The 1928–29 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team represented

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

during the 1928–29 NCAA

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

season.

Elmer Ripley Elmer H. Ripley (July 21, 1891 – April 29, 1982) was an American basketball coach. He coached college basketball at seven different schools and for several professional teams. Early life Ripley was born in Staten Island, New York on July 21, ...

coached it in his second season as head coach. Georgetown was an independent and played its home games to Clendenen Gymnasium on the campus of

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

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, this season, the only Georgetown team to use Clendenen Gymnasium as its home court,The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Home Courts
/ref> although Georgetown played a handful of games there early the next season. It finished the season with a record of 12–5.

Season recap

Junior

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

and team captain Fred Mesmer had become a starter and team leader in his first varsity season the previous year. He was an important defensive presence for the team during the season and an excellent passer. He led the Hoyas in scoring, averaging 8.5 points per game.The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 83. Fred Mesmer
/ref> Junior

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Don Dutton, who had emerged as a standout the previous season, moved to forward in a notable 33–17 Georgetown victory at

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

on January 2, 1929, in the opening game of the Yale Quadrangular Invitational Tournament. Ten days later, he played a key role in what at the time was perhaps the greatest comeback in Georgetown men's basketball history, scoring 15 of the Hoyas last 17 points as Georgetown came back from a 13-point deficit against

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

with five minutes left in the game to win 42–40. Like Mesmer, Dutton finished the year averaging 8.5 points per game.The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 85. Don Dutton
/ref> Ironically, Ripleys display of his coaching abilities in the big win at Yale so impressed Yale that Yale hired Ripley away from Georgetown; after two very successful seasons as the Hoyas head coach in which he had an overall record of 24–6, Ripley left Georgetown at the end of the season to take the head coaching position at Yale. Destined to become a legend in college basketball, he would return to coach Georgetown two more times over a total of eight more seasons, from

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 � ...

– leading the Hoyas to the final game of the 1943 NCAA Tournament in the latter season – and again from

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

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 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

. Meanwhile, Georgetown hired his assistant Bill Dudack to coach the team the following season.

Roster

Sources Georgetown players did not wear numbers on their jerseys this season. The first numbered jerseys in Georgetown mens basketball history would not appear until the 1933–34 season, Junior

Fred Mesmer Fred or FRED may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Freder ...

would become Georgetowns head coach for the 1931–32 season and coach the Hoyas for seven seasons.

1928–29 schedule and results

SourcesThe Georgetown Basketball History Project: 1920s Seasons
/ref> 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 games played against the Crescent Athletic Club and the

New York Athletic Club The New York Athletic Club is a Gentlemen's club, private social club and athletic club in New York (state), New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Pa ...

therefore counted as part of Georgetowns won-loss record for 1928–29. It was not until 1952, after the completion of the 1951–52 season, that the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) ruled that colleges and universities could no longer count games played against non-collegiate opponents in their annual won-loss records. , - !colspan=9 style="background:#002147; color:#8D817B;", Regular Season

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1928-29 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball seasons Georgetown Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team