1961–62 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

The 1961–62 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University during the 1961–62 NCAA University Division college basketball season. Tommy O'Keefe coached them in his second season as head coach, but Georgetown's head coaching position paid so little that he could only coach part-time and held a full-time job outside of coaching in order to meet his financial obligations, impairing his ability to recruit players.[1][2] The team was an independent and played its home games at McDonough Gymnasium on the Georgetown campus in Washington, D.C. The team finished with a record of 14-9 and had no post-season play.

1961–62 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball
ConferenceIndependent
Record14–9
Head coach
Assistant coachTom Coleman (1st season)
CaptainPaul Tagliabue (1st year)
Home arenaMcDonough Gymnasium
Seasons

Season recap

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Sophomore guard Jim Christy joined the team as point guard this season. Early in the season he scored 25 points against VMI in the Richmond Invitational Tournament and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. He scored on a layup with five seconds left in overtime to defeat Seton Hall, and he had big games against George Washington and Rhode Island and in an upset of highly regarded Niagara.[3]

Senior center Bob Sharpenter scored 25 points against Fairfield, had a combined 44 points and 32 rebounds during the two games of the Richmond Invitational, and had 17 points and 13 rebounds against Seton Hall. On February 7, 1962, he had one of the top performances in Georgetown history in the game against St. Joseph's, shooting 16-for-28 from the field to score a Georgetown-record 40 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. Before the season ended, he went on to score 32 points and pull down 11 rebounds in the upset of Niagara, have a 27-point, 22-rebound performance against New York University, and score 30 points and get 18 rebounds against Rhode Island. He led the Hoyas in scoring and rebounding for the season and was named the team's Most Valuable Player.[4]

A good outside shooter, senior guard Jim Carrino shot 48% from the field for the season, the highest average on the team. He scored a career-high 30 points against Maryland, 22 in the upset of Niagara, and 25 in the season finale against Saint Peter's.[5]

Senior forward and team captain Paul "Tag" Tagliabue missed the December 15, 1961, game against Manhattan at Madison Square Garden in New York City to participate as a finalist in the Rhodes Scholarship competition. He averaged 11.3 points per game, with highs of 18 points against George Washington and 13 rebounds against St. Joseph's. He ended his collegiate career as one of Georgetown's great rebounders, second in history in both number of rebounds and average rebounds per game.[6]

The team played a then-record five overtime games during the season, winning four of them.[4] It finished the season with a record of 14-9, the greatest number of wins by a Georgetown men's basketball team since the 1951-52 season, but not enough to earn it an invitation to a post-season tournament. It was not ranked in the Top 20 in the Associated Press Poll or Coaches' Poll at any time.[7][8]

A school-record eight seniors graduated from the team after the end of this season,[9] including every starter except Jim Christy.[3] The departing players had been responsible for 79.9% of the team's scoring.[9] The next season would be a rebuilding year.

Roster

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From the 1958-59 season through the 1967-68 season, Georgetown players wore even-numbered jerseys for home games and odd-numbered ones for away games; for example, a player would wear No. 10 at home and No. 11 on the road. Players are listed below by the even numbers they wore at home.[10]

Senior forward and team captain Paul Tagliabue later became Commissioner of the National Football League.

Sources[3][4][5][6][10][11]

# Name Height Weight (lbs.) Position Class Hometown Previous Team(s)
4 Vince Wolfington 6"4" N/A F Sr. Haverford, PA, U.S. Malvern Preparatory School
10 Jim Christy 6"1" 185 G So. Brooklyn, NY, U.S. Saint Pascal HS
14 Jay Force 6'0" N/A G Sr. West Orange, NJ, U.S. West Orange HS
20 Joe Mazelin 6'2" N/A G So. Indianapolis, IN, U.S. Sacred Heart HS
22 Tom O'Dea 6"3" N/A G Sr. Westwood, NJ, U.S. Saint Cecelia School
24 Charles "Buddy" O'Donnell 6'3" N/A F So. Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, U.S. Monsignor Bonner HS
32 Paul Tagliabue 6'5" 200 F Sr. Jersey City, NJ, U.S. Saint Michael's School
34 Ed Lopata 6'5" N/A F Jr. Vandergrift, PA, U.S. Vandergrift HS
40 Chuck Devlin 6'5" N/A F Sr. Philadelphia, PA, U.S. Germantown Academy
42 Jim Carrino 6'3" 190 G Sr. New York, NY, U.S. Archbishop Molloy HS
50 John Kraljic 6'4" N/A F Sr. New York, NY, U.S. Bishop Dubois HS
52 Dan Slattery 6'4" N/A F Sr. Washington, DC, U.S. Gonzaga College HS
54 Bob Sharpenter 6'7" 230 C Sr. Aurora, IL, U.S. Marmion Military Academy

