1972–73 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

1972-73 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball
Conference	Independent
1972-73 record	12–14
Head coach	John Thompson, Jr. (1st year)
Assistant coach	Bill Stein (1st year)
Assistant coach	George Leftwich (1st year)
Captain	Game captains
Home arena	McDonough Gymnasium

The 1972–73 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University during the 1972-73 NCAA Division I college basketball season. John Thompson, Jr., coached them in his first 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 – a significant improvement over the previous season's record – was not ranked in the Top 20 in the Associated Press Poll or Coaches' Poll at any time, and had no post-season play.

John Thompson arrives

The 29-year-old Thompson was only the third African-American head coach in the history of NCAA Division basketball and was the first to take charge of a major college basketball program. He had been a star player for Washington, D.C.'s Archbishop Carroll High School and for Providence College, had played for two successful seasons with the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association, and then had returned to Washington, D.C., to coach St. Anthony's High School to a record of 122-28 in six seasons.

At Georgetown, Thompson inherited a team that had gone 3-23 the previous season, the culmination of a 25-year stretch of mostly undistinguished basketball at Georgetown. Although the team had appeared in the National Invitation Tournament in 1953 and 1970, between the 1947-48 season and the end of the previous season Georgetown had posted an overall record under .500 and its total of 296 wins during those 25 seasons was the lowest among the 32 Catholic universities playing Division I college basketball in the United States. The team also had had no NCAA Tournament appearances since 1943.

Thompson's arrival heralded the school's rise to the status of a national basketball power; the 12-14 record this season was a significant improvement over the 3-23 finish of the previous year, and the 1972-73 squad was the last Georgetown men's basketball team to finish with a losing record until the 1998–99 season. Georgetown had hired Thompson in the hope that he could guide the Hoyas to an "occasional" National Invitation Tournament (NIT) appearance, but during his 26½ seasons as head coach he would lead the Hoyas to 24 straight post-season tournaments – 19 NCAA Tournaments and five NITs – from the 1974-75 to the 1997-98 seasons, and to the national championship in the 1983-84 season.

Season recap

Thompson's first recruiting class consisted of five players. One of them was center Merlin Wilson, who had played for him at St. Anthony's and followed him to Georgetown to play college basketball. Wilson scored 24 points in the season opener against Saint Francis. At Loyola, the Hoyas outrebounded the Greyhounds 65-33, and Wilson pulled down 24 of Georgetown's rebounds. By mid-season, Wilson was averaging 12 points and 13 rebounds a game, a level of play unknown at Georgetown for many years, and was among the top ten college players in rebounds; a Tampa Tribune columnist wrote that the Hoyas were "a team destined to be one of the next great powers in college basketball" because of Wilson's talent. He scored 25 points and had 17 rebounds and eight blocks against Navy, had a 17-point, 17-rebound performance against Fordham in a big win, and had 15 points and 16 rebounds against St. Mary's in the last home game of the season. He finished the season as the team's leader in scoring and rebounds, and was ranked 14th in the United States with 14.1 rebounds per game.

Another major Thompson recruit for his first season as a collegiate head coach was guard Jonathan Smith. Smith, like Wilson, had played for Thompson at St. Anthony's and followed him to Georgetown. Although some observers expected Smith to be a reserve, he quickly emerged as a major force for the Hoyas, scoring a career-high 25 points twice during the season, against Penn State and George Washington. Smith finished the season second on the team only to Wilson in scoring.

Roster

1972–73 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year High school/previous college Home town G 40 Greg Brooks 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — Fr St. Anthony's Washington, D.C. F 12 Tom Dooley 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — Jr Rumson–Fair Haven Rumson, NJ F 54 Marc Edwards 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — Sr DeMatha Catholic Hyattsville, MD G 12 Ed Fitzgerald 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — So East Catholic Manchester, CT G 24 Vince Fletcher 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) — Sr Clinton New York, NY F 50 Mark Gallagher 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — So Archbishop Molloy Lynbrook, NY G 22 Rick Kentz 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) — Jr Delbarton Summit, NJ G 10 Tim Lambour 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) — Jr Bishop Guilfoyle Altoona, PA G 42 Aaron Long 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — Fr St. Anthony's Washington, D.C. F 14 Bill Lynn 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Springarn Washington, D.C. C 32 Ron Lyons 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) — Jr Northwest College Philadelphia, PA G 30 Jonathan Smith 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr St. Anthony's Washington, D.C. G 20 Mike Stokes 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — Fr St. John's College Washington, D.C. G 34 Don Willis 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) — Jr DeMatha Catholic Hyattsville, MD C 44 Merlin Wilson 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr St. Anthony's Washington, D.C.	Head coach John Thompson Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 2016-Jan-30

