Businessman's Special?
A schedule change announced over the weekend offers an unusual start time for the 2022-23 schedule.The November 23 game with American (10-22 in 2021-22) has been moved to an 11:30 am start time on Wednesday, November 23 to accommodate a Washington Capitals game later that evening against Philadelphia. With students heading home for Thanksgiving and those at work that day outside the downtown corridor, the game is an early candidate for a friends-and-family crowd at 20,500 seat Capital One Arena, where GU is contractually obligated to play all its home games. Last year's game with American, played on a Tuesday night in mid-November, drew 4,327.The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 2, which will see Georgetown's loyal west coast fans tuning in at 8:30 am PST. (If you're in Hawaii that week, well, that's a 5:30 am start.) This game is not one of the free ticket giveaway games announced earlier this month. Big 12 Basketball Aligns With Fox
The Big 12 conference has signed a six year, $2.2 billion media rights deal, per reports. What does (or could) this mean for the Big East?"The agreement represents a big win for the Big 12 and new commissioner Brett Yormark, who since starting his job on Aug. 1 immediately began plotting to get a new deal done with the Big 12's incumbents, ESPN and Fox," writes Sports Business Journal, which broke the story. "Yormark moved quickly to get deals done with both ESPN and Fox in fewer than three months." The conference, which loses Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC in 2025, adds Brigham Young, Central Florida, Cincinnati, and Houston when this contract goes into effect.The per school rights will average $31.6 million per year. According to Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard, the rights increase will total "close to $50 million" per year across all revenue sources, such as the NCAA basketball tournament and the college football playoff. While this is less than half of what the Big 10 and SEC will receive, it puts the Big 12 in a position of strength versus the Pac-12, who let their rights lapse in the hopes of a better contract. The Big 12 deal is split between ESPN and Fox. "Fox's deal also provides a slate of Big 12 college basketball games on Fox and FS1 for the first time," it writes. So what does this mean for the upcoming Big East negotiations, with its Fox contract running through the 2024-25 season? "The conference that I think should have some element of concern is the Big East," writes columnist Matt Brown. In a newsletter released Sunday, he cited the inventory Fox is accumulating with Big Ten and now Big 12 basketball, which could put pressure on the current ability for FS1 to show as many Big East games as it does. Brown also notes that Fox lacks a streaming option to offload games, such as ESPN+, a platform which will also show Big 12 basketball games. "What kind of money, and perhaps more importantly, exposure could be available for a non-football conference is a storyline worth following," he added. In August, the Marquette web site Paint Touches did a detailed review of possible Big East media rights in advance of 2025, projecting an increase from the current $4.6 million per school per year to a figure closer to $7 million. That's a fraction of the Big 12's $31 million or the reported $100 million per year with the SEC, but football drives the media rights bus. Local Media Day: Harris Not With Team
The Georgetown Hoyas could be down two veteran guards by the season opener, according to Wednesday's media availability session with head coach Patrick Ewing.According to reports on social media in lieu of a formal Georgetown news release, Ewing confirmed that junior guard Dante Harris is not with the team due to what Ewing called "dealing with some personal stuff".
