The 1941–42 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented Georgetown University during the 1941–42 NCAA college basketball season. Elmer Ripley coached it in his sixth of ten seasons as head coach; it was also the fourth season of his second of three stints at the helm. For the second straight year, the team played its home games at Riverside Stadium in Washington, D.C., the last season in which Georgetown played home games there.The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Home Courts
/ref> It played an upgraded national schedule this season and struggled, finishing with a record of 9-11, and had no postseason play.

Season recap

Senior guard Francis "Buddy" O'Grady, who had led the team through challenging seasons the previous two years, had another good season, averaging a career-high 8.8 points per game for the year. Of OGradys departure due to graduation at the end of this season, the Georgetown student yearbook, ''Ye Domesday Book'', wrote, "In Buddy O'Grady, Georgetown loses one of the greatest basketball players ever to trod on the Ryan Gym eorgetown's practice facilityfloor, and there have been many," adding that over his years "he has undoubtedly been the best basketball player in the District of Columbia." Junior center Bill Bornheimer, who had starred for Georgetown the previous year, scored 23 points against

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

in the second game of the season. Opposing teams soon learned to play a defense that contained Bornheimer in the middle, and he only scored in double figures one more time, although his 8.0 point-per-game average was only slightly lower than his 8.4 points per game of the previous season. He also provided a strong defensive presence and was an important rebounder for the team. Georgetown would institute an accelerated graduation program the following season because of World War II, causing him to graduate in January 1943 and making him ineligible for varsity play in 1942–43, so he did not return to the team during his senior year. His 8.2-point-per-game average over his two-year collegiate career, however, was the second-highest career average by a Georgetown player between

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

and 1942, exceeded only by guard Ed Hargadens 9.8 points-per-game career average between

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

and

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

. The Hoyas challenging schedule – which included highly regarded teams such as

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, Marquette, and DePaul – and the focus of opponents on limiting Bornheimers scoring opportunities caused the team to struggle to a 9-11 finish. It had no post-season play. The United States entered World War II when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, at the beginning of the season. After the season ended, all but three of the players graduated or left school to enter military service. Ripley thus had to rely on a team nicknamed the "Kiddie Korps," made up mostly of sophomores, the following season.

Roster

Sources Junior forward Ken Engles left school for military service after this season, but returned to play for the 1945-46 team, and also served as its head coach that season, the only player-coach in Georgetown men's basketball history. Engles was one of two future Georgetown head coaches on the 1941–42 squad; the other was senior guard Buddy O'Grady, who coached the Hoyas from

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

. Senior guard Don Martin served as head coach at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

from 1953 to 1962.

1941–42 schedule and results

SourcesThe Georgetown Basketball History Project: 1940s Seasons
/ref>2012-2013 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide, p. 60.
/ref> , - !colspan=9 style="background:#002147; color:#8D817B;", Regular Season

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1941-42 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball seasons Georgetown

Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team The Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball program represents Georgetown University in NCAA Division I men's intercollegiate basketball and the Big East Conference. Georgetown has competed in men's college basketball since 1907. The current head co ...