1949–50 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

The 1949–50 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University during the 1949–50 NCAA college basketball season. Francis "Buddy" O'Grady coached it in his first of three seasons as head coach. The team was an independent and played its home games at the D.C. Armory in Washington, D.C. It finished with a record of 12-12 and had no post-season play.

1949–50 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball
ConferenceIndependent
Record12–12
Head coach
Assistant coachJim "Miggs" Reilly (1st season)
CaptainDick Falvey (1st year)
Home arenaD.C. Armory
Seasons

Season recap

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New head coach O'Grady had been a three-year standout guard on the Hoya teams of 1939-1942. After military service in World War II, he had played professional basketball for three seasons with the Washington Capitols and the Rochester Royals before retiring to coach at Georgetown.[1]

Although coaches of the freshman team had assisted the varsity team's head coach from time to time, Georgetown had never had a formal assistant coach on the varsity team until this season, when former Georgetown player Jim "Miggs" Reilly became the Hoyas' first formal assistant coach.[2]

The season saw the beginning of annual meetings between rivals Fordham and Georgetown, which would continue through 1979.[3]

Guard Tommy O'Keefe played an unprecedented fourth season on the varsity team this year. Freshmen were ineligible for varsity play under National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules at the time, but this had been lifted for four seasons during and just after World War II. The NCAA restored freshman ineligibility in 1947, but when the Georgetown athletic department petitioned the NCAA to recognize O'Keefe's 1946-47 sophomore season at Georgetown as the equivalent of a freshman season prior to the NCAA restoration of freshman ineligibility, the NCAA agreed, allowing O'Keefe to play for Georgetown for a fourth season in 1949-50. He led the 1949-50 team, scoring in double figures in 21 of its 24 games. Early in the year, he shot 10-for-15 from the field in Georgetown's upset of Penn State, and he had a career-high 23 points in an upset of Rutgers. He finished as the team's leading scorer for the third straight year – the first Georgetown player to lead for three straight seasons in 15 years – and was selected to play on the East team alongside Holy Cross standout Bob Cousy in the East-West All-Star Game.[4]

Georgetown's January 14, 1950, game against Holy Cross at Worcester Memorial Auditorium in Worcester, Massachusetts, was the Hoyas' first against a team ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Poll.[3] Cousey led the Crusaders to a 77–51 victory over Georgetown.[3]

The young, undersized 1949-50 team[4] started with a 10-5 record in its first 15 games, but then struggled, losing seven of its last nine games to finish the year at 12-12. It had no postseason play and was not ranked in the Top 20 in the Associated Press Poll at any time.[5]

O'Keefe ended his Georgetown career with 1,018 points, the first Georgetown player in history to score more than 1,000 points. He would go on to play professional basketball for one season with the Washington Capitols and Baltimore Bullets in 1950-51 and to serve as Georgetown's assistant coach for four seasons from 1956 to 1960 and as head coach for six seasons from 1960 to 1966.[4]

Roster

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Sources[4][6][7]

# Name Height Weight (lbs.) Position Class Hometown Previous Team(s)
15 Mike Vitale N/A N/A G So. East Orange, NJ, U.S. Seton Hall Preparatory School
16 Tony Durmowicz 6'5" N/A F So. Baltimore, MD, U.S. Loyola HS
17 Don O'Leary 6'2" N/A G Jr. New York, NY, U.S. La Salle HS
25 Jay Kirby 6'3" N/A F So. Ridgewood, NJ, U.S. N/A
26 Clint Conlin 5'11" N/A G Sr. Washington, DC, U.S. N/A
27 Tommy O'Keefe 6'0" 180 G 5th year Jersey City, NJ, U.S. University of Notre Dame
28 John Mazziotta 6'5" N/A F Jr. New York, NY, U.S. N/A
29 Steve Rogers N/A N/A G Sr. N/A N/A
30 Johnny Brown 6'3" N/A C Sr. Staten Island, NY, U.S. Tottenville HS
31 Dick Falvey 6'0" N/A G Sr. New York, NY, U.S. La Salle Academy
32 Danny Supkis 6'7" N/A F Jr. New York, NY, U.S. St. Alban's HS
33 John Norris 6'5" N/A C So. Bangor, ME, U.S. Bangor HS
34 Italo Ablondi 6'0" N/A G Sr. New York, NY, U.S. Stuyvesant HS
35 Frank Alagia 6'1" N/A F Sr. New York, NY, U.S. Andrew Jackson HS