Having averaged 11.9 points last season and the only returning starter from the 2021-22 season, Harris has started 50 consecutive games since graduate student Jalen Harris (no relation) took a break from the team in December 2020 for what Ewing called at the time a "family issue". He did not return to the team, and has not played anywhere since. Harris' place in the Georgetown backcourt also appears to be in question following a quote today from sophomore transfer Amir (Primo) Spears. "Coach has expressed that I need to be a leader for this team in order for us to go far playing the one," he said. Also questionable for the November 8 opener is junior transfer Jay Heath, who is awaiting word on a second consecutive immediate transfer, this time from Arizona State, after having transferred from Boston College in 2021. According to the NCAA, transfers are reviewed as to mitigating circumstances (such as a change in coaching, or being run off by the present coach), academic records, and the support of the exiting school, which is usually but not always proffered. For example, each of Georgetown's five spring 2022 transfers was granted an immediate transfer, but Tre King, who was dismissed from the team in the fall of 2021 for undisclosed reasons, did not get an immediate transfer and will not be eligible at Iowa State until this December. On its web site, the NCAA notes that the average transfer case takes 21 days to decide; by comparison, Heath's case has been open since May. Without evidence of a personal hardship or a "run-off" from Arizona State, Heath may have to sit out the 2022-23 season. "We still don't know and have to be prepared either way," Ewing said. No returning players were invited to the availability. Those who attended includes Spears, sophomore transfer Brandon Murray, junior transfer Akok Akok, and senior transfer Qudus Wahab, each of whom was cited as being an important part as the 2022-23 team progresses. Also, according to reports, Ewing admitted that "I've had to relinquish some of the authority" on defense to assistant coach Kevin Nickelberry, though he did not elaborate further. "It's still a work in progress," Ewing cautioned, using a phrase he had also said before the beginning of last season. Season Ticket Drive
With two weeks to the season opener, the drive to sell season tickets continues.Unlike some Big East schools, Georgetown does not announce its season ticket numbers, following a 40-year low in average attendance in 2021-22. It's an important process for building attendance, but one which has been mitigated in part by numerous free ticket giveaways that may have softened overall demand for the remaining 12-game series. Unlike many schools where season ticket status is the only guarantee to get in the building for a game, the capacity of Capital One Arena works against the drive to get season-long commitments.On Tuesday, the Hoya Hoop Club Twitter feed announced an offer of a free trip to a road game for a renewing season ticket order; however, a winner was announced soon thereafter. Season tickets remain an important part of the program, providing not only support but a stable revenue source for annual expenses. Tickets may be purchased in one or multiple payments, and alumni from the classes of 2015 through 2022 are eligible for a 33 percent discount in sections 104 and 118. Visit this link for details. Rev. Louis R. Gigante (1932-2022)
Louis Gigante (C'54), a three year basketball letterman from 1951-1954, died Wednesday at the age of 90. Though he stood just 5-9, Gigante was a larger than life figure in New York City politics for nearly forty years.
ADDITIONAL COVERAGE
Born in Manhattan to Sicilian immigrants and educated at Cardinal Hayes HS in the Bronx, Gigante earned a basketball scholarship to Georgetown in 1950. Elected captain of the freshman team in 1950-51, he finished second on the team in scoring with a 13.4 points per game average. "Lou is a nifty passer and a competent floorman, besides possessing a good variety of shots," wrote The HOYA. Gigante was well known by his teammates when he arrived on the varsity in 1951: 12 of the 14 players that season had played in Catholic high schools in the New York area. Gigante was a force on both sides of the ball, and was capable of a big game from the starting five or off the bench. Backing up leading scorer Barry Sullivan his sophomore year, Gigante poured in 21 over Richmond and 18 over Maryland in consecutive games, finishing his sophomore season with a 6.2 scoring average. By 1952, Sullivan entered military service and Gigante took over in the backcourt. The 1952-53 Hoyas earned the school's only post season bid between 1943 and 1970, thanks in part to Gigante's court sense and some late season heroics. Gigante scored in every one of the team's 20 games, and collected double figures in 11 of the last 15. Gigante's 20 points in an upset of St. Joseph's and 24 points against George Washington helped bolster the cause for the NIT bid that followed, and the Bronx native joined his fellow Hoyas at Madison Square Garden before 15,000, falling to Louisville 92-79. Gigante scored 13 in the game. Named co-captain in 1954, Gigante averaged in double figures until a broken foot proved season-ending. He finished his