "Original Celtics", Ripley had arrived in Washington in 1927 to sign with the city's local professional club, the Washington Palace. The Palace, named for a local laundry chain owned by George Preston Marshall (of Washington Redskins fame), was sold by Marshall shortly before Ripley's arrival, and the new club, the Washington Yankees, offered Ripley the head coaching post with the Yankees. Ripley turned down the offer, signing instead with Georgetown University in the fall of 1927 and begin a thirty year career in the college coaching ranks.

Ripley arrived at the Hilltop too late to recruit any members of the 1927-1928 varsity, but the nucleus left by O'Reilly left the new coach blessed with talent. In addition to returning captain Bob Nork, Ripley found two sophomores with great potential for the Georgetown five: Don Dutton and Fred Mesmer, former teammates as (Syracuse) Christian Brothers H.S. Dutton and Mesmer were soon offered starting roles by Ripley, and two new stars were about to arrive on the horizon this fall.

Another surprise was a new home court off campus. Since 1914, the school had opted to play games at its on-campus facility, Ryan Gymnasium. The program at Ryan saved considerable sums vis a vis renting an arena in the city, but the standing room balcony "seating" meant no appreciable ticket sales and no long-term revenue potential for the team. Realizing that a larger arena meant added revenue (and added prestige) to the team, the Hilltoppers moved its home games to the Arcadia Arena, formerly the Arcade Rink. The Arcadia was renovated for pro basketball when the Palace began operations, and it was natural that the facility could provide the city with a focal point for basketball action. While a handful of games were played in Ryan over the next few years, the move to the Arcadia began a twenty-five year odyssey for a suitable off-campus home for Georgetown basketball pending construction of an on-campus facility.

And so, with new faces, new places, and a new coach, Georgetown opened its season with a upset of Rutgers, 42-31, at the Arcadia. Ripley started an unprecedented four sophomores alongside captain Bob Nork, and the newcomers came through in a big way. Sophomores Fred Mesmer, Don Dutton, Maurice McCarthy, and Harold Meenan accounted for 34 of the Blue and Gray's 42 points in the first game of their college careers. The collective youth and experience of the Hilltoppers was to play a far more disappointing role the next evening, however, in a 33- 27 loss to NYU before 1,800 at the Arcadia. Georgetown led at the half, 16-13, but missed ten free throws in the first stanza that would come back to haunt the G-men in the final period. Messrs. Schuman and Conroy led the Violet back in a second half surge, while "Hal" Meenan led the Hilltoppers with 12 points for the evening.

The young squad soon turned what was inexperience against NYU into battle-tough experience against equally talented foes. On Jan.18, 1928, Georgetown defeated Johns Hopkins, 36-29, surviving a feverish JHU rally which negated a twelve point GU halftime lead. Ten days later, Don Dutton's tip-in at the close of the contest helped the Blue and Gray nip Mount St. Mary's, 22-20.

For those teams who may have felt that the previous two Georgetown wins were sheer luck, opponents would soon realize the wisdom of the adage which claims that "one has to be good in order to be lucky."

Following the exam period, the Hilltoppers continued their winning ways. Hal Meenan poured in 17 points to lead the Blue and Gray in a 34-29 victory over Bucknell. Next on Ripley's hit list was Roanoke College, which fell to the Hilltoppers by the largest margin of defeat since the Fred Fees era at the Hilltop, 62-21. The duo of Dutton and Mesmer held the visiting Maroons scoreless until GU had scored six straight field goals, and their combined 22 points led all scorers that evening. The next day, following news of the Roanoke blowout, Davis and Elkins College officials cancelled their scheduled Feb. 6 meeting with Georgetown citing "a last minute understanding". Whether or not the score of the Roanoke game played a part in this "misunderstanding" will never be known, but it was clear that the exploits of Ripley and his young team were attracting attention throughout the region.

