The State of the Hoyas: The Best of the Hoyas

by sleepyhoya on Jan 20, 2011 9:27 AM EST

Now that we've conquered the state of New Jersey, it seems like the right time to reflect on the best Hoya All-Star teams of all-time. And since an 8-day layoff in the middle of the season feels like the middle of the summer, it was either this or a new feature of documenting my breakfast.

Anyway, before getting the All Hoya teams, a note about selection and bias. Clearly I am influenced by players I actually saw play live and in person. So having been in school from '78-'82 I got to see Sleepy Floyd a lot more than say Kevin Braswell. I trust Bashfulhoya and OldHoya that Derrick Jackson was a great player, but i never saw him play so may have him underranked. I expect that recent graduates will think I underplay the talents of JTIII players. This is your forum to refute me. My other criteria are winning, (staying 4 years a big plus) and overall talent. I've tried not to be influenced one way or the other by what happened to the players after leaving campus. What follows are the three most talented teams of Hoyas, plus the hardest team to beat...

The Best of the Hoyas after The Jump:

First Team All Hoya:

Center -- Patrick Ewing.
Simply the most accomplished player in Georgetown history. Led his team to our only national championship, three final fours, was the biggest recruit in our history and forever changed the program.

Power Forward -- Alonzo Mourning.
Never won a national title, but it wasn't for lack of effort. The single hardest working college basketball player ever. A rebounding, shot blocking intimidation machine.

Small Forward -- Reggie Williams.
Led the Reggie and the Miracles. The second best inventive scorer, behind Iverson, in our school's history and sports a national championship ring.

Shooting Guard -- Sleepy Floyd.
Best shooter the school has ever seen. Led the team from his freshman year. Was denied a ring by some punk from North Carolina who is currently battling gambling problems.

Point Guard -- Allen Iverson
Best scorer the school has ever seen and the second most heralded recruit. Didn't win much and didn't stay long enough, but you can't deny that talent.

Second Team All Hoya:

Center -- Dikembe Mutombo.
Almost single-handedly made Georgetown a great defensive team. Let everyone else overplay and gamble, and kept opponents shooting percentage under 40% by policing the lane and the boards.

Power Forward - Craig Shelton
A beast and sky walker before his time. Never got the attention in the pre ESPN era, but an intimidating force at all times on the court.

Small Forward - Jeff Green
One of the most complete players ever to play for Georgetown. A perfect fit for JTIII's offensive schemes.

Shooting Guard --Austin Freeman
A slow starter who didn't round into all star form until his junior year, but has developed into one of our best. Great shooter, unselfish and efficient.

Point Guard - Michael Jackson (more recent grads can substitute Jon Wallace)
Spent four years handling the Hoya offense and I can't think of a single mental mistake he made. Didn't shoot that much, but in the clutch wasn't afraid to launch. His ring gives him the edge on Wallace.

Third Team All Hoya:

Center -- Roy Hibbert.
Roy gets the slight nod over Othella Harrington and Greg Monroe because he won more. Very close competition and I'm sure i've slighted some great 70's players and of course Henry Hyde and Paul Tagliabue.

Power Forward -- Mike Sweetney.
Scoring and rebounding machine. Plus helped pull Wisey's out of the Bush recession.

Small Forward --Derrick Jackson.
See Old Hoya's West Virginia post. (which, by the way, I'm informed he thoroughly enjoyed)

Shooting Gurard -- Charles Smith.
Pure scoring machine.

Point Guard -- John Duren.
Strongest point guard I've ever seen. Football body with great basketball IQ.

Now it would stand to reason that as coach I'd want to pick the first team if the all time team actually was going to play an opponent. Not really. I can't imagine Iverson blending or sharing with the rest of that team.. The team I'd actually like to coach would be Ewing, Mourning, Michael Jackson, Floyd and Reggie Williams (although I gave serious consideration to Jeff Green for passing and slashing skills and Austin Freeman for the ability to light it up without needed to control the ball much)

Of course with Vee Sanford as sixth man.

Stay Casual, my friends.

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Comments

Great Stuff

I thought it was really balanced from a historical perspective. That third team seems like it could be a real bruiser. Thanks for giving the blog legitimate basketball discussion fodder for what could be a long, game-less, weekend.

Only omitted player I really thought would have merited a spot is Dave Wingate. I was too young to actually seem him play, but all the vault films I’ve watched and recaps I’ve read indicate that he could’ve been one of the best “swing” forwards we’ve ever had. Hard to put him in the 3 spot over Green or Jackson but I don’t think either team would lose that much if he were. Shouldn’t Hollis just be watching film of this guy ad nauseum?

