In preparation of the 20th anniversary celebration of Georgetown’s National Championship on Saturday, we’re going through Five Things Every Hoya Fan Should Know about the 1984 team. We’ve already told you things #1 and #2; now we’re giving you the third thing you should know.

Too Close for Comfort

Georgetown’s 1984 NCAA tournament was almost cut short after one game. In their opening game of the tournament, Georgetown faced Southern Methodist led by Jon Koncak. The Mustangs played a very tight zone defense and used a very deliberate pace. In those days, there was no three-point line and no shot clock. SMU led the Hoyas at halftime 24-16. The Hoyas stormed out in the second half to take a six point lead, but the Mustangs tied the game in the final minute. The Hoyas’ senior co-captain and defensive specialist Gene Smith went to line for a one-and-one with the score knotted at 34. A defensive rebound would have given SMU a chance to hold for the final shot to upset the Hoyas. Smith was a 59% free throw shooter. Smith missed the front end, but in a remarkable yet characteristic display of his unparalleled combination of grace, athleticism, and determination, Patrick Ewing tipped in the rebound to put the Hoyas up by two. The Hoyas added a free throw seconds later, and an inconsequential last second basket for SMU made the final score 37-36.

Continuing with the 5 Things Every Hoya Fan Should Know about the 1984 National Championship team, here’s fact #2:

3 Championships

The 1984 NCAA basketball season ended with the Hoyas cutting down the nets in Seattle. For the Hoyas that season, the nets at the Kingdome represented the third major championship of the year. The Hoyas won the Big East regular season title, the Big East tournament, and the National Championship. The 1984 Hoyas were the first team in Big East history to win both the regular season and tournament crowns in the same season, a feat that was duplicated by the 1989 and 2007 Hoyas.

This Saturday at Verizon Center, during the Georgetown game vs. Marquette, the University will honor the 1984 Men’s Basketball National Championship team on their 25th anniversary. The championship game was played at the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington on April 2, 1984 when Georgetown defeated the Houston Cougars 84-75. The Cougars were led by All-American center Akeem Olajuwon (in college he spelled his first name without the “H”). Almost all of the current Georgetown undergraduate students weren’t even born on April 2, 1984, so we have compiled a small list of things that every Hoya fan should know about that excellent team. We’ll unveil one each day this week, leading up to the big game on Saturday.
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There hasn’t been a Georgetown-Syracuse game played in the Carrier Dome with the stakes this high for a long time. It is possible that this meeting has the most riding on it of all the regular season games ever played at the Carrier Dome in this rivalry. A loss for either team could easily result in an NIT appearance. Both teams will be desperate to avoid such a fate. With that in mind, let’s take a look back at some of the more memorable Georgetown-Syracuse games played at Syracuse. If you have any memories of games that didn’t make our list, feel free to leave us a comment.
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In the midst of all the recent Georgetown Basketball turmoil, there is one bit if good news which went pretty much unnoticed. In the loss at Marquette, DaJuan Summers scored his 1,000th point, becoming the 40th player in Georgetown Basketball history to accomplish that feat. The accomplishment is far less significant than the current state of the Hoyas, but it is a nice accomplishment, especially for a junior. We caught up with DaJuan and Coach Thompson last week to get their thoughts on this milestone.

We’ve been talking a lot lately about the Hoyas’ home winning streak, and how at last the Hoyas have a real home court advantage. After the impressive win against UCONN on Monday, it’s time to turn our attention back home, as the Hoyas face Pitt on Saturday at the Verizon Center. We’re hoping Georgetown can keep the streak alive against the Panthers, and we’ve also put together a small list of the best moments so far.
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It’s official. With last night’s victory against FIU, Georgetown’s consecutive home win streak is 29 wins, the longest in the modern era.

Now that you know how well the Hoyas have done recently at the Verizon Center, it’s probably a good time to look back on how poorly they had done prior to this stretch. Up until the start of this streak, the Verizon Center did not provide much of a home court advantage. Whether the Hoyas had good teams or bad teams, the results at home were never anything to be proud of. Here are some facts and figures about life in the MCI/Verizon Center since the Hoyas played their first game there on December 3, 1997.
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Today is a day that will live in infamy. Probably. If the Georgetown Hoyas defeat the Florida International Golden Panthers this evening at the Verizon Center, the team will break a school record for most consecutive home wins. Sort of. First, there are some specifics that need to be addressed.
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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.
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“I played with Alonzo and Dikembe, but I never saw anybody do the things that Reggie did.” – Mark Tillmon (GU Class of 1990)

Last week, I talked about Jessie Sapp being the only senior leader on the current Georgetown roster. Twenty-two years ago, one of the greatest Hoyas of all time was in a similar position.
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