• THE GEORGETOWN BASKETBALL HISTORY PROJECT

Fred Fees (1916-1920)
 

The leading scorer of his decade, Fred Fees was one of the most prolific offensive stars of any era of Georgetown basketball.

A native of Carrolltown, PA, Fees completed his undergraduate work at St. Francis College and enrolled at Georgetown's law school in the autumn of 1916. The eligibility rules at this time allowed Fees, who had played some basketball at St. Francis, to continue play as a law student at Georgetown.

Adept at the set shooting of the era and an expert free throw shooter, Fees soon dominated the Georgetown scoring totals. In 47 games from 1916 to 1920, Fees led his team in scoring in 45 of them.

Fees' point totals are strong even by today's standards: 23 versus George Washington, 26 versus St. John's, 30 versus Gallaudet. What was more remarkable was that this was in an era of very low scoring-his 23 points against St. John's, for example, came in a game where Georgetown scored only 31 points. He once scored 15 points against Navy, while the rest of the team scored only two. Over his four years, Fees accounted for 45 percent of the team's entire scoring output.

Free throw shooting was Fees' specialty. In this era, teams could designate free throw shooters, much like today's team may select a shooter for a technical foul. Fees' 17 for 21 free throw shooting performance against George Washington on Jan. 17, 1917 was a record which stood for 75 years as the most free throw points ever scored by a Georgetown player. In his senior season, he missed only 17 of 140 free throw attempts, a percentage record that stood until 1978.

Fees led the 1917-1918 Hilltoppers with 207 points over 11 games, an average of 18.2 points per game. Fees' 1963 obituary claimed that he led the nation in scoring, and one prominent historian of the early game, Alexander Weyand, noted Fees' national standing as well. The average was a marvel for the early era of the game, and the average stood as a Georgetown single season record for 49 years.

Despite the accolades, Fees was not selected to the Georgetown Athletic Hall of Fame in 1958, most likely because the early organizers of the Hall were unfamiliar with his accomplishments. Fees returned to Carrolltown after law school, becoming an lawyer and district attorney in Cambria County, PA.

Fred Fees graduated with a career average of 16.8 points per game. A century later, only six Georgetown players have ever matched it.
 
Season GP GS Min FG FGA % 3FG 3GA % FT FTA % Off Reb Avg PF Ast Blk Stl Pts Avg
1916-17 12 12 28 114 136 83.8 170 14.1
1917-18 11 11 59 83 113 73.5 201 18.2
1918-19 10 10 66 75 102 73.5 171 17.1
1919-20 14 14 61 123 140 87.9 245 17.5
Total 47 47 214 395 491 80.4 787 16.8