I’ve been talking about senior leaders lately, and another player who was alone in his leadership role – like Reggie Williams before him and soon to be Jessie Sapp after him – was Kevin Braswell.

Kevin Braswell was the last class that came to Georgetown to play for John Thompson. Braswell had barely started his freshman season when Coach Thompson resigned in January of 1999. His career was in some ways overshadowed by the team’s struggles during his time as a Hoya, but Braswell remains one of the all-time Hoya greats. Because of the circumstances when he played for Georgetown, he didn’t have the luxury of learning to be a point guard from other older great point guard teammates. Braswell was forced to learn on the job. But even with the important role he played throughout his career from day one, his senior season was far and away his best.

In 2001, the Hoyas made the NCAA tournament for the first time in four years. That team was a close-knit group with five very valuable seniors – Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje, Nat Burton, Gharun Hester, Anthony Perry, and Lee Scruggs. As the Hoyas entered the following season, they still had Mike Sweetney and Gerald Riley and, of course, their returning team captain, Kevin Braswell.

In 2002 the Hoyas were snubbed by the NCAA tournament selection committee. At the time (and even to this day) many people blamed Braswell for the team’s disappointing season. The truth is that without the courage, leadership, and influence of Kevin Braswell, the season would have been an absolute debacle. It’s similar to imagining the Philadelphia 76ers of the 2001 season without Allen Iverson.

In early December of his senior season, the Hoyas played a difficult road game on the campus of South Carolina. The game was tied in the final seconds, when Kevin hit a long jumper to win the game.

In January, the Hoyas found themselves in the midst of a crippling four-game losing streak, and it was Kevin who led the way in getting them out of it. On the road at Boston College the Hoyas managed to turn the momentum of their season. Kevin was instrumental scoring 14 points, collecting 7 assists, and grabbing six rebounds. The Hoyas won the game by 27 points in one of the most lopsided conference road wins in school history. Inexplicably, the Eagles earned an at-large NCAA tournament bid and not the Hoyas.

There were other notable examples of Kevin finding a way to drive his team into the win column, especially on the road. Kevin orchestrated a convincing win at Notre Dame, a dramatic come from behind victory at Seton Hall, and a historic defeat of Syracuse on the day that “Jim Boeheim Court” was unveiled. But the most memorable performance of his career occurred at MCI Center on Senior Day.

The Hoyas were fighting for their NCAA tournament lives and couldn’t afford any additional losses. The Hoyas led by eight at halftime and extended the lead to fourteen midway through the second half. Rutgers managed to cut the lead to nine and was starting to turn the momentum, before Kevin took matters into his own hands. With 7:26 to play in the game, Rutgers made a three-pointer to cut the lead to 9. The Hoyas led 65-56. From that point, Kevin Braswell had a hand in every point scored by the Hoyas for the rest of the game. Kevin scored 10 points and collected 5 assists in the final seven minutes of the game to help the Hoyas pull away to a 19-point win. 22 straight points to close the game were either scored or set up by Kevin in what was truly one of the greatest individual performances of any Hoya ever. For the game Braswell racked up 16 assists, which is still a record that Kevin shares with Charles Smith. Kevin’s line in the boxscore from that game is one that Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, or Jason Kidd would be proud of:

• 35 Minutes
• 18 Points
• 6-12 FG
• 4-7 3PT
• 2-2 FT
• 16 Assists
• 1 Turnover

In spite of Kevin’s inability to guide his teams to greatness, his individual accomplishments speak for themselves. Braswell is Georgetown’s all-time leader in assists and steals, and he started every single game during his four-year career. The assist numbers are probably the most impressive when you think of the company he surpassed. Michael Jackson played with Patrick Ewing, David Wingate, and Reggie Williams. Joey Brown played with Alonzo Mourning, Othella Harrington, and Dikembe Mutombo. In many ways, Kevin Braswell was on his own for most of his career. That helps to explain the wins and losses from him teams, but does not diminish his career as a Hoya or his tremendous senior season.