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1996–97 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team

1996–97 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball
Georgetown Hoyas logo.svg
Big East 7 Division Regular Season Champions
NCAA Tournament, First Round
Conference Big East
Division Big East 7 Division
1996–97 record 20-10 (11-7 Big East)
Head coach John Thompson, Jr. (25th year)
Assistant coach Craig Esherick (15th year)
Assistant coach Mike Riley (15th year)
Captain Cheikh "Ya Ya" Dia (1st year)
Home arena USAir Arena
Seasons
← 1995–96
1997–98 →
1996–97 Big East men's basketball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
Big East 6
#20 Villanova 12 6   .667     24 10   .706
#23 Boston College 12 6   .667     22 9   .710
West Virginia 11 7   .611     21 10   .677
Notre Dame 8 10   .444     16 14   .533
St. John's 8 10   .444     13 15   .464
Connecticut 7 11   .389     18 15   .545
Big East 7
Georgetown 11 7   .611     20 10   .667
Providence 10 8   .556     24 12   .667
Pittsburgh 10 8   .556     18 15   .545
Miami 9 9   .500     16 13   .552
Syracuse 9 9   .500     19 13   .594
Seton Hall 5 13   .278     10 18   .357
Rutgers 5 13   .278     11 16   .407
† 1997 Big East Tournament winner
As of March 31, 1997; Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996–97 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University in the 1996–97 NCAA Division I basketball season. John Thompson, Jr., coached them in his 25th season as head coach. Their home court was USAir Arena in Landover, Maryland. They were members of the Big East 7 Division of the Big East Conference, were the regular-season champions of the Big East 7 Division, and finished the season with a record of 20-10, 11-7 in Big East play. Their record earned them a bye in the first round of the 1997 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament, and they advanced to the semifinals before losing to Boston College. They received a No. 10 seed in the West Regional of the 1997 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament – Georgetown's 18th NCAA Tournament appearance in 19 years – and lost to No. 7 seed North Carolina-Charlotte in the first round.

The graduation of center Othella Harrington and forward Jerome Williams in May 1996 and the departure of guard Allen Iverson after his sophomore season the previous year left the Hoyas wuth an uncertain lineup for 1996-97. Thompson hoped that freshman forward Shamel Jones and junior guard-forward Jerry Nichols would fill the gaps, but they did not rise to the occasion. With Harrington and Williams gone, however, junior forward Boubacar Aw became the leader in the frontcourt, scoring in 29 of the team's 30 games. He scored in double figures 12 times. Junior Jahidi White, meanwhile, took over at center. In an early Big East game against Seton Hall in December 1996, he scored 12 points and had 16 rebounds, and against Massachusetts two days later he scored 14 points and blocked six shots. He blocked at least one shot in 27 of the team's 30 games and finished the year averaging 7.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.9 blocked shots per game for the season.


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