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1970–71 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

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1970–71 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball
ConferenceIndependent
Record12–14
Head coach
Assistant coachEd Hockenbury (1st season)
Captains
  • Bob Hannan (1st year)
  • Don Weber (1st year)
Home arenaMcDonough Gymnasium
Seasons
1970–71 NCAA University Division men's basketball independents standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 2 Marquette   28 1   .966
No. 9 Fordham   26 3   .897
No. 11 Jacksonville   22 4   .846
No. 15 Duquesne   21 4   .840
Hawaii   23 5   .821
No. 19 Villanova   27 7   .794
St. Bonaventure   21 6   .778
No. 14 Houston   22 7   .759
Utah State   20 7   .741
Syracuse   19 7   .731
Georgia Tech   23 9   .719
Providence   20 8   .714
Fairleigh Dickinson   16 7   .696
Rutgers   16 7   .696
Holy Cross   18 8   .692
No. 12 Notre Dame   20 9   .690
Dayton   18 9   .667
St. John's (NY)   18 9   .667
Denver   17 9   .654
Florida State   17 9   .654
Loyola (LA)   16 10   .615
Marshall   16 10   .615
Colgate   15 10   .600
Saint Francis (PA)   15 10   .600
Pittsburgh   14 10   .583
Boston College   15 11   .577
Northern Illinois   13 10   .565
Southern Illinois   13 10   .565
Creighton   14 11   .560
Virginia Tech   14 11   .560
Manhattan   13 11   .542
Cincinnati   14 12   .538
Detroit   14 12   .538
Niagara   14 12   .538
West Virginia   13 12   .520
Centenary   13 13   .500
Pan American   13 13   .500
Navy   12 12   .500
Air Force   12 14   .462
Georgetown   12 14   .462
Seattle   12 14   .462
Army   11 13   .458
Saint Peter's   11 13   .458
Iona   10 12   .455
Penn State   10 12   .455
George Washington   11 14   .440
Seton Hall   11 15   .423
Long Island   10 15   .400
Butler   10 16   .385
Canisius   8 13   .381
Fairfield   9 15   .375
Hardin–Simmons   9 16   .360
Oklahoma City   9 16   .360
Xavier   9 17   .346
DePaul   8 17   .320
St. Francis (NY)   8 17   .320
Tulane   8 18   .308
Boston University   7 18   .280
Miami (FL)   7 19   .269
NYU   5 20   .200
Portland   5 21   .192
Loyola (IL)   4 20   .167
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1970–71 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University during the 1970–71 NCAA University Division college basketball season. John Magee coached them in his fifth season as head coach. The team was an independent and played its home games at McDonough Gymnasium on the Georgetown campus in Washington, D.C. It finished the season with a record of 12-14 and had no post-season play.

Season recap

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In recent seasons, Georgetown had established a pattern of strong starts followed by late-season collapses that sank hopes for a berth in a post-season tournament, losing seven of its final 10 games in the 1964-65 season, eight of its final 11 games in 1966-67, and seven of its last nine games in 1968-69. In 1969-70, however, it had played well enough for a bid in the 1970 National Invitation Tournament and had come close to defeating Pete Maravich and his Louisiana State teammates in the first round. With junior forward Art White – generally viewed at the time as the greatest player in Georgetown basketball history – as well as senior guard Don Weber and junior forward Mike Laughna returning, Magee had high hopes that a new era of success had dawned in Georgetown men's basketball.

Laughna had a strong season, shooting 48.2% from the field. Over the course of three consecutive games in February 1971 against American, Loyola, and New York University (NYU), he scored 76 points and pulled down 50 rebounds, and in the NYU game alone he grabbed 11 rebounds and scored 35 points, the only 30-plus-point scoring performance in a single game by a Georgetown player during the 1970s. During the season, he led the team in scoring in 14 games, including 10 of the last 11.[1] White, meanwhile, scored in double figures in 21 of the season's 26 games and averaged 14.2 points per game,[2] and Weber closed out his collegiate career by scoring in double figures 13 times, shooting 44% from the field, and leading the team in assists for the second straight year with 100.[3]

Magee's hope that the 1970-71 team would build on the success of the previous year went unfulfilled: The team played very poorly on defense[2] and, after opening 3-5 and then winning six of its next eight to improve to 9-7, it returned to the pattern of the teams of the latter half of the 1960s, losing seven of its last 10 games. The season culminated in a meeting with longtime rival Fordham, ranked No. 13 in the Associated Press Poll, before a sellout crowd at McDonough Gymnasium on March 4, 1971.[4] Rams guard/forward Charlie Yelverton scored 38 points to lead Fordham to an 81–68 victory that gave the Rams a 22–2 record, and the win clinched Fordham's first bid to the NCAA tournament since 1954.[4]

Georgetown finished the season with a record of 12-14 and had no post-season play. Magee's relationship with the team deteriorated as the season wore on. Praising only Laughna — when asked what lineup he would use for the team the following season, he said, "Laughna and four others" — Magee otherwise openly blamed the year's results on the performance of his players, specifically calling White "a disappointment" in an interview with the campus newspaper The Hoya.[2] White did not return to the team for the following season because of academic issues, presaging a dismal Hoya performance in 1971-72.[5]

The 1970-71 team was not ranked in the Top 20 in the Associated Press Poll or Coaches' Poll at any time.[6][7]

Roster

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Source[1][2][3][8][9]