1961–62 schedule and results

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Sources[12][13][14][15][16]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular Season
Sat., Dec. 2, 1961
no, no
at Loyola Maryland W 91–73  1-0
Alumni Gymnasium 
Baltimore, MD
Wed., Dec. 6, 1961
no, no
at Maryland L 70–83  1-1
Cole Field House 
College Park, MD
Sat., Dec. 9, 1961
no, no
Fairfield W 98–82  2-1
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Mon., Dec. 11, 1961
no, no
American W 71–68 2OT 3-1
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Fri., Dec. 15, 1961
no, no
at Manhattan L 73–79  3-2
Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
Mon., Dec. 18, 1961
no, no
at New York Athletic Club L 97–102  exhibition
New York Athletic Club Gymnasium 
New York, NY
Fri., Dec. 29, 1961
no, no
at Richmond
Richmond Invitational Tournament
W 76–65  4-2
Richmond Arena 
Richmond, VA
Sat., Dec. 30, 1961
no, no
vs. VMI
Richmond Invitational Tournament
W 67–59  5-2
Richmond Arena 
Richmond, VA
Wed., Jan. 3, 1962
no, no
Mount St. Mary's W 86–70  6-2
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Jan. 6, 1962
no, no
at George Washington L 65–82  6-3
Fort Myer Gymnasium 
Fort Myer, VA
Wed., Jan. 10, 1962
no, no
Maryland W 79–78 2OT 7-3
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Jan. 13, 1962
no, no
at Seton Hall W 84–83 OT 8-3
Walsh Gymnasium 
South Orange, NJ
Wed., Jan. 17, 1962
no, no
at Navy L 56–64 OT 8-4
Halsey Field House 
Annapolis, MD
Sat., Jan. 20, 1962
no, no
George Washington W 87–78  9-4
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Thu., Feb. 1, 1962
no, no
at Fairleigh Dickinson W 84–77  10-4
Campus Gymnasium 
Rutherford, NJ
Sat., Feb. 3, 1962
no, no
at Fordham W 76–72  11-4
Rose Hill Gymnasium 
Bronx, NY
Wed., Feb. 7, 1962
no, no
at St. Joseph's L 70–81  11-5
Palestra 
Philadelphia, PA
Sat., Feb. 10, 1962
no, no
at Boston College L 77–84  11-6
Roberts Center 
Chestnut Hill, MA
Wed., Feb. 14, 1962
no, no
Niagara W 96–91  12-6
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Feb. 17, 1962
no, no
New York University L 72–70  12-7
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Wed., Feb. 21, 1962
no, no
at No. 7 Duquesne L 52–72  12-8
Civic Arena 
Pittsburgh, PA
Sat., Feb. 24, 1962
no, no
Rhode Island W 93–71  13-8
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Wed., Feb. 28, 1962
no, no
La Salle L 76–78  13-9
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Mar. 3, 1962
no, no
Saint Peter's W 100–68  14-9
McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

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  1. ^ "Georgetown Basketball History Project: Head Coaches". www.hoyabasketball.com. Archived from the original on May 27, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  2. ^ "Georgetown Basketball History Project: Top 100 Players – 46. Tom O'Keefe". www.hoyabasketball.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c "Georgetown Basketball History Project: Top 100 Players — 35. Jim Christy". www.hoyabasketball.com. Archived from the original on October 10, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "Georgetown Basketball History Project: Top 100 Players – 50. Bob Sharpenter". www.hoyabasketball.com. Archived from the original on October 8, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Georgetown Basketball History Project: Top 100 Players – 45. Jim Carrino". www.hoyabasketball.com. Archived from the original on October 8, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  6. ^ a b "Georgetown Basketball History Project: Top 100 Players – 43. Paul Tagliabue". www.hoyabasketball.com. Archived from the original on October 10, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  7. ^ "1961-62 Independent Season Summary". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  8. ^ "1961-62 Polls". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  9. ^ a b "Georgetown Basketball History Project: Top 100 Players – 8. Jim Barry". www.hoyabasketball.com. Archived from the original on October 8, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  10. ^ a b "Georgetown Basketball History Project: Team Rosters – 1961–1962". www.hoyabasketball.com. Archived from the original on January 9, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  11. ^ "Georgetown Basketball History Project: Player Directory". www.hoyabasketball.com. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  12. ^ "Georgetown Basketball History Project: Record Book". www.hoyabasketball.com. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  13. ^ "Georgetown Basketball History Project: Opponents". www.hoyabasketball.com. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  14. ^ "1962 Georgetown Hoyas". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  15. ^ "Georgetown Basketball History Project: Record Book". www.hoyabasketball.com. Archived from the original on February 12, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  16. ^ "2012-13 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide". Issuu. p. 61. Retrieved April 22, 2016.