Two clubs from the Keystone State paid visits to the Arcadia in February, with similarly unfavorable results. Gettysburg College fell before the Blue and Gray, 40-32, behind 12 from Dutton. Lebanon Valley, which had yet to master the G-men in five previous meetings, fell by 25, 54-29. The four stars in this rout were Georgetown's fabled sophomores, but to Lebanon valley they might as well have been the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Dutton, Mesmer, McCarthy, and Meenan combined for 39 points to complement a season high 13 points from Bob Nork.

Winners of six straight and seven of eight games this season, Georgetown now set its sights on the banks of the Severn River in Annapolis, home of the vaunted United States Naval Academy. Georgetown had lost fifteen straight to Navy dating back to 1909, many of which were crushing defeats. Losses such as 1912-1913's 67-18 massacre, 1914-1915's 46-7 drubbing, and a bitter 22-15 setback that was the only loss of the great 1918-1919 season were well known by fans of the two schools. The HOYA pleaded with students to show their strength in numbers at the game, noting that, after all, "their streak cannot go on forever".

Dahlgren Hall in Annapolis was expectedly crowded with fans of both schools, and on that afternoon they witnessed Ripley's emerging talent at their very best. Crisp passing and a driving defense pressured Navy throughout the contest, and when the final whistle had sounded Georgetown had ended the longest consecutive losing streak to one team (then or now) in the school's history, 49-40. Clair Miller scored 18 points for the Midshipmen, while the Georgetown scoring honors were to be equally divided across the starting five of Bob Nork, Harold Meenan, Fred Mesmer, Don Dutton, and Maurice McCarthy. The conquest of Navy at Annapolis in their own hall was certainly the biggest game in many years for Georgetown, and a positive sign for their efforts on the road--where the team was only 2 of 19 since 1920 excluding "road" contests in downtown Washington versus George Washington.

It might have been easy for Georgetown to have experienced a letdown following the Navy game, but if a 60-23 win over Guilford was a letdown, the Quakers were indeed fortunate to escape Washington with a loss of only 37 points! The Guilford players were outclassed from the start, and Ripley's swift passing drills had the visitors literally on the seat of their pants. An account of the game in The HOYA noted that:

"So desperate was the [Guilford] defense that the comedy was supplied when the defenders were sprawling themselves all over the floor in their futile attempt to hold the Georgetowners off...[The substitutes] were even more desperate and more funny. Their falling and diving methods were even better than their predecessors, and the crowd was in an uproar."

The Guilford match might have been a comedy, but no one was laughing when Duke University, formerly Trinity College, arrived in town. The Blue Devils were poised to capture the 1927-1928 Southern Conference crown, but a non-conference game with Georgetown dealt them a 56-40 setback. The win over Duke, Georgetown's ninth straight, was matched with a 41- 34 win over Johns Hopkins the next afternoon. An unusual item from this game was the disappearance of Harold Meenan, alternatively known as (Reds) Meenan in the press. the sensational sophomore was leading the team in scoring when he chose to drive himself to thee game instead of traveling with the team. Meenan lost his direction soon thereafter, and did not arrive in Baltimore until the second half of the game. Fortunately for Georgetown, it was the last road game Meenan needed to travel to this season.

Two days later, on Feb. 24th, Bob Nork bade farewell to Hilltop basketball in a 57-33 win over Virginia Tech. Don Dutton took the scoring honors with 15 that night, as Nork received a well deserved ovation for his contributions to the team for four years of play, finishing as the third highest scorer in the young history of the program. The team concluded the season with 12 wins in 13 games, including a 12 game single season win streak that would stand for 51 years until the "Heart Attack Hoyas" of 1979-1980 would win 16 straight during their storybook season.

Georgetown's college newspaper, the HOYA, summed up the 1927-1928 season in its headline "They Put G.U. Back On The Basketball Map." In a season with great expectations with such a young squad, Elmer Ripley fulfilled every one of those expectations, and came within six points of an undefeated season. It is entirely possible that had the young Georgetown team squared off against NYU later in the season, the result may have been very different.