# Name Height Weight (lbs.) Position Class Hometown Previous Team(s)
10 John Connors 6'7" N/A G/C So. New York, NY, U.S. Cardinal Spellman HS
12 Don Weber 5'8" 160 G Sr. Ridgewood, NJ, U.S. Don Bosco Preparatory HS
14 Dick Zeitler 5'11" N/A G Sr. Seaford, NY, U.S. Archbishop Molloy HS
22 Tim Mercier 5'10" N/A G Sr. Jersey City, NJ, U.S. St. Peter's Preparatory School
30 Mike Geoghegan 6'4" N/A F So. Cincinnati, OH, U.S. St. Xavier HS
32 Bob Hannan 6'3" N/A F Sr. Paterson, NJ, U.S. St. Mary HS
34 Tom McBride 5'10" N/A G So. South Lake, NJ, U.S. Staunton Military Academy (Staunton, VA)
40 Ed MacNamara N/A N/A F Sr. Dumont, NJ, U.S. Bergen Catholic HS
42 Mike Laughna 6'7" 210 F Jr. North Caldwell, NJ, U.S. Saint Benedict's Preparatory School
44 Art White 6'7" 190 F Jr. White Plains, NY, U.S. Archbishop Stepinac HS
52 Mark Mitchell 6'8" N/A C/F Jr. Chicago, IL, U.S. Loyola Academy
54 Mark Edwards 6'5" N/A F So. Hyattsville, MD, U.S. DeMatha Catholic HS

1970–71 schedule and results

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Sources[10][11][12][13]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular Season
Tue., Dec. 1, 1970
no, no
Rensselaer W 62–52  1-0
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Dec. 5, 1970
no, no
at St. Joseph's L 60–72  1-1
Palestra 
Philadelphia, PA
Mon., Dec. 7, 1970
no, no
at William & Mary W 88–71  2-1
George Preston Blow Gymnasium 
Williamsburg, VA
Sat., Dec. 12, 1970
no, no
at St. John's L 74–81  2-2
Alumni Hall 
Queens, NY
Wed., Dec. 16, 1970
no, no
at Navy L 69–76 2OT 2-3
Halsey Field House 
Annapolis, MD
Sat., Dec. 19, 1970
no, no
Maryland W 96–79  3-3
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Tue., Dec. 29, 1970
no, no
vs. Wake Forest
Gold Coast Classic
L 88–90  3-4
West Palm Beach Auditorium 
West Palm Beach, FL
Wed., Dec. 30, 1970
no, no
vs. Creighton
Gold Coast Classic
L 79–80  3-5
West Palm Beach Auditorium 
West Palm Beach, FL
Sun., Jan. 3, 1971
no, no
Brown W 80–76  4-5
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Thu., Jan. 7, 1971
no, no
Randolph–Macon W 71–54  5-5
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Jan. 9, 1971
no, no
Boston University W 95–78  6-5
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Wed., Jan. 13, 1971
no, no
at Columbia L 68–80  6-6
University Gymnasium 
New York, NY
Sat., Jan. 16, 1971
no, no
at Seton Hall L 69–74  6-7
Walsh Gymnasium 
South Orange, NJ
Sat., Jan. 30, 1971
no, no
at Fairleigh Dickinson W 71–59  7-7
Campus Gymnasium 
Rutherford, NJ
Mon., Feb. 1, 1971
no, no
at Fairfield W 78–65  8-7
New Haven Arena 
New Haven, CT
Thu., Feb. 4, 1971
no, no
Connecticut
Rivalry
W 98–75  9-7
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Feb. 6, 1971
no, no
at American L 57–60  9-8
Fort Myer Gymnasium 
Fort Myer, VA
Tue., Feb. 9, 1971
no, no
at Loyola Maryland L 69–75  9-9
Alumni Gymnasium 
Baltimore, MD
Thu., Feb. 11, 1971
no, no
at New York University W 91–80  10-9
Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
Sat., Feb. 13, 1971
no, no
at Rutgers L 53–58  10-10
College Avenue Gymnasium 
New Brunswick, NJ
Tue., Feb. 16, 1971
no, no
Boston College W 67–66  11-10
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Feb. 20, 1971
no, no
at Penn State L 75–84  11-11
Recreation Hall 
State College, PA
Mon., Feb. 22, 1971
no, no
at George Washington W 84–76  12-11
Fort Myer Gymnasium 
Fort Myer, VA
Wed., Feb. 24, 1971
no, no
at Holy Cross L 72–109  12-12
Worcester Memorial Auditorium 
Worcester, MA
Sat., Feb. 27, 1971
no, no
Manhattan L 78–86  12-13
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Thu., Mar. 4, 1971
no, no
No. 13 Fordham L 68–81  12-14
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

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  1. ^ a b "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 15. Mike Laughna". Archived from the original on March 30, 2015. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 33. Art White". Archived from the original on March 26, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  3. ^ a b "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 89. Don Weber". Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  4. ^ a b Reagan, John, "Forgotten Rivals," The Georgetown Basketball History Project, June 4, 2018 Accessed 26 June 2021
  5. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: A Glimpse Into the Future". Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
  6. ^ sports-reference.com 1970-71 Independent Season Summary
  7. ^ sports-reference.com 1970-71 Polls
  8. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Rosters 1970-71 to 1979-1980". Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  9. ^ The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Player Directory: Jersey Numbers
  10. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: 1970s Seasons". Archived from the original on July 4, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  11. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Records vs. All Opponents". Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  12. ^ sports-reference.com 1970-71 Georgetown Hoyas Schedule and Results
  13. ^ 2012-2013 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide, p. 62.