• As well as introducing the 2011-12 Men’s Basketball team, Midnight Madness 2011 was also the unveiling of Patrick Ewing, Jr.‘s NBA jersey on the back wall at McDonough.
• Patrick Ewing, Jr. wasn’t the only Hoya Legend in attendance, as he was joined by over 20 other Hoya alums, including John Duren, Gene Smith, Patrick Ewing, Reggie Williams, Mark Tillmon, Othella Harrington, Jerome Williams, Anthony Perry, Nathaniel Burton, Jeff Green, Roy Hibbert, Tyler Crawford, and Greg Monroe.

  

• Pat also participated in the dunk contest, but he came in 2nd place to freshman Jabril Trawick according to judges Jerome Williams and former teammates Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert.

  Here are two of Jabril’s dunks from Friday night:

• As in years past, the Hoyas celebrated the first official day of the new season by dancing into the arena. After being individually introduced, the 2011-12 squad showed off their teamwork and their dance moves as they party rocked to LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem.

Read the full recap from GUHoyas here: Past Meets Present at Midnight Madness

[Images via GUHoyas.com]
[Videos via @AmberDanielle1]

But with Midnight Madness starting up the new Georgetown Basketball season on Friday, we decided it’s time to start posting more regularly.

And what better way to get back in the swing of things than by looking at recent Georgetown graduate Austin Freeman and his time in Italy’s Legadue?

Austin did not get selected in the 2011 NBA Draft, and he found himself playing in Italy’s second division for Fulgor Libertas Forlì. Earlier this month, Austin put together an incredible performance, going 10-18 from the field, 5-9 from three, and 13-13 from the stripe.

Check out this video of all of Austin’s 38 points:

GUHoyas.com has done a great job building up anticipation around the trip, and here’s a roundup of all of the China news to get you ready for tomorrow:

• The Hoyas’ schedule for the next two weeks has been set. The team will start out in Beijing where they’ll compete against two teams from the Chinese Basketball Association. They’ll play their first game on Wednesday against
  the Shanxi Brave Dragons and their second the next day against the Bayi Rockets.

  Then they will travel to Shanghai where they’ll host a clinic to help improve young Chinese players’ training and basketball skills. From August 18th to the 21st, the Hoyas will participate in Nike’s premier “Festival of Sport” during which they will also play against two more teams from the CBA.

• In July, the Georgetown Athletics department released four promotional videos for the upcoming trip starring several Hoya players and Jack the Bulldog.

  The videos follow the team preparing for their trip in Chinese 101, at the Credit Union, at Lauinger Library, and at the Uncommon Grounds coffee shop.

• Jason Clark talked about leaving the country for the first time and about the team getting to play together.
• Hoya Hoop Club president Al Bozzo will be taking a team of supporters to China to follow the team
• On Tuesday, the Basketball Program had a media day during which the team and Coach Thompson had the opportunity to talk to the press about their big trip.

  Here’s Craig Stouffer’s piece for the Washington Examiner, and videos of the interviews with Coach Thompson, Jason Clark, Henry Sims, Hollis Thompson, and Nate Lubick.

Here’s what he had to say about #4:

I attended the Hoyas open practice today, and kept a close eye on Chris Wright. He looked good. He did not seem to be hindered by the hand at all. His shooting was uneven (maybe 60-70%), but he had a few spells where he made a number of shots in a row.

And Chris was a little surprised himself that he beat out DeAndre Jordan, Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, and Blake Griffin.

Last year we shared some old footage of Kevin Braswell, Mike Sweetney, and company singing Christmas songs. This year, we have something a little different.

It’s Indiana Pacers fans singing Christmas songs about Roy Hibbert. We can’t embed it, so here’s the link: Happy Holidays from Area 55.

And if you really can’t live without it, here’s the classic Jingle Bells from 2001:

We already showed you the guys singing “Jingle Bells,” so here are “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Silent Night.” Enjoy!

Kevin Braswell, Wesley Wilson, Courtland Freeman, and Mike Sweetney singing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”:

Kevin Braswell, Wesley Wilson, Victor Samnick, Courtland Freeman, and Mike Sweetney singing “Silent Night”: