Two big events took place over the weekend, causing a spike of interest in the offseason doldrums:

• Greg Monroe was drafted by the Detroit Pistons as the #7 overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. He will join former teammate DaJuan Summers in Motor City.
• The Big East conference has announced the 2010-11 season conference matchups, and the Hoyas will be facing Syracuse, St. John’s and Cincinnati twice this upcoming year. They will face Louisville, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia at home, while Connecticut, Notre Dame, and Villanova will only be road games. Check out the full list at GUHoyas.com.

• Coach Thompson appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Candy Crowley yesterday to discuss college basketball’s graduation rates. Here’s a link to the transcript, and the segment is below.
  
• Coach will appear on TV again in the pregame for tonight’s NCAA Championship on the CBS College Sports Network. CBS College Sports Network is located on channel 732 for DC area Comcast customers, 94 for Verizon subscribers, 152 for Dish, and 129 for RCN.
• Greg Monroe was named the Pete Newell Big Man of the Year yesterday, the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ award for the country’s best post player. Greg also was named a third team All-American by both the Associated Press and the NABC.

• The Georgetown Hoyas fell in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, losing to the Ohio Bobcats 83-97. It was the first time that Georgetown has lost in their first game of the tournament since 1997 when the Hoyas were defeated by UNC-Charlotte.
• Meanwhile, in their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1993, the Lady Hoyas defeated Marist in their opening round game. They advance to the Round of 32 where they will meet Baylor tonight at 10:05pm.
• In the 2010 NCAA Pick 8, a lot of people are struggling due to Georgetown and Kansas’ early exits, but here are the leaders: lin and Will F are sharing the top spot with a record of 11-3 and GKiely is right behind them with this teams going 10-3 so far.

• The Georgetown Hoyas won on their first Saturday home game of the season, defeating the Lafayette Leopards 97-64. They play again tonight, facing the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers in their first two-day turnaround of the season.
• Two undefeated teams in the Top 10 lost their first games this past week. #9 Tennessee lost to #6 Purdue 73-72 on Monday, and last night, #2 Michigan State lost to unranked Florida 77-74. Former Hoya Vernon Macklin scored 10 points in the upset.
• Jessie Sapp had an incredible game in Scotland last night as the Glasgow Rocks defeated the Worcester Wolves 111-59. Jessie had 31 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds, and 8 steals in the game in what he described as “bron bron numbers” on his Twitter account.

• In their season opener, the Georgetown Hoyas beat Tulane 74-58 in New Orleans. Greg Monroe had a big game in front of a crowd filled with family and friends from his hometown.
• #18 Mississippi State was the first and so far only team in the Top 25 to lose a game this season. The reigning SEC Champions lost their season opener to unranked Rider 88-74 at home.
• After getting his first points in the NBA on Wednesday, DaJuan Summers made a return to his old stomping grounds as the Pistons traveled to Washington to play the Wizards. DaJuan saw 4 minutes of action on his old home court at Verizon Center but didn’t manage to score.

• The Hoyas played their second and last scrimmage of the preseason this weekend, taking on the Virginia Tech Hokies in Blacksburg. While the scrimmage was closed to the public, there are some reports that Georgetown lost on Saturday. Scrimmages are behind us now, though, as the first game of the season takes place Friday night at Tulane.
• As of this weekend, Allen Iverson has taken an indefinite leave of absence from the Memphis Grizzlies to deal with a personal matter. The Grizzlies confirm that it is a family matter and has nothing to do with Allen’s displeasure with his playing time.
• Roy Hibbert returned to the Verizon Center on Friday to take on the Washington Wizards. The Pacers won easily, and Roy had his third-straight double-double putting up 12 and 11 off of 5-9 shooting.

Last week, the NBA season got underway, and here’s how your Hoyas have been faring so far:

• Allen Iverson has yet to play for the Memphis Grizzlies as he injured his hamstring before his new team’s season got started. He did however return to practice this weekend, and he will likely make his Memphis debut tonight.
• Jeff Green has gotten off to a great start with the Thunder as he’s averaging just shy of 20 points in his first three games. Last night, Oklahoma City dropped its first game of the season, but Jeff earned a double-double in the losing effort with 19 and 11.
• Roy Hibbert and the Indiana Pacers are off to an 0-2 start to the 2009-10 season, but the good news is that Roy has been getting some more minutes and he’s been managing his foul trouble situation a bit better than he had in his rookie season. We’ll have to see if he can keep that up, because the more minutes Roy can play, the more of an impact he’ll have. And more good news – the Pacers have picked up the contract option on Roy for the rest of the season.
• DaJuan Summers has yet to see any action with the Pistons so far, as Detroit has gotten off to a 1-2 start. He hasn’t dressed for the first three games, but hopefully his effort in practice will help him break in to the game day roster.

• With NBA Training Camps starting up a few days ago, some Hoyas’ names are popping up again. Mike Sweetney is still practicing with the Boston Celtics like he did during the Orlando Summer League, and while it doesn’t look like he’ll get a roster spot in Boston, he’s still out there trying to prove that he belongs back in the League. You can read more here from the Boston Globe [via HoyaTalk]
• Also making an appearance during NBA Training Camp is Brandon Bowman. After running-up in the German Bundesliga with Telekom Baskets Bonn, Brandon will be practicing with the Philadelphia 76ers this week.
• And over in Europe, Jessie Sapp is getting comfortable in Glasgow. After three games, the Rocks are 1-2, but Jessie has done well for himself, leading the team in scoring twice with 26, and putting up 15 in their one win. So far, he’s shooting 54% from the field and 47% from three to go along with his 8-9 (89%) from the stripe. After the team’s first game, the Coach had some nice things to say about his rookie guard: Jessie Sapp has bright future with Glasgow Rocks.

2009-10 Schedule News

• Last week, it was finalized that the Hoyas will play in the 2009 Jimmy V Classic. They will be playing Butler at Madison Square Garden on December 8.
• Also, the Big East conference matchups were announced, and Georgetown will be playing Villanova, Syracuse, and Rutgers twice in the upcoming season. Georgetown’s other home games will be against Connecticut, Notre Dame, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Cincinnati, and South Florida.
  [Press Release via GUHoyas.com]

NBA Summer League News

• The Orlando Summer League starts tonight, and two Hoyas are set to take part in this week’s games. Roy Hibbert will be teaming up with former Elite Eight opponent Tyler Hansborough for the first time as the Pacers square off against the Philadelphia/New Jersey hybrid team.
• Mike Sweetney is also set to play this week as he has been named to the Boston Celtics Summer League Roster. Big Mike will have a chance to earn his way back in the League starting with his game against Utah tonight. After being drafted #9 in the 2003 NBA Draft, Mike has not been on a team for the past two seasons.
• The Las Vegas Summer League starts up on Friday, and there are two more Hoyas set to take part in those games. DaJuan Summers is on the Pistons’ Summer Roster, and Patrick Ewing, Jr. will be back with the Knicks again trying to make a case for making the final roster after being the last player cut last season.

• The Orlando Magic defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Chamionship on Saturday, earning them a place in the NBA Finals against the LA Lakers. Patrick Ewing will be on the bench coaching the Magic on Thursday when the series begins.
• Reggie Williams was recently hired to be the Boys’ Varsity Head Coach at Towson Catholic High School in Baltimore, MD.
• Jeff Green will be one of 20-24 players participating in the Team USA training camp in Las Vegas this summer. If he does well, he may be participating in the World Championships in 2010 representing the United States.