The Georgetown Hoyas re-established themselves in the national spotlight of college basketball in 2005-06. The team played very well throughout the year coming up with excellent victories both home and away. The crowds at the Verizon Center continued to swell, and the student body came out with greater numbers than any point in school history. Georgetown advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament before falling to the eventual champion Florida Gators. The season was even more special for the seniors who had gone through a great deal of adversity during their college careers.

The Good: People will always look back to January 21, 2006 as the day that put the Hoyas back on the map. Georgetown defeated #1 Duke 87-84, ending their 17-game unbeaten streak to start the year. The Princeton offense was on display in all its glory as the Hoyas were tearing up the Duke defense with backdoor cut after backdoor cut. Georgetown was energized by the capacity crowd, and the crowd was energized by the excellent first half performance, highlighted by Brandon Bowman’s reverse slam. In the second half Duke put the Hoyas under pressure cutting the lead to 2 with four minutes left, but the Hoyas showed patience and poise having an answer for everything that Duke threw at them. Duke had a final chance to tie the game, but they never got a shot off as the Hoyas forced a turnover. When the buzzer sounded the Verizon Center went into a frenzy as thousands of students and fans rushed the court to share in the excitement with the players.

The Bad: Georgetown had a nine-game winning streak at home when West Virginia visited the Verizon Center. The Hoyas began the game very well, matching every step of the Mountaineers, who had made it to the Final Four in the previous season. Late in the first half, Brandon Bowman made a steal and went coast to coast for a reverse dunk. On the very next play, Darrel Owens stole a pass and threw down another breakaway reverse dunk. But as the game wore on, the Hoyas wore down and West Virginia prevailed 69-56. That game marks Georgetown’s largest margin of defeat to West Virginia since joining the Big East in the 1995-96 season.

The Ugly: The Duke victory was improbable at the time, but for anyone who was in the Verizon Center for the Hoyas’ game immediately preceding the Duke game, beating Duke seemed impossible. Georgetown narrowly escaped a loss at the hands of the South Florida Bulls with a 50-47 win. In South Florida’s inaugural season in the Big East, they fought hard and did an excellent job of rebounding and keeping the score close. USF had a chance to tie, but the three-pointer at the buzzer was off target.


Ten Years in Ten Days:
1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-00 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07

Here are his all-time career ranks for the Hoyas:

• Points: 12th (1,548)
• Rebounds: 10th (739)
• Assists: 22nd (232)
• Steals: 14th (170)

Pretty good numbers, but here’s something that’ll blow you away.

Brandon Bowman is one of only two Hoyas ever to finish their careers with more than 1,500 points, 700 rebounds, and 200 assists. The other player is Reggie Williams - that’s pretty elite company.

Bowman’s statistics are impressive when compared historically, but his significance to the program is much more significant. Bowman was the one player who was a major figure during the tenure of Coach Craig Esherick and Coach John Thompson III. Yes, Ashanti Cook and Darrel Owens were the same year in school, but neither one was as critical a player during their freshman season as Bowman. Without Bowman, the transition between the two coaches could never have been as smooth as it was. Bowman actually had announced that he was going to transfer out of Georgetown; it’s a good thing he came to his senses.

P.S. - Get off Bowman’s case about the foul to setup the four-point play in the final seconds at Notre Dame, everybody knows that call was just another example of referee Curtis Shaw trying to be a hero. Plus, it made for a more dramatic win.