• Presidents Day Weekend was not kind to the Top 5 teams in the country, as #3 Texas lost to Nebraska on Saturday, #4 Pittsburgh fell to St. John’s on Saturday, and #2 Ohio State lost to Purdue on Sunday. Add to that #1 Kansas’ loss to Kansas State last Monday, and it wasn’t pretty for the top of the heap. That’s why #5 Duke moved up to the top spot with the new rankings yesterday.
• #9 Georgetown survived the weekend, holding off South Florida on Saturday for a 61-55 victory.
• It was All-Star Weekend in the NBA, and Greg Monroe had a good game for the Rookies in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge, helping his side beat the Sophomores 148-140. Greg scored 14 points, grabbed 8 boards, and got this nice writeup from the Detroit News.
• The NBA Development League also had its All-Star game this weekend, and Patrick Ewing, Jr. helped the East earn a 115-108 victory on Saturday night. Check out the highlights to see Pat’s two big rejections (including the Block of the Night) and his reverse alley-oop.

• The Hoyas picked up two wins over the week, beating St. John’s at home on Wednesday, and then beating #8 Villanova in Philadelphia on Saturday.
• There were tons of losses in the Top 25 over the past week, and four of the top 5 teams in the country picked up a loss as #2 Pittsburgh lost to Notre Dame on Big Monday, #3 Duke lost to St. John’s yesterday in New York, #4 San Diego State lost their first game to Brigham Young on Wednesday, and #5 Connecticut fell to Louisville in double overtime on Saturday.
• Also, #8 Villanova and #9 Syracuse each lost twice over the week, and #9 Brigham Young, #11 Missouri, #12 Purdue, #13 Texas A&M, #16 Minnesota, #17 Wisconsin, #18 Washington, #19 Vanderbilt, #20 Illinois, #22 Florida State, #24 Florida, and #25 Michigan State all lost a game this week as well.
• #1 Ohio State is the only unbeaten team left in the country, and they narrowly escaped experiencing their first loss with a 58-57 win over Northwestern on Saturday.
• In the NBA, Jeff Green continues to do well with the Thunder, as he scored 19 points and hit the game-tying shot in the overtime win against Minnesota, had 13 and 10 against the Wizards, and then scored 23 in the loss to the Heat yesterday afternoon.
• Roy Hibbert scored 20 points for the first time since November, but followed up that performance against the Nets with a 2 point showing against Chicago . Expect big changes for the Pacers, though, as coach Jim O’Brien was fired and replaced with interim coach Frank Vogel.
• Greg Monroe is continuing to do well with the Pistons as he scored 15 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds in a loss against the Knicks yesterday. DaJuan Summers played 12 minutes in that and scored four points.
• In the NBA Development League, Patrick Ewing, Jr. was traded from the Reno Big Horns to the Sioux Falls Skyforce on Tuesday. In his first games with the Skyforce, he scored 13 and grabbed 15 boards and then followed that up with a team leading 14 points in two losses to the Dakota Wizards.

• The Hoyas lost their first game of the season on Thursday night falling to Temple in Philadelphia. They rebounded quickly in an 89-60 win over Appalachian State in which freshman Moses Ayegba got his first minutes and points of the season.
• Greg Monroe earned his first NBA start in a loss at the Minnesota Timberwolves. He managed to score 8 points and pick up 15 boards for the Pistons.
• Patrick Ewing, Jr. keeps lighting it up for the Reno Bighorns. This weekend, he earned his first professional triple-double scoring 26 points along with 10 rebounds and 11 assists on Friday and then following up that performance with 24 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks on Saturday.
• Besides the Hoyas loss at Temple, there were two other Top 10 upsets. #3 Pittsburgh lost to #11 Tennessee 76-83 in Pittsburgh, and #7 Michigan State lost to #8 Syracuse 58-72, giving the Spartans their third loss of the season.

• Georgetown went 2-0 in the week, beating #9 Missouri in overtime in Kansas City on Tuesday, and then beating Utah State at home on Saturday. The Hoyas have started the season 8-0 for the second straight year, and for the third time in four seasons.
• Three teams in the Top 10 dropped games over the past week. #6 Michigan State lost to #1 Duke, the Hoyas upset #9 Missouri, and #10 Kentucky fell to North Carolina on Saturday.
• In the NBA, two former Hoyas scored their career highs, both coming in games on Wednesday. Jeff Green scored 37 points in Oklahoma City’s triple overtime win over the Nets. Meanwhile, Greg Monroe put up a career-high 15 points to go with his eight boards in a losing effort against the Heat.

The season officially gets underway on Friday, but before that happens, I figured I’d let you in on what’s going on with the Hoyas who’ve taken their basketball skills beyond the hilltop.

Yesterday, we got you updated with all the Hoyas on Twitter, and today, I’ll be giving you recent updates on Georgetown players in the NBA and beyond.
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Last year, we set up Twitter lists so you could keep track of all the Hoyas, past and present, who are on Twitter. Well a year’s a long time in the Twitterverse, so we felt it was time to update those lists with some new faces and to add some long-lost fan favorites.
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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.

It’s Senior Week at Georgetown, and while there won’t be any basketball players living it up at the President’s Picnic, Convocation, or Senior Ball (okay, some of the Hoyas will probably make their way to Union Station on Friday Night), that doesn’t mean that Georgetown Basketball fans should ignore what’s going on at the Hilltop.

• This is a time to reflect on the careers of DaJuan Summers, Jeremiah Rivers, and Vernon Macklin. Though none of them lasted four years, that doesn’t detract from the contributions they provided on the 2006 Big East Regular Season, Big East Tournament, and NCAA East Regional Championship team.
• It’s also a time to look back on the career of Greg Monroe. He’s heading to the NBA next season, and even if he comes back to earn his degree, this is his last week on campus as “normal” undergraduate – though his two years have been anything but ordinary.
• And while looking back on players gone is kind of a sad thing, there’s one big positive to look forward to this upcoming weekend. On Saturday, at the College Commencement, Hoya legend Dikembe Mutombo will be speaking. Besides addressing the 2010 senior class, Dikembe will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters from the University.

[Image via Life.com]

GUHoyas has just announced that Greg Monroe will not be returning to Georgetown next season, as he will be entering his name into the NBA Draft and signing an agent.

From the official press release:

“It was mentally what I wanted to do,” Monroe said. “I feel like I’m ready to make this step after working with our coaches for two years. I’ve enjoyed being able to represent Georgetown. I’ve enjoyed my experience and while I am leaving campus, I still will always be part of Georgetown.”

[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.