college career with a 9.2 points per game average. In the 1954 yearbook, Gigante listed three extracurricular activities: basketball, the Sodality, and the St. John Berchman's Society, the latter two a nod to his future after college. Gigante entered the seminary after Georgetown and was ordained in 1959, serving as a parish priest for 40 years at St. Athanasius Church in the Bronx. As a pastor and community activist, Gigante helped found the South East Bronx Community Organization (SEBCO), a group that used federal housing grants to construct affordable housing in the Hunts Point neighborhood. He served two terms on the New York City Council and was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 1970. "SEBCO's greatest accomplishment and contribution may just be the fact that our pioneering work of successful construction and management sparked in so many others the needed courage to build, live, and work in the Bronx once again," reads a statement from Rev. Gigante on its web site. "This original leap of faith and years of effort was the turning point of this entire community." A statue of Gigante stands outside SEBCO's headquarters. "In an era when drugs, arson and abandoned housing made the South Bronx a symbol of urban decay, Father Gigante was a savvy street priest, a political and spiritual leader for thousands of residents," wrote the New York Times. "The priest became a city councilman, a developer with clout in Washington, the chaplain of the Italian American Civil Rights League and an outspoken defender of criminal kingpins." The youngest of five brothers, a career in the priesthood was an escape from the fate that befell each of his older brothers, each of which were, or were accused of being, members of the Genovese crime family. The unusual mixture of a Catholic priest, a politician, a community organizer, and the brother of a reported mob boss made Rev. Gigante a source of fascination in New York politics for decades. "It's an advantage for me to be a priest as well as the district leader," he told the Times in a 1972 interview when he served as chair of New York's 77th Assembly District. "At first there were those who felt it was wrong for a priest to be a politician. But then when I did a few favors for them, these same people changed their minds. Patronage is where it is." In later years, Rev. Gigante served as a guardian for older brother Vincent ("The Chin") Gigante, who was the boss of the Genovese family for 24 years before dying in federal prison in 2005. Vincent had pursued a long running but unsuccessful insanity defense to stay out of prison, with the New York tabloids dubbing him "The Oddfather". Gigante was not unknowing of his family ties. "Did you know my brother was the strongest guy in New York and ran the underworld?" he told the Daily Beast in 2017. "I knew guys in the Mob. I treated them, blessed them, served them, and forgave them." Following the death of his older brother Mario (1923-2022) earlier this year, Louis Gigante was the last member of his immediate family and leaves no survivors. Note: Basketball coverage above excerpted from the Georgetown Basketball History Project. Road To The GardenFollowing SB Nation's cutback of a number of sports sites this summer, the former Big East Coast Bias has reformed under the Road To The Garden banner.The site is debuting a daily podcast through November 7 previewing each of the Big East teams, beginning with Georgetown.
ESPN Big East Roundtable
A panel from ESPN.com lists Georgetown last in a writer's roundtable in advance of the 2022-23 season.Creighton and Villanova are consensus picks but it's open season after that, with Xavier and UConn a split for third and fourth and a mix for fifth through eighth. A minor surprise has DePaul ahead of Butler, but no such luck for Georgetown, picked last by three of the four writers (Myron Medcalf, John Gasaway and Joe Lunardi), with Jeff Borzello placing the Hoyas 10th.Big East Media Day: Georgetown #10
Georgetown was picked 10th in the 2022-23 Big East pre-season poll by its fellow coaches.Georgetown totaled 21 votes, 11 short of Marquette. The 2022-23 Hoyas return one starter and three lettermen overall from last season's 6-25 team.Georgetown had no selections for the Big East's first team, second team or honorable mention. Here are the pre-season honorees: First Team Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton, C, Jr., 7-1, 260, St. Louis, MO Jared Bynum, Providence, G, Gr., 5-10, 180, Largo, MD Posh Alexander, St. John's, G, Jr., 6-0, 200, Brooklyn, NY Colby Jones, Xavier, G, Jr., 6-6, 207, Birmingham, AL Jack Nunge, Xavier, F, Gr., 7-0, 245, Newburgh, IN Second Team Arthur Kaluma, Creighton, F, So., 6-7, 225, Glendale, AZ Ryan Nembhard, Creighton, G, So., 6-0, 170, Aurora, ON Kadary Richmond, Seton Hall, G, Jr., 6-6, 210, Brooklyn, NY Caleb Daniels, Villanova, G, Gr., 6-4, 210, New Orleans, LA Eric Dixon, Villanova, F, R-Jr., 6-8, 255, Willow Grove, PA Justin Moore, Villanova, G, Sr., 6-4, 215, Fort Washington, MD Honorable Mention Chuck Harris, Butler, G, Jr., 6-2, 200, Ashburn, VA Baylor Scheierman, Creighton, F, Sr., 6-7, 205, Aurora, NE Cam Whitmore, Villanova, F, Fr., 6-7, 232, Odenton, MD Links to media coverage across the conference follow below.