John O'Reilly, Jr., son of the legendary "Silver Fox" and sports editor of the HOYA, paid Ripley a fitting compliment when he concluded the season review as follows:

"No coach can form a champion team from a squad of inexperienced youngsters, but to form a smooth team of players who have received their early instruction from different and differing authorities requires a truly great master. That is what Ripley did, and to him goes the laurel wreath."

Hopes were expectedly high as Elmer Ripley began the 1928-1929 season. Four of five starters returned from last season's 12-1 team, and the arrival of freshmen Paul Dillon, Walter Morris, and first year law student Bill Shea offered added confidence to Ripley and his fans.

The Blue and Gray opened the season in fine form, dispatching the University of Baltimore 41-29 at the Arcadia. Juniors Fred Mesmer and Don Dutton led the all-around effort against the area's newest entrant to college basketball. It was soon after the Baltimore game that a new name was unexpectedly given the basketball team. In an earlier era, nicknames were largely unnecessary, as fans were content to see the Blue and Gray against, say, the Crimson of Harvard, or the Orange and Black of Princeton. As flora and fauna of all types were now associated with college teams, a new name was attached to Georgetown. During the road trip to New York which followed the Baltimore clash, sportswriters began referring to the team as "Elmer Ripley's Flying Hoyas", or simply, the Hoyas.

It is far from certain how the name Hoyas (literally, the Greek derivative of the pronoun "what") was linked with the team. Previous accounts have tried to link the name with a small terrier of Athletic Director Vincent McDonough, S.J., named "Hoya", though there is no evidence that "Hoya" ever appeared at GU basketball games. Other claims link the name with the distinctive yell of the College ("Hoya, Hoya Saxa!"), while a recent theory links the name with the school's newspaper, The HOYA. It should be noted that George Washington's "Hatchetites" bear some connection to the student newspaper The Hatchet, as might the American Eagles with their weekly The Eagle; both papers having been around before the school's respective basketball teams. Whatever the circumstances, from this point on the names "Hoyas" became intrinsically linked with Georgetown athletics and the student body, and it has become, in all likelihood, the most distinctive sobriquet in sports.

The newly christened Hoyas arrived in New York to meet two local club team prior to participating in their first in-season tournament ever, the Yale Tournament in New Haven. In the opener, reserve junior Johnny Dunn turned in a career-high 13 points to lead the Hoyas past the Brooklyn Knights of Columbus chapter, 38-33. The winning ways of Georgetown over the past two seasons came to end, however, in a 47-29 loss to the Crescent K of C club the next evening, spurred by a 17-1 Crescent spurt to lead the Knights on to victory.

At New Haven, Ripley had the unenviable task of meeting the host team and two time tourney champion in the first round. Noting his team's poor performance against Crescent, Ripley shuffled his lineup prior to yale, moving Fred Mesmer from forward to guard, Don Dutton from center to forward, adding sophomore Paul Dillon in the pivot, and benching a slumping Harold Meenan. The new lineup netted a 13-12 halftime lead for the Hoyas, but upon the insertion of Meenan back into the lineup in the second half, things began to happen. Georgetown stunned the Elis by holding them to only 5 points in the last twenty minutes, in a momentous 33- 17 upset on Yale's own court. A trio of M's--Mesmer, Meenan, and McCarthy--each scored eight to lead the Hoyas into the tournament final versus NYU.

Slight underdogs to the Hoyas following the Yale game ,the 4-0 NYU Violet nearly ran the Hoyas off the court the next evening, coasting to a 23-8 halftime lead. But Ripley's men won the respect, if not the support, of the New Haven audience by coming out in the second half with a 16-1 rally to tie the score. In the final minutes, Georgetown ran out of gas, and NYU prevailed in a 32-24 decision to win the tournament after having defeated Holy Cross the previous evening.