If there was a 6th man discussion I’d put a vote in for my handle’s namesake: PE Jr. Sometimes head-shaking, almost always heart-thumping.

by WarmupEwing on Jan 20, 2011 8:50 AM EST reply actions

Love Wingate

classic slasher and one of my favorites while i was in school. hard to leave off favorites like Eric Smith, Jaren Jackson and Perry McDonald..but it’s a high class problem having that much talent.

by sleepyhoya on Jan 20, 2011 9:40 AM EST up reply actions

Tremendous post

Would have been twice has good had you documented your breakfast.

by itsallthatmatters on Jan 20, 2011 9:36 AM EST reply actions

god would i love

to have alonzo on this team

by hoyafan03 on Jan 20, 2011 9:41 AM EST reply actions

That team with Iverson, Victor Page, Jerome Williams, Othella Harrington, and Jahidi White should have brought at minimum a Final Four banner to McDonough.

It’s easy to point fingers at that cheating scum Calipari after the fact, but that Hoyas team should have beaten UMass.

/looks in desk for sharp objects

Casually.

by CasualHoya on Jan 20, 2011 11:14 AM EST reply actions

That 96 season was awesome and disappointing

all at the same time. The UConn and UMass games still haunt me. I’d go with Smitty over Free for second team though.

by VictorPage'sLeftEye on Jan 20, 2011 11:17 AM EST up reply actions

I'm still haunted too

UMass = one of the worst days of my youth.

by PhillyHoya on Jan 20, 2011 12:05 PM EST up reply actions

@#$% UMass game

I broke my girlfriend (now wife) roommate’s coffee table with a disgusted kung fu kick during the first 10 mins of the 2nd half. Eff Calipari, Camby and the Puerto Rican twins…

After that last, unholy row,
I never, ever play, basketball now.
It joins a list of things I'll miss like fencing foils and lovely girls I'll never kiss.

by vivanloshoyas on Jan 20, 2011 12:37 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah

That is remarkable looking back now.

I was 10

My handle used to be Jeff Green's Dad, but it was confusing and creepy, namely because I am not his dad. My new handle is JGD. I am trim and in charge.

by JGD on Jan 20, 2011 11:18 AM EST up reply actions

95-96 team should have gone farther

but ran into Camby who was truly a great college player.

by Lord Humongous on Jan 20, 2011 12:18 PM EST up reply actions

by lordnick on Jan 20, 2011 12:22 PM EST up reply actions

Reading this post calmly

I can only say: how fucking cool is Georgetown basketball?

I mean, other programs may have more titles, bigger fanbases, whatever. Look at those 3 teams: unparalleled skill (Iverson, Sleepy, Reggie, Jeff), intimidation (Pat, Dikembe), heart (’zo, BaBa, Sweets). Shall I go on? Man , I love dem Hoyas.

H O Y A S A X A ! ! !

After that last, unholy row,
I never, ever play, basketball now.
It joins a list of things I'll miss like fencing foils and lovely girls I'll never kiss.

by vivanloshoyas on Jan 20, 2011 12:48 PM EST reply actions

So Im sitting here trying to imagine

a 2 on 2 game of Ewing and Mourning against Vaughan and Thompson (this years current C/PF starters) and it makes me realize just how fortunate we have been with such a great collection of big men in this school’s history. And it also makes me think we are all a little hard on both Julian and Hollis when they dont come close to giving us the dominating post game we got used to from past big men. And maybe we should cut them some slack because of that rather than calling them out as stiffs every time they remind us they arent Mourinng or Ewing. They know that. But they are probably the best we have at those positions (its not Lubick time yet).

But anyway, I like the rankings. Would throw in my support for Jim Barry who was a scoring machine in an earlier era before an injury knocked him out for a year. Would also like to see Mark Tillmon get some sort of consolation prize (tough group of guards to break into) for his senior year if nothing else when he had a number of big games in the 30s and shooting percentages in the Wallace/Freeman range. Plus the great D. Clearly this calls for a fourth team selection…

Bring back Don Reid

by Insidious Rex on Jan 20, 2011 1:42 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

I always had a soft spot for Joey Brown

high on the all time career list. If we went 5 pg deep, he might be in consideraton.

Also love it that guys who solid NBA careers in Jahidi White and Ruben B-B do not even get a sniff.

by bunk moreland on Jan 20, 2011 3:49 PM EST reply actions

Derrick Jackson....

….was a very good player (I saw him play all four years), but you have him ranked appropriately within the universe of Hoya greats. Not sure at 6’ 1" that I would classify him as a small forward though. He was a guard – and played on a team with arguably less talent than some of the players that followed over the next 30 years.

With paranoia,

by hoyaparanoia on Jan 20, 2011 3:56 PM EST reply actions