High School Kid’s Awesome Trip to His 1st Hoyas Game

Special thanks to Matthew Giacobbe, a 16-year old high school student from New York City, for providing the below. A Hoyas fan that has been going to Georgetown games against St. John’s at Madison Square Garden for a couple of years, this is his story from his first time ever seeing Georgetown’s campus and attending a home game.

Stories like this help remind us of what it’s all about.

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On Wednesday, February 21, I arrived at Georgetown University’s campus with my father in the afternoon intending to walk around the campus and purchase some Hoya gear at the bookstore. I was very excited for my first trip to Georgetown, where my grandfather and father both attended. The first thing my dad and I did was visit the field where he played football as a walk-on his sophomore year, Kehoe Field. Afterwards we headed to the new John R. Thompson Jr. Intercollegiate Athletic Center. It was amazing to see all the trophies and memorabilia that was showcased throughout the halls. We then went to McDonough Gymnasium, where my dad showed me the offices he used to work at as a student intern for the Sports Information Department and an official statistician for Georgetown’s men’s basketball team. While we roamed the halls, we met one of Georgetown Football’s assistant head coaches Alex Zanfardino. He was very nice and helpful as we didn’t know where we were walking for the most part since all of the offices were changed from when my Dad was there.

When we finished looking around and walked out of the McDonough Gymnasium, we saw George Muresan and Ra’Mond Hines walking out of the Thompson Center and they were more than happy to pose for a picture when I asked them to. Soon after, most of the players started coming out and all of them were extremely nice. One that stood out to me the most was Jagan Moseley as he spent a couple of minutes talking to me and asked me what school I attend. I also enjoyed meeting Kaleb Johnson, who when I asked him to sign a photo he liked, exclaimed “Yo that’s tough, where do you want me to sign it!”

The most important moment to me was meeting one of my role models, Jessie Govan. Jessie is from my hometown of NYC and I enjoy watching him give his all on the court and dominating the paint. After the team left for the game, my Dad and I headed over to the Leavey Center to eat some Chick-Fil-A before the game and, to grab some Hoya swag at the bookstore.

When we first arrived at Capital One Arena, it was like a dream. The court was beautiful with the Georgetown logo right in the middle and fans covered in blue and grey everywhere. Our seats were close to the court and we could hear Coach Ewing at some points of the game. At the beginning of the second half, an employee from the team came up to me and asked me if I was Matthew and I said yes. She handed me a Georgetown folder and a basketball schedule poster and said “This is from Jessie.” I opened the folder and saw a signed picture addressed “To Matthew.”. What an amazing gift! (Before the game the Georgetown Hoops twitter account had contacted me, but I never expected them to go an extra mile and for Jessie to think of me.)

Georgetown battled number #4 ranked Xavier extremely well and was leading 40-38 at halftime. Freshman Jamarko Pickett nailed 3 quick three-pointers early and was on his way to tie a career high 21 points. But in the second half, the very talented Xavier squad began to pull away although the Hoyas hung tough highlighted by another thrilling 3 pointer by Pickett that brought the crowd to its feet and kept the Hoyas within striking distance. Though the game did not end the way we wanted, my first Georgetown home game was better than I could have expected. Everyone from the players to the students on campus was very nice to us and our experience could not have been more amazing.

Hoya Saxa!

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