The 1946–47 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 1946–47 NCAA

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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, ...

returned to coach it in the first season of his third stint as head coach, his eighth overall season as the Hoyas head coach. The team was an independent and for the first timeThe Georgetown Basketball History Project: Home Courts
/ref> played its home games at

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, although because of conflicts at Uline Arena it played four home games on the campus of

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at Brookland Gymnasium, which had been its home court the previous season. Ripley previously had coached Georgetown from

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

, leaving to coach

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 ...

for six seasons, and again 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 what at the time was their only postseason tournament appearance in the 1943 NCAA Tournament. He then left to coach at Columbia and Notre Dame when Georgetown suspended its basketball program for two seasons during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. This time he would coach the Hoyas for three seasons, and the 1946–47 team was by far the most successful of his third stint as Georgetowns coach.

Season recap

With neither Ripley nor the varsity players of 1942–43 available the previous season, Georgetown had fielded a virtually all-walk-on team in 1945–46 with its only veteran player, Ken Engles, serving as player-coach. None of those players returned for 1946–47 except for 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 ...

George Benigni; instead, the returning Ripley brought back those members of the nucleus of the 1942–43 team who still had eligibility – senior guards Lloyd Potolicchio and "Miggs" Reilly, junior guard Dan Kraus, and junior

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Andy Kostecka, who all came back from

military service to play this season. He also brought with him from Notre Dame sophomore guard

Tommy O'Keefe Thomas Vincent O'Keefe (June 3, 1928 – October 18, 2015) was an American professional basketball player. O'Keefe was selected in the fourth round of the 1950 NBA draft by the Washington Capitols after a collegiate career at Georgetown Univers ...

and sophomore forward

Ray Corley Raymond Charles Corley (January 1, 1928 – February 5, 2007) was an American professional basketball player. Corley was selected in the fifth round of the 1949 BAA Draft by the Providence Steamrollers after a collegiate career at Georgetown. H ...

, both of whom transferred to Georgetown to continue to play for him. Given the success of the 1942–43 Georgetown and 1945–46 Notre Dame teams – the former had gone 22–5 and the latter 17–4. The outlook for 1946–47 was promising. Kostecka was the teams top scorer all season, as well as in almost two-thirds of the individual games during the year; he set a school record by scoring 35 points against Niagara on January 25, 1947, and he scored 28 against

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, 22 against

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, and 20 against

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. When

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came to Washington on March 4, 1947, to play Georgetown with a 19-game winning streak – one of which had been a victory over the Hoyas four days earlier – Kostecka scored 16 points in a 57-39 Georgetown victory that ended the Dukes streak. Kostecka broke his arm in a game at Villanova two days later, ending his season, but he finished with 17.8 points per game, the highest average for a Georgetown player in 29 years. Meanwhile, Dan Kraus, although a defensive specialist, finished the year scoring 12 points a game. Beginning the season with a 5-1 start, the Hoyas lost three of their next five games to fall to 7–4. They went 12–3 after that, finishing the season by winning eight of their last nine, to post a final record of 19–7. They barely missed invitations to the NCAA Tournament and

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

and had no postseason play. Despite falling just short of a post-season tournament appearance, the 1946–47 team was one of the best in Georgetown history. No other Georgetown team would win 19 games in a season again until the 1975–76 team won 21, and no Georgetown team would exceed its 9–2 road record until the 1983-84 national championship team posted an 11–1 road record during its regular season.

Roster

Sources From the 1943–44 season through this season, 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) suspended its freshman ineligibility rule. Georgetown had no basketball program during the 1943–44 and 1944–45 seasons, having suspended all competitive athletic programs in 1943 for the duration of

, so this was the last Georgetown team to play during this early period of freshman eligibility. After the conclusion of this season, the NCAA reinstated the rule that freshmen were ineligible to play on varsity teams, and they would remain ineligible until the 1972–73 season. Sophomore guard

would later serve as Georgetowns assistant coach for four seasons from

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

and as head coach for six seasons from

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. Senior guard Lloyd Potolicchio, who had served in the

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during

, resumed his military career after graduation, serving in the

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and seeing duty during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

.hoyabasketball.com Player Bio: Lloyd Potolicchio (1942-1943)
/ref> He was killed on January 17, 1966, when the

Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling tanker aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the 707. Boeing gave ...

he was aboard collided with a

Boeing B-52 Stratofortress The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic aircraft, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the ...

it was refueling over the

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off Palomares,

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, and crashed. The B-52, carrying four

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s, also crashed, resulting in the Palomares Incident.

1946–47 schedule and results

SourcesThe Georgetown Basketball History Project: 1940s Seasons
/ref>2012-2013 Georgetown Men's Basketball Media Guide, p. 60.
/ref> The March 13, 1947, game against

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

was a post-season fundraiser which counted in the term's official final record. , - !colspan=9 style="background:#002147; color:#8D817B;", Regular Season

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1946-47 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