1970–71 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

The 1970–71 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University during the 1970-71 NCAA Division I 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.

1970–71 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball
ConferenceIndependent
1970–71 record1214
Head coach
  • John Magee (5th season)
Assistant coachEd Hockenbury (1st season)
Captains
  • Bob Hannan (1st year)
  • Don Weber (1st year)
Home arenaMcDonough Gymnasium

Season recap

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 to finish the season with a record of 12-14 and have 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.[4]

The 1970-71 team was not ranked in the Top 20 in the Associated Press Poll or Coaches' Poll at any time.[5][6]

Roster

Source[1][2][3][7][8]

# 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

Sources[9][10][11][12]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular Season
Tue., Dec. 1, 1970
no, no
Rensselaer W 6252  1-0
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Dec. 5, 1970
no, no
at St. Joseph's L 6072  1-1
Palestra 
Philadelphia, PA
Mon., Dec. 7, 1970
no, no
at William & Mary W 8871  2-1
George Preston Blow Gymnasium 
Williamsburg, VA
Sat., Dec. 12, 1970
no, no
at St. John's L 7481  2-2
Alumni Hall 
Queens, NY
Wed., Dec. 16, 1970
no, no
at Navy L 6976 2OT 2-3
Halsey Field House 
Annapolis, MD
Sat., Dec. 19, 1970
no, no
Maryland W 9679  3-3
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Tue., Dec. 29, 1970
no, no
vs. Wake Forest
Gold Coast Classic
L 8890  3-4
West Palm Beach Auditorium 
West Palm Beach, FL
Wed., Dec. 30, 1970
no, no
vs. Creighton
Gold Coast Classic
L 7980  3-5
West Palm Beach Auditorium 
West Palm Beach, FL
Sun., Jan. 3, 1971
no, no
Brown W 8076  4-5
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Thu., Jan. 7, 1971
no, no
Randolph–Macon W 7154  5-5
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Jan. 9, 1971
no, no
Boston University W 9578  6-5
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Wed., Jan. 13, 1971
no, no
at Columbia L 6880  6-6
University Gymnasium 
New York, NY
Sat., Jan. 16, 1971
no, no
at Seton Hall L 6974  6-7
Walsh Gymnasium 
South Orange, NJ
Sat., Jan. 30, 1971
no, no
at Fairleigh Dickinson W 7159  7-7
Campus Gymnasium 
Rutherford, NJ
Mon., Feb. 1, 1971
no, no
at Fairfield W 7865  8-7
New Haven Arena 
New Haven, CT
Thu., Feb. 4, 1971
no, no
Connecticut
Rivalry
W 9875  9-7
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Feb. 6, 1971
no, no
at American L 5760  9-8
Fort Myer Gymnasium 
Fort Myer, VA
Tue., Feb. 9, 1971
no, no
at Loyola Maryland L 6975  9-9
Alumni Gymnasium 
Baltimore, MD
Thu., Feb. 11, 1971
no, no
at New York University W 9180  10-9
Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
Sat., Feb. 13, 1971
no, no
at Rutgers L 5358  10-10
College Avenue Gymnasium 
New Brunswick, NJ
Tue., Feb. 16, 1971
no, no
Boston College W 6766  11-10
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Feb. 20, 1971
no, no
at Penn State L 7584  11-11
Recreation Hall 
State College, PA
Mon., Feb. 22, 1971
no, no
at George Washington W 8476  12-11
Fort Myer Gymnasium 
Fort Myer, VA
Wed., Feb. 24, 1971
no, no
at Holy Cross L 72109  12-12
Worcester Memorial Auditorium 
Worcester, MA
Sat., Feb. 27, 1971
no, no
Manhattan L 7886  12-13
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Thu., Mar. 4, 1971
no, no
No. 13 Fordham L 6881  12-14
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

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