1949–50 schedule and results

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Sources[8][9][10][11]

It was common practice at this time for colleges and universities to include non-collegiate opponents in their schedules, with the games recognized as part of their official record for the season, and the December 9, 1949, game against the New York Athletic Club therefore counted as part of Georgetown's won-loss record for 1949-50. It was not until 1952 after the completion of the 1951-52 season that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ruled that colleges and universities could no longer count games played against non-collegiate opponents in their annual won-loss records.[12]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular Season
Mon., Dec. 5, 1949
no, no
at Catholic W 73–46  1-0
Brookland Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Wed., Dec. 7, 1949
no, no
at American W 68–63  2-0
Uline Arena 
Washington, DC
Fri., Dec. 9, 1949
no, no
at New York Athletic Club W 78–70  3-0
New York Athletic Club Gymnasium 
New York, NY
Wed., Dec. 14, 1949
no, no
Penn State W 70–63  4-0
D.C. Armory 
Washington, DC
Sat., Dec. 17, 1949
no, no
Harvard W 58–53  5-0
D.C. Armory 
Washington, DC
Sat., Dec. 31, 1949
no, no
at La Salle L 58–90  5-1
Philadelphia Convention Hall 
Philadelphia, PA
Sat., Jan. 7, 1950
no, no
Maryland L 65–71  5-2
D.C. Armory 
Washington, DC
Fri., Jan. 13, 1950
no, no
at St. John's L 66–67  5-3
69th Regiment Armory 
New York, NY
Sat., Jan. 14, 1950
no, no
at No. 1 Holy Cross L 51–77  5-4
Worcester Memorial Auditorium 
Worcester, MA
Tue., Jan. 17, 1950
no, no
at Siena W 47–42  6-4
Washington Avenue Armory 
Albany, NY
Sun., Jan. 22, 1950
no, no
at Canisius L 41–58  6-5
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 
Buffalo, NY
Sat., Jan. 28, 1950
no, no
George Washington W 68–66  7-5
D.C. Armory 
Washington, DC
Wed., Feb. 1, 1950
no, no
vs. Lafayette W 59–50  8-5
Clendenen Gymnasium 
Washington, DC
Sat., Feb. 4, 1950
no, no
at New York University W 71–60  9-5
D.C. Armory 
Washington, DC
Wed., Feb. 8, 1950
no, no
at Rutgers W 75–73  10-5
College Avenue Gymnasium 
New Brunswick, NJ
Thu., Feb. 9, 1950
no, no
at Fordham L 63–64  10-6
Rose Hill Gymnasium 
Bronx, NY
Sat., Feb. 11, 1950
no, no
Villanova L 45–73  10-7
D.C. Armory 
Washington, DC
Wed., Feb. 15, 1950
no, no
at George Washington L 66–68  10-8
Uline Arena 
Washington, DC
Sat., Feb. 18, 1950
no, no
at Gettysburg W 71–65  11-8
N/A 
Gettysburg, PA
Wed., Feb. 22, 1950
no, no
at Pennsylvania W 78–73  12-8
Palestra 
Philadelphia, PA
Tue., Feb. 28, 1950
no, no
at Seton Hall L 65–77  12-9
Walsh Gymnasium 
South Orange, NJ
Sat., Mar. 4, 1950
no, no
at Penn State L 56–65  12-10
Recreation Hall 
State College, PA
Mon., Mar. 6, 1950
no, no
at Villanova L 72–82  12-11
Villanova Field House 
Villanova, PA
Tue., Mar. 7, 1950
no, no
at Princeton L 49–63  12-12
Dillon Gymnasium 
Princeton, NJ
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

References

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  1. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Francis "Buddy" O'Grady". Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  2. ^ The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Assistant Coaches
  3. ^ a b c Reagan, John, "Forgotten Rivals," The Georgetown Basketball History Project, June 4, 2018 Accessed 26 June 2021
  4. ^ a b c d "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Tom O'Keefe". Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  5. ^ sports-reference.com 1949-50 Independent Season Summary
  6. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Rosters 1940-41 to 1949-1950". Archived from the original on January 2, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  7. ^ The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Player Directory: Jersey Numbers
  8. ^ The Georgetown Basketball History Project: 1940s Seasons
  9. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Records vs. All Opponents". Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  10. ^ sports-reference.com 1949-50 Georgetown Hoyas Schedule and Results
  11. ^ 2012-2013 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide, p. 60.
  12. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Non-Collegiate Opponents". Archived from the original on February 12, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2014.