2000-01 – Record: 8-3 (Conference 5-3)
Senior Class: Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje, Nathaniel Burton, Gharun Hester, Anthony Perry, Lee Scruggs

After a strong finish to the previous season, the Hoyas began the 2000-01 season in excellent fashion. Almost all of the key contributing players had returned from one year earlier, and the Hoyas added talented freshmen Mike Sweetney and Gerald Riley. This was the first year that the Verizon Center was actually an imposing place to play, as the fans started to come out in full force and make things difficult for the opponents. The Hoyas made it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four seasons and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.
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1999-00 – Record: 12-4 (Conference 4-4)
Senior Class: Rhese Gibson, Jameel Watkins (Graduate Student)

In the 1999-2000 season, Hoya fans could begin to see that things were turning around. Craig Esherick began his first full season as head coach, and Sophomore Kevin Braswell took over as the team’s true leader. Georgetown gained momentum during the season but never recovered from an 0-3 conference start. In March, the Hoyas made some noise in the Big East Tournament with a last-second win over West Virginia, and a major upset over the top seed, Syracuse. It was the first time in Big East Tournament History that the #9 seed defeated the #1 seed.
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College basketball has two premier conferences – the Big East and the SEC. Top to bottom these are the toughest conferences in America every single year. The ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 always have great teams, and the PAC-10 almost always does too. Occasionally, Conference USA or the Atlantic 10 will have one team that is among the nation’s elite. But when you’re talking about conferences as a whole, where every team is a tough opponent every single night, the Big East and SEC have separated themselves over the past thirty years.
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1998-99 – Record: 8-6 (Conference: 3-6)
Senior Class: Dean Berry, Demian Bolden, Daymond Jackson,
Trez Kilpatrick, Joe Touomou

This was a historic year for Georgetown Basketball as about one third of the way through the season, Coach John Thompson retired, and Craig Esherick became the Hoyas’ new head coach. This team had a number of older players but no real veteran leaders. The young players weren’t quite ready to take over the team, and consequently, the Hoyas struggled mightily all season. To make matters worse, the team never seemed to catch a break, as the team lost six games by three points or less.
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1997-98 – Record: 9-4 (Conference: 5-4)
Senior Class: Boubacar Aw, Jahidi White

This was Georgetown’s inaugural season in the building known at the time as the MCI Center. A season-ending injury to Center Jahidi White turned a marginal team into a below average one. Boubacar Aw did an excellent job of trying to carry the team on his back, but he didn’t have enough support. Throughout the season Georgetown really struggled offensively, especially on the road, but they did a decent job of defending their home court. As the disappointing season was coming to an end, the Hoyas found a slight silver lining by annihilating Notre Dame on Senior Day. The 20-Point win was a fitting end to Aw’s home career, and that scoreline remains the Hoyas biggest rout ever against the Fighting Irish.
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For the past few months, there have been signs around Chinatown celebrating the ten year anniversary of the Verizon Center: “Ten Years at the Center of the Action.” This weekend, sports fans in D.C. got to see the Washington Wizards celebrate the event as they gave out miniature ceramic arenas and retired #10 Earl “The Pearl” Monroe’s jersey at their game against the Toronto Raptors. For the Hoyas, it was ten years ago today that Georgetown played their first game in their new home.
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On November 26, 2000, the Hoyas played in the Championship Game of the Hawaii Pacific University Thanksgiving Classic. After back-to-back wins over the University of Central Florida and the College of Charleston, the Hoyas faced Minnesota for the title. Georgetown won 76-60.
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