Local Coverage Dies In Darkness For a second consecutive year, the Washington Post was prominent among Big East markets for no coverage from Big East media day.
MEDIA DAY REPORTS
Plenty of reasons, but no good ones: its writers are busy on other stories, the baseball playoffs are underway, the NBA opener was Tuesday, people are more interested in reading about Dan Snyder than Dan Hurley, etc. Pick one, perhaps, but there's a degree of institutional laziness about it all. Surely a free lance reporter (whether affiliated with Georgetown or in the New York area) could have provided them with the content to post a story of interest about the men's team (or even the women's basketball team, also picked 10th). Even a writer from The HOYA, whose sports coverage has taken a decided step downward since the pandemic, could have filled in.The long standing, often strained relationship between the basketball office and local media may well have led the Post to take a hands-off approach to Georgetown coverage, while in contrast the newspaper lists two articles from Big Ten media days and three from the ACC event last week, even without a local team in that conference. With a monopoly on local newspaper coverage (the Times and Examiner don't even cover sports regularly anymore), few will notice or care if the Hoyas didn't make the morning edition. Or perhaps it's simply what a 6-25 record begets: Patrick Ewing and Georgetown weren't worth a train trip to New York. Dikembe Mutombo Diagnosed With Brain Tumor
A statement from the NBA announced Saturday that former All-American Dikembe Mutombo (I'91, H'10) is under treatment for a brain tumor."NBA Global Ambassador and Basketball Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo is currently undergoing treatment for a brain tumor," reads the statement. He is receiving the best care possible from a collaborative team of specialists in Atlanta and is in great spirits as he begins treatment. "Dikembe and his family ask for privacy during this time so they can focus on his care. They are grateful for your prayers and good wishes."No further details have been released. Mutombo, 56, played three seasons at Georgetown from 1988 through 1991 before an 18 year career in the NBA, where he was an eight time All-Star. The president of the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, he is the parent of two GU graduates and current sophomore center Ryan Mutombo (C'25), and serves on the Georgetown University Board of Directors. Head coach Patrick Ewing and athletic director Lee Reed released brief statements on social media Saturday afternoon.
Sports Illustrated: Georgetown 10th
Sports Illustrated has posted its pre-season Big East preview in advance of next week's Media Day.SI's Picks
2. Villanova 3. Connecticut 4. Xavier 5. Providence 6. Seton Hall 7. St. John's 8. Butler 9. Marquette 10. Georgetown 11. DePaul Creighton, as expected, gets the top pick. "Often a position held by Villanova, the Bluejays enter the season as the favorite in the Big East... Creighton, coming off a round-of-32 loss to Kansas in the NCAA tournament, impressed with its rising young core of Ryan Kalkbrenner, Ryan Nembhard and Arthur Kaluma last season, and the Scheierman addition has the potential to be the missing piece to establish the team as a more steady offensive presence to go along with its strong frontcourt. Time is of the essence for Greg McDermott's group, and, with expectations high, the Bluejays can make some noise on a national level." CBS Sports.com: Georgetown 11th
CBS Sports.com's five writer panel lists Georgetown last in his Big East preview.CBS' Picks
2. Villanova 3. Connecticut 4. Xavier 5. Providence 6. Seton Hall 7. St. John's 8. Marquette 9. Butler 10. DePaul 11. Georgetown "Had [Aminu Mohammed] come back, Georgetown would have had a case to be seventh or eighth in the preseason poll. With such a drastic roster change - only five guys earned minutes for GU last season - no squad has more to prove in the next five-plus months than this one. " The Hoyas were chosen 10th by Norlander and Gary Parrish, and 11th by Kyle Boone, David Cobb, and Jerry Palm. CBS "Eye On CBB" Big East PreviewFree Ticket Offers Return In 2022
With one month to the season opener, Georgetown officials are turning to free tickets to help offset a slide in attendance.
