1974-75 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball | |
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ECAC South Region Tournament Champions
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NCAA Tournament, First Round
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Conference | Independent |
1974-75 record | 18–10 |
Head coach | John Thompson, Jr. (3rd season) |
Assistant coach | Bill Stein (3rd season) |
Assistant coach | Dwight Datcher (1st season) |
Captain | Jonathan Smith (1st year) |
Home arena | McDonough Gymnasium |
The 1974–75 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University during the 1974-75 NCAA Division I college basketball season. John Thompson, Jr., coached them in his third season as head coach. Georgetown was an independent that played its home games at McDonough Gymnasium on the Georgetown campus in Washington, D.C., and finished the season with a record of 18-10. The team won the 1975 ECAC South Region Tournament and appeared in the 1975 NCAA Tournament – the Hoyas's first appearance in that tournament since 1943 – and lost to Central Michigan in the first round.
The team struggled during the first half of the season, and a six-game losing streak caused its record to fall to 7-8 by the end of January 1975. Some people called for Thompson to be fired. A contributing factor in the Hoyas' woes was the performance of junior center Merlin Wilson, who also received criticism; in contrast to his first two years with the team, he seemed sluggish when running, did not pull down as many rebounds as he once had, and suffered a scoring slump. He turned out to have a painful, undiagnosed back problem. His play remained uneven all season but improved in later games, including 17 points and 13 rebounds against St. Joseph's and 23 rebounds against Saint Francis, and he finished the year as Georgetown's top rebounder. Sophomore forward Larry Long, meanwhile, averaged 9.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game despite suffering ankle, thigh, and knee injuries. Freshman power forward Ed Hopkins started every game, averaged 9.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, and shot 49% from the field.