A five game homestand awaited the G-men, and the games earned the Hoyas five straight wins to increase their record to 8-2. The Duke Blue Devils, led by Washington native and All- America Bill Werber, fell to the Hoyas 48-33 at American University's gym. Don Dutton and Fred Mesmer combined for 28 while Werber, a star at (Washington) Tech H.S., scored 15 for the Devils. Two days later, a battle with Penn State featured one of the great comebacks in the early era of Georgetown basketball. Trailing 35-22 with under five minutes to play, Don Dutton scored on six field goals to bring the Hoyas back. Fouled repeatedly in an effort to halt his relentless scoring touch, three Dutton free throws in the last minute gave GU a 42-40 win.

Dutton continued his good fortune a week alter, scoring 14 in a 58-20 rout of Johns Hopkins at the Arcadia. Mount St. Mary's and Gallaudet were defeated within a week by scores of 33-19 and 42-29, respectively, with Dutton in charge of the Ripley offensive machine.

The Hoyas returned to New York once again, with mixed results. In the opener, Georgetown averted a Crescent-style upset at the hands of the New York Athletic Club, squeezing past the NYAC by a 27-26 count. Fate would not be as kind against NYU, as the Violets handed Georgetown its third loss in as many meetings with the Violet, 32-30, in overtime. NYU's Fred Newblatt provided his impression of Don Dutton's heroics by scoring seven points in the last two minutes of regulation to send the game into overtime and on to an eventual NYU victory. Finishing the road swing in Baltimore, the Hoyas edged Johns Hopkins 38-35 despite 16 points from Johns Hopkins' towering center, Gene Debuskey.

A glimpse into the future of the game could be seen on Feb. 16, 1929, as Georgetown and West Virginia combined for 93 points in a 49-44 Mountaineer win. Employing a style of offense which would be called run-and-gun basketball today, the West Virginians' style of play was completely foreign to Georgetown, which followed the slow, deliberate, pass-oriented style of play common among Eastern teams.

"Down in the South," wrote The HOYA, "they work on the idea that five giants with lanky legs and rambling arms can outshoot shorter men...They don't [even] press, they dribble in, and if you have seen a man half a leg shorter then his opponent you can appreciate the disadvantage the Hoya men were laboring under in the game."

However unfamiliar the Mountaineers' approach, the Hoyas lost this contest at a place on the court where size and speed are negligible--the foul line. In spite of completing a remarkable 20-6 spurt in the final ten minutes of the game, Georgetown sank only 6 of 19 foul shots for the game, compared with 7 of 8 from the West Virginians. Sleepy Glenn scored 18 for the Mountaineers while Georgetown could do no better than eight points from Maurice McCarthy.

Georgetown closed its season on the road with a split against Navy and Temple. Don Dutton scored 16 to lead GU past Navy for the second straight time (the last such sweep for 34 years), 29-21. Any good fortune earned at the hands of Navy, however, was squandered versus Temple upset the 12-4 Hoyas by a 27-24 score.

As the season concluded, rumors again surfaced about the formation of a basketball conference in the East. Given the Success of league play in the Eastern League (later known as the Ivy League), the Western Conference (Big Ten), the Missouri Valley, Southwest, and Southern conferences, it was inevitable that offers of an Northeastern league would surface.

Less than a year earlier, speculation grew that the University of Pittsburgh was attempting to organize a league consisting of Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, Lafayette, Lehigh, Rutgers, Colgate, NYU, Syracuse, and Georgetown. No plans for this conference were ever finalized.

Over the past two seasons, Elmer Ripley had brought Georgetown to the summit of Eastern basketball, winning 24 of its last 30 games and earning the respect of the entire region. Yet, at this peak in Georgetown's basketball prowess, its young coach was hired away by Yale to begin the 1929-1930 season. Ripley's departure from the Potomac for the Connecticut Valley was the end of an all too brief era for Georgetown basketball, embarking the program on a ten year odyssey in search of the greatness he had brought to basketball at the University.

Narrative © 1987, 2003. All rights reserved.
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