BIG EAST
Average home attendance in 2021-22 fell 30 percent from a comparable schedule in 2019-20, and was less than half that of average attendance as late as 2011-12, which averaged 11,283 a game and 12,994 for conference games. That's a lot of red ink as far as the lease with Capital One Arena goes, but a free ticket plan for last season's home opener versus Dartmouth drew 8,641, twice the average for non-conference games other than Syracuse, which collectively averaged 4,500 a game, or just 21 percent capacity at the downtown arena.ATTENDANCE, 2021-22
Marquette: 13,495 UConn: 10,344 Providence: 9,523 Xavier: 9,238 Villanova: 9,201 Seton Hall: 8,577 Butler: 7,608 Georgetown: 5,525 St. John's: 4,987 DePaul: 3,256 Georgetown was ninth among Big East schools in average attendance, with an average of 5,525 a game, its lowest since moving games off campus in 1981. Absent the Syracuse game, the net average was just 5,020. As part of the promotion, fans can order up to four free tickets for the Nov. 8 game versus Wisconsin-Green Bay, with specialized groups available for free tickets as follows: Nov 12 vs. Green Bay (Educators) Nov 15 vs. Northwestern (First responders, GU staff) Nov 26 vs. UMBC (Healthcare workers) Dec 7 vs. Siena (DC residents) Jan 1 vs. Butler (Youth basketball) Jan 10 vs. Seton Hall (Active/Retired Military) Additional details follow in this link to GUHoyas.com. Non-conference games not provided in this offer include American (Nov. 23) and South Carolina (Dec. 3). No Madness In 2022?
Saturday's team practice at McDonough Gym for Hoya Hoop Club members may be the only public view of the 2022-23 men's basketball team before the Nov. 8 season opener. And that's an opportunity lost."Men's basketball is increasingly an afterthought at Georgetown to students who do not know what a winning team means to campus life, because they have never seen it."For some at GU, Midnight Madness has been a declining proposition in recent years. At its peak, Midnight Madness was broadcast nationwide on ESPNU and featured visits by prospective recruits and various hip-hop entertainers, from Warren Mathis ("Bubba Sparxx") to Doug "Doug E. Fresh" Davis. Recent years have not been as noteworthy. A 2017 appearance by rapper Robert Williams ("Meek Mill") was canceled when Williams was not allowed to travel to DC as part of his probation (Williams was the featured guest at this year's Hoops Mania at Villanova.) In 2019, GU officials hastily cancelled an appearance by John "Fabolous" Jackson when details of a plea deal on a domestic violence charge were brought to the University's attention. As more recruits visit schools earlier in the process, the wow-factor of an event like this has lessened, at least given Georgetown's diminished position in the sport in recent years. Georgetown will also be among a smaller number of schools who will not offer an exhibition game (or two) to fans, opting instead for a so-called "secret" scrimmage against two unnamed Division I opponents, though in the age of social media, it's not as secret anymore. There was a time when the lack of student access to the team was grounds for fiery columns in The HOYA or Voice, but today it's nowhere to be found. Men's basketball is increasingly an afterthought at Georgetown to students who do not know what a winning team means to campus life, because they have never seen it. This year's senior class have never been part of a team over .500 in their years at Georgetown--the first class not to have done so since the Hoya seniors of 1960. With regular season attendance on a 10 year decline, today's students are tomorrow's season ticket holders, but if they aren't committed now, chances are they never will be. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||