1972–73 schedule and results

Sources

Date Time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site City, State
Regular Season
Mon., Nov. 27, 1972 no, no		Saint Francis	W 61–60	1-0	McDonough Gymnasium  Washington, DC
Wed., Nov. 29, 1972 no, no		at Rutgers	L 83–98	1-1	College Avenue Gymnasium  New Brunswick, NJ
Sat., Dec. 2, 1972 no, no		Wheeling Jesuit	W 58–46	2-1	McDonough Gymnasium  Washington, DC
Wed., Dec. 6, 1972 no, no		St. Bonaventure	W 73–70 OT	3-1	McDonough Gymnasium  Washington, DC
Sat., Dec. 9, 1972 no, no		at St. John's	L 68–109	3-2	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
Tue., Dec. 12, 1972 no, no		#2 Maryland	L 73–99	3-3	McDonough Gymnasium  Washington, DC
Wed., Dec. 27, 1972 no, no		vs. Virginia St. Louis Invitational Tournament	L 58–72	3-4	Kiel Auditorium  St. Louis, MO
Fri., Dec. 29, 1972 no, no		vs. Army St. Louis Invitational Tournament	W 74–70	4-4	Kiel Auditorium  St. Louis, MO
Sat., Jan. 6, 1973 no, no		at South Florida	L 66–70	4-5	Curtis Hixon Hall  Tampa, FL
Mon., Jan. 8, 1973 no, no		at #19 Florida State	L 70–101	4-6	Tully Gymnasium  Tallahassee, FL
Sat., Jan. 13, 1973 no, no		at Connecticut Rivalry	L 64–78	4-7	University of Connecticut Field House  Storrs, CT
Wed., Jan. 17, 1973 no, no		Randolph–Macon	W 57–56	5-7	McDonough Gymnasium  Washington, DC
Sat., Jan. 20, 1973 no, no		at Holy Cross	L 100–116	5-8	Worcester Memorial Auditorium  Worcester, MA
Wed., Jan. 24, 1973 no, no		St. Joseph's	L 59–70	5-9	McDonough Gymnasium  Washington, DC
Sat., Jan. 27, 1973 no, no		Seton Hall	W 80–62	6-9	McDonough Gymnasium  Washington, DC
Wed., Jan. 31, 1973 no, no		at Loyola Maryland	W 74–59	7-9	Alumni Gymnasium  Baltimore, MD
Sat., Feb. 3, 1973 no, no		at Penn State	L 64–74	7-10	Recreation Hall  State College, PA
Wed., Feb. 7, 1973 no, no		Roanoke	L 57–73	7-11	McDonough Gymnasium  Washington, DC
Sat., Feb. 10, 1973 no, no		vs. Dickinson	W 66–65	8-11	Alumni Gymnasium  Baltimore, MD
Wed., Feb. 14, 1973 no, no		Navy	W 55–52	9-11	McDonough Gymnasium  Washington, DC
Sat., Feb. 17, 1973 no, no		Boston College	W 56–55	10-11	McDonough Gymnasium  Washington, DC
Wed., Feb. 21, 1973 no, no		Fordham	W 77–71	11-11	McDonough Gymnasium  Washington, DC
Sat., Feb. 24, 1973 no, no		at American	L 68–90	11-12	Fort Myer Gymnasium  Fort Myer, VA
Tue., Feb. 27, 1973 no, no		at George Washington	L 78–91	11-13	Fort Myer Gymnasium  Fort Myer, VA
Thu., Mar. 1, 1973 no, no		St. Mary's of Maryland	W 54–43	12-13	McDonough Gymnasium  Washington, DC
Sat., Mar. 3, 1973 no, no		Manhattan	L 64–71	12-14	McDonough Gymnasium  Washington, DC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

• hoyabasketball.com The Georgetown basketball History Project: Assistant Coaches